Big Raccoon

[the blur]

I keep a few cams at ground level just to see what's going on.   This boy looks pretty big.

He's very proficient at ripping up my back lawn..  Ripping into my garbage.    Looks pretty healthy, no mange.  

Not sure what I'd do with him, so I haven't set the trap yet.

 

[turkeyfeathers]

catch him , skin him , put on stretcher and when dry send to Moyles minkery to get tanned. 

You sure skunks weren't digging up your lawn looking for grubs ? Coons aren't really known for that 

[the blur]

This is another one, either ripping up the lawn, or taking a dump on my lawn.    You need to look carefully, and you can see the tail & the body.    One morning I saw 4 coons ripping up the lawn.    Just at day light, & they had no problem being out there at 1st light.   So there must of been a lot of grubs.

[wolc123]

A box trap baited with a peanut butter coated marshmellow works very well.  When and if they get too smart for that, a little cat food poured into the bottom of a dog-proof "beer-can" style trap will get them every time.   Fortunately, raccoons are about the easiest furbearer there is to trap.  Does anyone know what the hides are fetching this season?   I have let the buzzards eat quite a few due to the poor market in recent years.  Some day, I might toss a carcass in the crockpot, because I heard they are not bad eating.  I imagine that one which has been on a steady sweetcorn diet would be especially tasty and there is only one way to find out if that is true.

A few winters ago, about this time of year, I found a big one dead out in my barn with his head stuck under the bucket of my tractor, and his foot tangled in the netting of a big salmon net that he must have dragged around for a while before getting stuck and suffocating.  The fur was very "prime" on that one so I gave it to my cousin who skinned it and tanned it for me.    

Trapping season is open now, and NY state regulations allow a landowner to trap raccoons that are causing property damage to be trapped and killed by the landowner without a licence or a DEC permit.  During open trapping season, you may dispose of the carcass almost any way you wish (I prefer tossing them out in a field and letting the buzzards and coyotes eat them).  A landowner may also trap and kill raccoons, that are causing damage, without a licence or DEC permit, prior to the opening of trapping season, but the carcass must be burried or burned.   

[turkeyfeathers]

Nobody even buying coons this year. So 0$ 

[wolc123]

Thanks, now I don't feel so bad about feeding so many to the birds this year.

[the blur]

The trapping class wasn't easy; but it was worth the effort.    Therefore, any Raccoon  I catch, I need to do something with.

Maybe a hat, or a full mount.   Maybe even a rug.  Or maybe just hang the pelt on the wall, but that's kinda plain.  

I'd never catch it just because it's a nuisance, which it is.   

I have until March to decide if he'll be a wall hanger, or wait until next season. 

 

[the blur]

I watch these Raccoon's on my cams.    It's so interesting, once the temperatures drops below 25, or if it snows; I won't see a Raccoon for days.   They just hold out until the weather warms up.    I don't even see a foot print in the snow.   Very curious animal.