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critter in my barn

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Nancy Howell

Well-known Member
A week ago I trapped & relocated raccoon #6. Now I've got another critter chowing down at my barn, but I don't know what it is. I set the trap Sunday night, Monday morning, food gone out of the trap, door sprung, but no critter. Re-set the trap Monday night. Tues morning, same thing but not all the food had been eaten.

Tues eve. I set the trap, but pinned the door open so the critter would get "comfortable" going all the way in the trap to get the food. This morning all the food had not been eaten so I know its not a raccoon.

Any ideas on what could eat the food, spring the trap and not get caught? The largest gap in the wire of the trap is about 2 in long and 3/4 of an inch wide. Hoping its not a snake.
 
You can't relocate racoons they will always return. From as far away as 40 miles I hear. You may have cought the same racoon 6 times.
 
Put a mouse trap in that trap with some peanut butter on it. And or a rat trap also. You have some sort of small rodent dining at your expense.

Gordo
 
Oh yes!

While she is at the barn setting the trap, I raid the ice box.

Last night was Angel Food Cake and fresh Watermelon for dessert.

Same again tonight if she doesn't read this post!
 
You may be raising a herd of raccoons by now? lol. The mommas will spring traps like that to protect their young and if you have them fed well they won't eat it all. We could never store bagged feed in the open of one barn because of coons and you had tie the traps down good with chains I found out rusty baling wire doesn't work when one mad one chased me back to pickup truck! Rat poison will get rid of coons and rats to be done with them.
 
animal might be to big for trap door closing on its a?? and not locking so he backs out had it happen try wiring food to trap in upper corner
 
Seems to me you have a weasel. As long as you don't have chickens, that's OK. As mentioned, could also be a mink, which is really just a weasel on steroids.
 
Just wondering if one of those game cameras would help.
Don't know if a tree rat would be big enough to trip the trap but If he did I'm sure he be freaked out enough to squeze through those holes.
 
Might be a possum. I had a something in my shop and heard rustling around in some leaves that had blown in but couldn't figure what it was. I kept hearing it but couldn't see it. Did start seeing huge turds in different places like on my workbench, floor, on top of some cabinets, etc. I set a live trap with cat food and by grannies I had caught a young possum the next morning. I took him, trap and all, about 5 miles away and let him out in a cornfield. The last I saw him he had his tail straight up and was barreling it in the general direction of Peoria.
 
What is the "food", and how big is it? Might be a smart critter that is reaching in and pulling the food out through the wire instead of going in the trap to get it.
 
Nope. Different sizes. #1 & #2 were a momma and small one. #3 & #4 were large and probably males. #5 was medium sized. #6 was medium sized and might have been a repeat offender, but not sure.
 
I am using dry cat food as bait. I know the raccoons love it and will eat several pounds in one nite. I'm going to put food all the way in the back of the tap tonite and clip the trap door open. Hope it gets "comfortable" going in the trap. Then Thurs nite, more food, but set the trap.

If I get something, I'll let ya'll know.

It it is a raccoon, it may get a ride to the farm in e. Tx. (136 miles away)

P.S. Can't use poison, don't want to kill my barn cats. Can't shoot because of the horses and barn cats in the barn, plus cement floor means a miss or stray pellet could go anywhere and I'm inside the city limits and my nasty neighbor would jump at any chance to cause me grief.
 
HI Nancy ---- haven't heard from you in a while --- the problem you have is Mice --- I've had the same problem ---
 
sprinkle some powder, flour, or dust around the trap look at the tracks and you will know depending on the type of food could be a snake and it can still get out the cage
 
On my cage traps that I use near residential areas I have a hanging bait basket in the back of the trap...also I use some smaller mesh wire to cover the back end of the trap to deter reaching in ...
Also if using certain types of cages make sure they are fastened down if they dont have a positive locking mechanism....stake em or weight em....a coon can roll one and on some traps the locks will fall back to the original position and let the door open....
 
I did that to a friend. Kept taking the food out of the trap, not springing the trap. Went on for about a week, then I started putting more food back into the trap than he started with. Second day of that I got a call, "You son of a .....". Was all in fun. We're still friends. Same guy when we were kids we made a huge box trap and set it up outside a badger den. We figured as kids, little kids that we could capture and train it to be a pet. Probably was a good thing wasn't in or didn't come out of its den when we set it up or checked it. Probably best we didn't catch it. Then was a time when we did catch a skunk in a box trap that we weren't trying to catch. We tried to make it a pet too. That didn't work out so good real fast. Was a series of mishaps pretty much starting from the moment we first opened the trap, but we idn't give up for a while, not even after getting stinked. It just didn't work out so good.

Good luck.

Mark
 

Shame on you for relocating a trapped raccoon. Why would someone else want your problems? Those critters are just going to find someone else to pester in their new location. Not to mention the risk of spreading disease to the new local animal population.

ALSO.. I'd suggest doing a little reading of your state game laws as in MOST states it is illegal to relocate trapped animals.
 
You gave me an idea.

Put a picture of our nasty neighbor near the catfood!

If his picture doesn't scare the h*ll of the critter, it will at least make the critter go blind or loose its appetite.
 
Aliens. I seed it on TV once. They live among us, you know. Since they can't go to the market (we'll pick them out by the socket on the back of their necks) they are forced to eat food from people's coon traps.

Watch and see if you notice any blue lights comin from the barn or hear any eerie music kinda like Woo-ooo-ooo-eeee-oooo-eeee-ooo. That'd be a sure sign you got alien infestation.

If so, its gonna take a thermonuclear (excuse me, according to recently established federal guidelines, that's pronounced "thermo-nu-cu-ler") device or perhaps a high voltage charge and perhaps attacks by swarms of fighter planes to rid your barn of these rascally creatures.

I don't envy you, I tell ya.
 
Aliens. I seed it on TV once. They live among us, you know. Since they can"t go to the market (we"ll pick them out by the socket on the back of their necks) they are forced to eat food from people"s coon traps.

Watch and see if you notice any blue lights comin from the barn or hear any eerie music kinda like Woo-ooo-ooo-eeee-oooo-eeee-ooo. That"d be a sure sign you got alien infestation.

If so, its gonna take a thermonuclear (excuse me, according to recently established federal guidelines, that"s pronounced "thermo-nu-cu-ler") device or perhaps a high voltage charge and perhaps attacks by swarms of fighter planes to rid your barn of these rascally creatures.

I don"t envy you, I tell ya.
 
How far do you live from the coast??? :lol:

ussiowabb61fa9-166-5.jpg


Bob
 
All this talk of coons, cats, minks, badgers, aliens, and worse, nasty neighbors got me thinking of a recent lesson.

If you ever decide to scare a squirrel with a paintball gun, be prepared to have a highly confused hot pink squirrel on your hands.

Oh, and a ticked off wife...

Aaron
 
Nancy Howell
My coons never come back.

It is probably a bigger animal, as suggested.
Trap them live and feed them a little lead - a 22 works great (before you open the trap).
Tie or block your trap so it cannot be tipped over, position the bait so the animal must get all the way in to sample the bait.
If you get a skunk cover the trap it will not spray (usually!) in a confined space. See if it can swim, 5-6 minutes is enough.
Note: Do not use a stock watering trough for this
Good luck.
Brian
 

Don't know about coons, but the pack rats here are big enough to carry a house away and that gives the swabbies the training to hit a moving target. :p

Bob
 
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