Tip to Catch a Smart Raccoon in a Cage Trap

It’s usually not too tough to catch a raccoon in a live trap.

If you put some sweet bait (like marshmallows) in and around a cage trap and put the trap in the travel path of the raccoon, its very likely that you’ll catch the raccoon quickly and easily.

But, if you do this and find that the bait is always gone but the trap has not been triggered, you may have a bait-stealer on your hands.

A bait-stealer is a raccoon that has figured out a cage style trap and consistently avoids stepping on the trigger.

We theorize these are raccoons that have been captured and released before, but we can never be sure.

We do know that some raccoons seem to smarter than others and know how to get the bait without getting captured.

This post gives some tips to deal with the frustrating bait-stealing raccoon and get it captured.

Cage Trapping Tips Reviewed

Before we get to today’s tip please refer to some basic tips we presented in this older post.

Basic Cage Trapping Tips

Today’s Tip

Let’s assume that you’ve reviewed the older tips and are still having the bait stolen.

Here’s what can be done:

As Ryan explained, putting a block through the trap that has to be stepped over or around can have great results.
Making the space they are trying to get to narrower, can force them to trigger the trap even if they know to avoid the trigger.