Raccoon trapping

[356]

Why not poison the mound?

I was a 23 year old grad student working two jobs with little awareness or time to invest in learning how to kill the mounds. I do recall trying baking soda, which did not work, so I gave up. As a renter, I did complain to the owner several times, which resulted in the baking soda idea!

 

[Mtyhunter]

back in the day, my grandpa used gasoline and set them afire
back in the day

 

[Turkey Creek]

My obsession with possum knowledge led me down the road to this. Doesn't say whether this is all adult possums or includes young. Holy crap Batman, at 259 possums per square mile you would be watching your ground move beneath your feet! At my current density I am about 160 possums per square mile. That the highest densities are found in prime duck nesting habitat leads me to believe they eat a lot of duck eggs.

 

[SwampCat]

Here in Missouri we have "predator control" laws that allow trapping or shooting nuisance animals or those causing depredation. A couple of years ago our trapping season was extended for private lands to April 14 to reduce poult predation.

I only lived in Texas a couple of years, but during that time I came to despise fire ants. We had some mounds behind our house that rendered the backyard of our house (a rental) unusable much of the year.

Supposedly, most nesting - sitting on the nest starts mid may in MO.

My obsession with possum knowledge led me down the road to this. Doesn't say whether this is all adult possums or includes young. Holy crap Batman, at 259 possums per square mile you would be watching your ground move beneath your feet! At my current density I am about 160 possums per square mile. That the highest densities are found in prime duck nesting habitat leads me to believe they eat a lot of duck eggs.

View attachment 89505

You need to get a good possum dog!

 

[Turkey Creek]

Supposedly, most nesting - sitting on the nest starts mid may in MO.

You need to get a good possum dog!

Have possum dog will travel! Hmmmm maybe a new side business ......... possum eradication.

On a serious note as I have never had hounds before, do possums tree like coons or do they tend to burrow into brush piles more?

 

[T-Max]

Have possum dog will travel! Hmmmm maybe a new side business ......... possum eradication.

On a serious note as I have never had hounds before, do possums tree like coons or do they tend to burrow into brush piles more?

I’m pretty sure they just lay down…

 

[KY wild]

I have treed them with squirrel dogs many times, but usually close to the ground in a tree like under 10 feet.

 

[Feelslikefar.]

I caught a young one once while deer hunting. And by caught I mean I walked over and picked him up.
I carrieed him by his tail for a bit, it was so calm and docile I even entertained the terrible idea of sticking him in my coat. (getting pee'd or pooped on was more a worry than getting bit). I was going to bring him over to the tree stand where my brother in law was hunting to surprise him with my hunting prowess!
Then after carrying it a little while I thought... "Why is this possum walking around in the middle of the day?" That's when I decided to put him down. lol

 

[SwampCat]

My Mt Cur treed a lot of them - like said above, low in a tree. He caught and killed just as many on the ground.

 

[356]

One 'coon, one skunk....this is the first skunk in the dog proof. The skunk sprayed every where, so I displaced it, and will take it out of the trap tomorrow.

 

[SwampCat]

One 'coon, one skunk....this is the first skunk in the dog proof. The skunk sprayed every where, so I displaced it, and will take it out of the trap tomorrow.

View attachment 89612

I do that and often times something has eaten it out of the trap

 

[Turkey Creek]

The hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, dish soap concoction does a great job of neutralizing the odor if you have skunk smell on anything you don't want it on, including the skunk. You can find the actual recipe allover on-line.

 

[keets]

I just got back from Kansas last night, I went down to Linn County to see an old friend and coyote and bobcat trap......in 6 checks we caught around 30 coon, 20 possum....I was like HOLY SMOKES, once we cleared some of them the foothold traps could work and we got a few coyotes and a cat, missed a few cats, but that's how it goes. Kansas needs a bounty on those nest raiders....even a couple bucks each would help

 

[356]

I just got back from Kansas last night, I went down to Linn County to see an old friend and coyote and bobcat trap......in 6 checks we caught around 30 coon, 20 possum....I was like HOLY SMOKES, once we cleared some of them the foothold traps could work and we got a few coyotes and a cat, missed a few cats, but that's how it goes. Kansas needs a bounty on those nest raiders....even a couple bucks each would help

That is great. You guys really cleaned house. There was a bounty system in Missouri through 1968, and in some counties through the '80s. but I doubt if it will ever come back. Kansas had a $20 bounty back in the 1960s. That's $220 today--coyote hunting would be a major pastime.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Unfortunately the bounty programs are extremely corruptible. Bringing tails/ ears whatever proof you need to claim your money from other places where bounties are not in effect. I do like what some places have done. They will live catch a few critters tag them and turn them loose in random locations. If you catch one of them, you get the payout. Payouts are pretty significant usually hundreds of dollars for a tagged animal. That way you get people targeting legitimate animals and you can even focus the take in certain geographic areas if you need to. In a pie in the sky world we would ban all outer garments from synthetic materials and make everything out of fur to increase the actual demand and thus get people actively hunting or trapping furbearers again.

 

[356]

Unfortunately the bounty programs are extremely corruptible. Bringing tails/ ears whatever proof you need to claim your money from other places where bounties are not in effect. I do like what some places have done. They will live catch a few critters tag them and turn them loose in random locations. If you catch one of them, you get the payout. Payouts are pretty significant usually hundreds of dollars for a tagged animal. That way you get people targeting legitimate animals and you can even focus the take in certain geographic areas if you need to. In a pie in the sky world we would ban all outer garments from synthetic materials and make everything out of fur to increase the actual demand and thus get people actively hunting or trapping furbearers again.

Totally agree....the old timers told me stories of how this used to work in Dade County, MO. Apparently you would call the local sheriff or deputy, tell them you had a coyote, then drop the carcass over a fence. The deputy or sheriff would drive by, verify the kill, and when back at the courthouse, tell the city clerk to process a bounty payment. Some coyotes made the rounds several times.

 

[keets]

Kansas is overloaded with otter too, but with no right of way trapping , it's about impossible to find landowners to get permission to trap the ditch....So I guess they can enjoy the coon, possum, otter and beaver . If they change just that law, it would have a big impact

 

[keets]

Give trappers 50' from the centerline of the road and everything gets better in 1 season

 

[b116757]

Keets
I’m in bourbon county

 

[keets]

I'll be back for the December deer season, and back next winter for a couple weeks to do predator control work, lety me know if you need some work done