About two weeks ago, before everything started to freeze solid, I set out a short trapline for raccoons, just outside the city limits in some of the canals. I made a combination of pocket sets, blind sets, and walk-thru’s.
My first set was a walk-thru set, shown below. Notice that the bait is smeared on a post jutting out from the grassy bank, and the stick further out is designed to encourage the coon or mink to walk in between the two ‘posts’ to investigate the bait. The trap is placed between the two posts, buried in the muck. I used a crawdad paste bait.
Next are a couple of pocket sets. I simply dug out a hole, or pocket, in the bank and put bait and lure in the back of the hole. With these sets, the trap goes almost directly in front of the hole, and dirt or other debris is piled on the sides to force the animal to enter from the lowest point and step on the trap. Here I used egg shells and fish oil.
At the next location, I dug a hole in the bank using my trowel and put some bait and a squirt of fish oil in the hole. I placed the trap in a few inches of water just below the hole and used the stake to force the coon to work close to the bank and step over the trap.
And finally, my favorite location. The set below is located at the edge of a double-culvert wall where lots of critters travel through. The bait is smeared on the concrete wall and also on the ground near the wall. The rocks form an artificial cubby, which is guarded at the open end with a raccoon trap. This would turn out to be my most productive set.
I also set some snares in well-used trails and made a couple of sets with conibears. I couldn’t wait for the next few days of tending traps!
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