There are all sorts of raccoon traps available in hardware stores as well as those advertised on the Internet. Generally speaking they are good quality raccoon traps and they can be used to trap raccoons as well as other animals such as squirrels, rabbits, ground hogs and other animals that may be causing problems for you around your home and even in your attic which is the problem we had. Essentially a family of raccoons set up home in our attic and raised two young babies and generally made a mess before we could get them out. Along the way we learned a few things about raccoon traps and getting rid of raccoons which we would like to share with you.
For starters, do not try to trap the raccoons while their young are in your attic unless you also plan to go in the attic and remove the young raccoons as well. The parents will always come back to the den and if you have blocked the entrance, they will literally take
your roof apart trying to get back into the den to return to their young babies. Raccoons also have 4 or 5 dens in a neighborhood and there are at least 20 families per square mile, so if you remove one group another group is going to make their home in this den unless you take steps to get the raccoons out, effectively block the entrance with strong wire mesh and spray the inside of your attic with a chemical that gets rid of the odor of raccoons.
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We tried trapping them and were successful at trapping and removing the young raccoons once they were old enough to travel. We used a humane animal trap and placed the raccoons in a forest area. The adults are another matter. Being far more experienced at this, the adults refused to enter the trap and would try to get at the bait through the wire mesh of the cage. They would not enter the trap at all, although there was lots of evidence of them trying to get at the food. So the trap really was a waste of money.
Instead
of using a raccoon trap, what we had to do was install
a one way door over the entrance, and leave this in place
so we could be sure that the adult raccoons had left,
before permanently sealing the entrance with a heavy
gauge wire mesh that is screw nailed into the roof and
the brick. Effectively this is a far better approach
to getting
rid of raccoons vs. placing a raccoon trap to catch
them. Additionally this approach avoids dealing with
a snarling enraged raccoon who is trying to get out of
the raccoon trap if you are lucky enough to catch them
as well as other animals that might venture into the
raccoon trap such as skunks.
