Can a raccoon do this?

[timvdo]

Last night I set out a live trap and this is what found this morning:

Some digging around the trap.

Released door has been busted.

I've used some peanut butter, big marshmallows and some burnt fat from a steak dinner as bait.

Last couple weeks I have successfully trap and disposed of 2 large coons and an opossum without any damage to the trap.

Any suggestions of how to make this an escape proof trap?

Thanks

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I bought a cheap version of a trap from harbor freight that looked like that.
I caught an opossum and then a raccoon destroyed the trap the next night. It literally tore it apart. Strong little buggers and they do dig a lot. I took the trap back and they refunded my money.
A trap has to be strong enough to hold what it's intended for.
I now set the trap on a wooden rack I made to keep them from digging. I put a plastic tarp under it once and they pulled the entire into the trap in shreds. It took a half hour to extract the debris.

ETA
Raccoons avoid traps like that so I've started using duke dog proof leg hold traps for coons and conibear traps for mink

 

[timvdo]

http://m.lowes.com/product?langId=-...=3030688&store=0404&view=detail&nValue=SEARCH
This is the one that I got from lowes about a month ago. It's been working great until today so I wasn't sure if it was a coon that did it. It has to be really strong to escape once the trap is shut because there is little room to move around inside.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Incredibly strong. I'll try to find the video for you where a raccoon is trapped in a garage on an automatic door opener. It manages to lift the door enough to escape. There was also a trap set and baited in the garage which the raccoon ignored.

 

[tcstoehr]

Wow. I have a similar looking trap in which I have caught many raccoons. I never thought they could break their way out of it. Looking at your pictures it does seem to me that your model has a weaker door and locking mechanism.
No doubt in my mind this was a raccoon.
I will reiterate what was said above. Your trap is a total loss, return it if you can as it has failed in its primary advertised function. That raccoon has now learned to never ever walk into such a trap again, so a similar replacement won't work on him. I haven't used a Duke Dog Proof trap but I have read many reviews that swear by them. That's the option I personally would take next.

 

[thomasboyle]

Yes, raccoons can rip apart cheaply made traps. I reinforce my traps, especially the control arms supporting the trap door with additional steel rods. I take electrical tape and wrap a steel rod to the original rods. Makes it so they won't bend. Most traps are made of aluminum, and its just not strong enough to hold together under a stressed out raccoon.

 

[timvdo]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think I'll re-enforce it with some steel rod and try it again to see what happen. Didn't keep the receipt or original box to return it back to the store.

 

[kari_dawn]

depending on the store, you may not need a receipt. specially if you paid with a card, and they can look you up in the computer. traps (even the cheaply made ones) are too expensive to fail you, and then not be returnable. And yes, a raccoon can (and probably DID) absolutely tear those apart.