big coon trapping

i have a lady that allegedly has 60Lb coon and i have no idea how to take care of this problem i am thinking big big live traps? any ideas thanks!

Don't hold your breath! We've probably caught more than thirty thousand raccoon and the biggest one was 43 pounds and the second

biggest 37. An extra extra large coon probably weighs 29 pounds. Course we don't put our thumb on the scale either.

Geez! 29,37,43 and 60 lb coons. Lol! Y'all keep them up North. These 10 lb coons down here do enough damage.

Well said North40R! Since I get paid the same for a 9 pounder as I do for a 29 pounder, the thrill of catching large raccoons has

been disappearing at a faster rate, the older I get!

I have trapped 30 pound coon, but 15 pounds of the wt. was the dirt they hauled into the trap.

I have trapped 30 pound coon, but 15 pounds of the wt. was the dirt they hauled into the trap.

On some of the trap models if the door is bumped the door will fall. You might want to make sure the cage is tall enough if you use one of those models. Maybe at least 15 to 16 inches.

Kirk, you and I have not got into an argument about anything until now. Your raccoon statement is one of the dumbest things I've seen

and I'm reasonably sure that it's Comstock motivated. Before I knew either you or Jim existed, I told the world that almost any sized

raccoon that can be caught in a 10x12 cage, can be caught in a 9x9x26 inch cage. That statement still stands. And those little coons

you have in Georgia can probably be caught in skunk cages. If your raccoons need 15 or 16 inch cages, they must be walking on their

hind feet standing up. I will listen to you talk about beaver because you know a lot more than I do but selling over-sized traps for

raccoon is just dumb: Not only for the buyer but the raccoon tends to hurt himself more in an over-sized cage.

The original post said he had an extremely large coon to catch. Most people don,t want to spend a lot of money on a trap especially if they have to pay shipping. So when using a trap for maybe one animal they might want to save money. So I was making a suggestion so as to a recommendation based on experience. He could buy a large duke or a large freedom brand and get it shipped cheaper than one of mine. The trap could be bought locally. How the trap functions dictates how it is best set.

He might even set the trap elevated so the coon would go up into the trap making the opening appear larger and less likely for the animal to bump the door. Maybe he has a trap that will work especially if the trap is set to where the animal goes "up" into it.

I really don't think you have a 60 pounder to catch more like 20. my biggest was 35 and a 32 and have never come close again. a 22 pounder will look a bear to folks that are not use to seeing coon running around. set the trap and catch the coon.

It would be a good time to have a camera on the set. Then you would see what came up and how it reacted.

Don't get the wrong idea Kirk. If the guy had to choose between Duke, Freedom, or yours, it should be yours, no matter how much extra

the cost. Since it usually takes three northern raccoon to weigh 60 pounds, I'm thinking along the lines of normal sized animals.

Come on guys a 60lb coon....how many times have you been told by a client that "this coon won't fit in your cage"? I'm sure lots, experience will tell you those giant coons are as hard to find as obami's birth certificate. Just buy standard coon size cages and trap those standard 11-15lb coons and when you get on a job with a monster...well an 18lb coon will fit too lol. Listen to these Midwest guys with years under their belts, you will get monsters occasionally but they still fit in standard cages. In 20yrs I have gotten 2 over 30 and when you get one you will stare in awe at the size of it.

And a 30 pounder will still fit in a standard size cage, he will fill it up a bit, but still fit. If you bait him right, he will go in.

i said that she has them allegedly i haven't actually caught one yet but they live in an old shed surrounded by cornfields and irrigation ditches these aren't city coons!
i have caught 45 lb coon several times this year i had a 49 incher this spring that weighed 41 and another that was a 34 incher that weighed 32 lbs all in a havahart live trap they get big around here and are well fed and not bothered. these are North Western coons that grow big and mean!

Thanks for all the input

Paul that was one of the dumbest replies ever written you owe Kirk an apology. Adding your knowledge to a thread doesn't have to tear down someone else's.

You are absolutely right, Mr. Brooker. I apologize sincerely. Now if you would tell me exactly which part of my post you would have

me further apologize even more for, I would be happy to do it.

P.S. If you could use your considerable sway in this business to make it able for me to trap 30,000 coyotes and cottontails, I would

gladly send you a rather large check along with my apologies.

Once again, I am more than a little surprised. I have never ever caught any of those big, fat, humungous raccoons in the country.

(And I used to raccoon hunt fairly regularly) Those city raccoons that Mabey is referring to, are the ones that squeeze themselves

out of the nearest sewer, waddle across the street to McDonalds and gorge themselves on Big Macs. All of the biggest raccoons that

we've ever caught came from the city, not the country. In the country nobody asks the the raccoons; "Would you like fries with that?"

It is Idaho Falls. Look at his location. Where he is they grow very high yields of corn , potato, beets, alfalfa and more. Higher TDN on average than other areas of the U.S. with a lower lignin content. The elevation is around 4000'. The climate, elevation, and food supply is one of the best areas in the U.S. for large coon. Go about 80 miles north east and your in a completely different situation.
Spent a little time there about 12 years ago buying dairy heifers for a farm in Kansas. One of the most productive areas for farming I have ever seen and I use to spend 4 months out of the year, for years, on farms in the Midwest. Some of the best farmers and nicest people I have ever met in my life.

I have to admit I haven't caught big monster "city coon" myself, maybe 18lb or so. My biggest have came from hog feed mills (paylene I would guess) and a barn 20ft from an apple press. Just goes to prove junk food is not good for you lol.

This is an especially interesting topic to yours truly. Before probably around 1976 we did not have a very large raccoon population.

I weighed every one of the largest raccoons that I caught between 1956 and 1986. There were only about 800 raccoons that I caught in

that 30 year period. I had several that weighed 29 pounds but none that weighed 30. It was only after we got in the ADC business that

I finally got some over 30 pounds. And as I recall, never over 32 pounds. And of course, the majority of these heavy raccoons were

caught in late fall. I can't help but wonder, even now, when I catch a large bodied raccoon in summer, how much more it might weigh

in late fall?

It wasn,t until the mid 1970's that vaccination programs and worming programs for dogs and cattle took off. Now because of products like Ivomec Bot flies are not prevalent like they were in farm animals and wild animals. Rabbits, squirrels, deer, and virtually all animals suffered to a great degree from their presence. I remember in the 70's as many as 50 bot fly grubs coming out of the backs of my cows. Ivomec eliminated that.

Almost all states are Brucellosis free now, allowing for deer and elk numbers to flourish.

Vertually all or most farms now vaccinate for lepto, IBR, Black leg, even pink eye. This prevents the spread of disease to the animals they used to give it to. Even TB in animals is now almost non existent.

Now at the same time average crop yields have tripled allowing for more farm production and more in field leftovers before and after harvest.

Not only have crop yields increased but TDN, including protein, fiber, and oil levels have greatly improved.

Not only are the wild animals less bothered with insects, disease, and helped by stronger regulation, but they are just fed better, especially in farm areas.

In the south in 1960 they eliminated the screw worm that was destroying up to 80% of new born animals.

There is your answer Paul.

Thanks Kirk! I especially appreciate you taking the time to give such a thorough answer since my dad made his living buying and

selling beef and dairy cattle. And yes, I got to know our local veterinarian quite well. My dad also got fairly good at giving shots.

When we shipped cattle out of the country, ( Canada, Cuba, Puerta Rico, etc. ) they really got a series of shots. Interesting how

that affected the wildlife. I would never have tied the two together. I guess that's my lesson for today!

thanks Kirk you are the only help that i have had on this subject thanks to all though!!!

Whats TDN and Lignin?

Sorry bout that Mabey! A big live trap would be my guess. A DP will probably hold it if it can't get to something to tangle up.

TDN- Total Digestable Nutrients Lignin is much harder to explain. As a matter of fact I won't even try. I know what it is but not really able to put it into words.

Lignin has to do with digestible fiber of the plant. The lower the lignin content the more digestible and basically more nutrition in the plant.

The higher the elevation the plant is grown the lower the lignin content is and more digestible. Idaho has some of the best alfalfa hay in the world. There is a point or optimum elevation for each plant species. Idaho has areas of optimum soil and plant combinations for potatoes, corn, beets, and alfalfa.

I have purchased alfalfa from Idaho in the past that had a higher relative food value than the best corn silage I ever grew. Some tested 3 times better than my best locally grown hay.

Talking about optimum soil and plant combinations relative to elevation.

To get technical: The greater the relative food value related to lower lignin the faster the food goes through the gut. The faster it goes through the quicker the animal is to be hungary. At the same time, depending on what fiber levels it needs and food available, the animal is able to absorb more and grows larger faster due to the faster process in his gut causing the animal to eat more and more.

If the food supply is there they get fat in a hurry or get bigger and taller depending on other factors such as protein to energy ratios in the food as well as mineral content.

There I knew someone could explain it better than me. I've fed a few cows in my life and I live in the corn forrest so I have ran across all these terms before. Most of the ones I've fed were started on the bottle so the way my stuff grew is off from most. From 3 days old to cut off their head time averaged 19 months on Holstien Cross. We don't have as big of coons here as we did when I was young but we don't hardly have any feed lots left, their saving grace in my opinion has been notill beans.

hey thanks again to ya all

Ok, I don't do much ADC but I do know human weaknesses for exaggerating animal sizes. There is the distinct possibility it is a 17 pounder and not a 60 pounder she saw. That being said, I've taken coon close to 30 pounds in Williams cages sized 12x12x30 and they worked just fine