Raccoon Trapping: A Progression

The simplest way to capture a troublesome raccoon is to acquire a live trap, bait it, and wait.

In theory, the hungry and curious raccoon goes into the trap, sets off the trigger, and is captured. Easy-peasy!

Is it really that easy? It can be. But, it can also be more involved.

Today’s post reiterates the progression of raccoon trapping from baited traps on the ground to traps hung on entry/exit points.

We’ve got a video which shows a tougher case where Ryan ended up making a set that requires some specialied equipment and experience.

How Does the Raccoon Respond?

Here’s the situation: You’ve heard what you believe is a raccoon in your attic and go to investigate.

Where two roof eaves come together you see the soffit is loose or bent. It seems raccoons have found a weak spot have exploited it.

After a few noisy nights, you’ve come to realize that your new neighbors are pretty obnoxious and like to keep different hours than you. They have to go.

So how would you capture the raccoon?

Trap Location

So you’ve acquired some raccoon traps and baited them with a sweet bait like marshmallows, where will you put the traps?

Some raccoon trappers would place the traps on the ground close to spots where the raccoons are believed to be accessing the roof.

The raccoons could be accessing the roof by climbing a tree, a downspout, a fence, or something similar. A trap at the base of a these climbing spots does work.

Those who choose this route avoid climbing ladders, working on roofs, and getting caged raccoons off of roofs. You’ll probably want to start this way.

The trade-off for a ground location for your trap is that you’re never quite certain that you’ve caught the actual offenders. Spots are also more difficult to pinpoint when it seems there is more than one roof access (requires traps at multiple locations).

In the end, you have to maintain the traps and keep trapping until you stop hearing the noise. This could take a while and has a feeling of randomness to it.

Another stumbling block you may encounter could be a trap shy raccoon that just walks by your offering because of other nearby food sources or experience with traps.

Locating Traps on Roof

To be less random and make sure the raccoon is seeing the bait, you could get a little more sophisticated and place the trap on the roof close to the entry.

This is where we often start.

By placing traps on the roof by the entrance we are almost assured that our baits will tempt the offenders immediately and often. These traps are in direct contact with the travel path of the offenders; there is no randomness to it at all. These captured raccoons knew about that hole and we’re either coming out of it or going in it.

If you choose this option, please note that the traps are secured to plywood to prevent shingle damage from scratching or soiling. Additionally, the plywood bases are screwed to the roof under the shingles to prevent rolling off the roof. (And don’t forget sealing the screw holes with an appropriate adhesive once the job is done.)

Going to the Raccoons: The Next Step

Thus far, we’ve employed standardly baited raccoon traps on the roof instead of the ground to focus our catch on an absolute travel path and get the offenders quickly.

But, with baited cage traps, there is always the possibility of a raccoon by-passing the trap for a multitude of reasons.

This would be evidenced by you having caught some raccoons but still hearing noise in your attic, soffit, or walls.

At this point, we suggest the gold standard of going to the raccoon which is to place a non-baited trap directly in the travel path. In trapping lingo this is referred to as a “positive set” and takes nearly all of the guess work out of raccoon removal.

Here is a roof with the third and last raccoon. It was caught in a “positive set” with a double door trap.

The trap was placed right on top of the entrance hole so that the only way in or out of the hole was to travel through the trap. With both doors up, this raccoon poked its head out of the hole and saw a clear travel path. As it followed this path, it brushed the wire trigger mechanism hanging between the two doors. Brushing the trigger fired the spring loaded doors.

Unlike a baited trap which a raccoon must choose to go into, there is no choice here.

After removing this raccoon, the same system can be employed to make sure no other raccoons are coming or going.

Here is a very recent video which shows a raccoon job where the raccoon would not go into the baited trap placed very close to the hole.

Confirming the raccoon was ignoring the trap with a game camera, Ryan took the trapping to the next and best level.

Take caution employing this system if there is a strong suspicion there is more than one animal present. This is why we didn’t start this way. Blocking the one and only exit with others still inside could force the raccoons trapped inside to look for, or make for themselves, alternate exits. That would only bring more headache for you.