Best Bait for Raccoons?

[MysteryChicken]

Canned cat food, & BBQ chicken. Raccoons love these.

 

[Allen Hickman]

Hey, I can attest to the fact that raccoons love bacon. I was camping a few years ago, and I woke up (in my tent) and looked outside just in time to see a raccoon carrying off an entire lb of bacon that he had just got out of my cooler sitting on the picnic table. Learned a lesson that night...leave my cooler in the car trunk. LOL...

 

[Henanigan]

I've had bobcats and raccoons visit but they cant get in cuz thanks to the mice in the early days of my new coop I made sure to protect my hens with security cameras, Solar power motion sensor lights and hardware cloth around the perimeter of the run and coop.

 

[luckydawn]

So about a year ago on a dreary day I watched as a raccoon walked from our front yard along the side to our back yard under our deck. We didn’t see him after that. Fast forward to a few days ago, about 4 days after our fence was installed in our back yard, it was another dreary day and out was our lovely raccoon friend wandering the fence looking very confused. He eventually went under our upper building I’m pretty sure. We set a live cage trap with an apple but no luck. From experience what is the best bait to use?
We are getting chickens most likely this weekend so the faster we can relocate the boogers the better.

Chickens are great raccoon bait! Also shrimp ir fish near. Good luck.

 

[spartacus_63]

Hey, I can attest to the fact that raccoons love bacon. I was camping a few years ago, and I woke up (in my tent) and looked outside just in time to see a raccoon carrying off an entire lb of bacon that he had just got out of my cooler sitting on the picnic table. Learned a lesson that night...leave my cooler in the car trunk. LOL...

Slide your cooler under the picnic table bench seat. This prevents the racoons from opening the lids and you from having to load and unload the cooler each night.

 

[Nelson-Collier]

My girls love oysters, sardines, and bananas

I might know a lil something or 2 about coons

Holy cow could I get some more pictures of those babies

 

[2hotchicks]

Coons are only dangerous to chickens if you have failed to do your part to provide safe housing. I'm up to my neck in all manner of varmints and as a matter of course, I don't trap em, because I don't have to. If you are going to rely on trapping to save your birds, prepare for losses. Plus there is an endless supply of varmints always waiting their turn......so pack a lunch.......you are going to be at this for awhile.

Where trapping comes in is as a temporary solution to stop any carnage until you can get the security shored up.

And as for relocation........that ain't the solution.....for a lot of reasons, many of which are about to show up to help explain it. So in general, assumption should be if you trap it, you kill it.......and if you can't accept that......then don't trap it. Find another way......aka, Fort Knox housing.

But that isn't what you asked for help with.........if you insist on doing it your way.....dry cat food......if you want to turbocharge that, give it a whiff of bacon grease. Make a "bread crumb" like trail starting just outside the door.....a morsel here, a morsel there.....leading to a bigger pile scattered around at the back of the trap. Scatter it loose on the wire.....so each piece is beneath the wire.

I agree, security is the answer.

 

[SimplyLivinthatFarmLife]

Actually surprisingly marshmallows! They love the sugar. I've had about 3 flocks decimated by raccoons. If they are nesting around your place, get rid of them! I wasn't too worried about them until they tore down an eave and decided my attic was a home. Now I have 10k worth of damage that insurance won't cover. I used to think they were cute, until I picture my dead mangled chickens. Now I vigilantly trap and destroy, to which my neighbors are delighted that I do.

I understand. I had raccoons take out my flock of guineas minus one. We set up a camera along with traps using cat food- cheapest you can find- and were able to catch them. Originally, we thought it was just one, but oh were we surprised. I believe we caught about 8 of them.

 

[fishin_dad]

Stinky baits such as sardines, tuna, and cat food will catch opossum quicker than raccoons. If you just want to target a raccoon use a honey bun with a few drops of vanilla extract.

 

[mdees88]

Just checked my trap and found this guy in it. Set the trap the day before yesterday, baited with a honeybun....