Jonesie, I'm still waiting for the day that some animal hits the cage so hard that it goes right through!

You guys are great! I really appreciate the info!!!!
Looking at this pic

I know the majority of everything (including birds) are entering here.
Cage traps at base of trees?
155's half way up?
Cage on roof?
Block 80% of opening and guard 20% with 155's?
I don't have any exluders.

For Ohio operators,

Legal size for body gripping traps for licensed CNWCO's is 6 inches with an exception with groundhogs. The 5 inch rule only applies to nonlicensed individuals. If you receive any type of compensation (money, food, etc.) for performing nuisance services for any wild animal (including mice and rats) by Ohio law you must have an annual Commercial Nuisance Wild Animal Control license and every three years pass the certification for a Certified Nuisance Wild Animal Control Operator.

These changes took place last year when the law was enacted to create a Commercial Nuisance Wild Animal Control license and a rewrite of the nuisance regulations that removed the use of 7 inch body gripping traps in buildings but authorized 6 inch body gripping traps on land, in buildings, and on buildings, 5 inch lethal snares on land (including buildings), and clarified the groundhog rule to allow 5 inch body gripping traps set in the den entrance without having to have an enclosure that prevents animals from entering from the outside like you need with a 6 or 7 inch body gripping trap.

However, just because we can use these tools does not mean we should especially in view of others. You can view a list of licensed CNWAC's by county like Coonwacka and myself (Bats, Birds, & More, Inc.) along with the Ohio nuisance regulations and rules at www.owcoa.com.

Coonwacka, I hadn't responded to this thread yet because I'm unsure what you were asking. Being the overly anal retentive individual I am, I wasn't sure if you were asking how to approach this job, sets to use, equipment placement, or something else. Based on the responses posted so far, I'd recommend first defining what the problem is and then making a plan from there. In other words, are the raccoons the problem or are they simply a symptom of the problem (access, damage, disease, etc.).

From the pictures you've posted, I'd recommend putting up trash bags or some other cheap material over the openings so you can determine travel pathways and when a breach to the structure has occurred. Without some sort of monitoring mechanism, it is impossible to guarantee to the client that you've got everything removed so they can begin the repairs, which can easily turn into your word against theirs if something like a fire or bite happens.

Next, move outside the structure to catch any problem animals instead of inside. The coons have to be getting in from somewhere and your focus needs to be to locate those areas. Even though it looks like they can go wherever they want, I'm sure that they have preferred entrance points and that is what you need to find and then set appropriately. Anytime you set in the attic you're invading their comfort zone. Think of it like someone breaking into your house while you're home. How long will it take you to be relaxed and comfortable again? I guarantee that your comfort level will return much quicker when it is a neighbors house that is broken into than you own home. Will you catch some animals by setting in the attic? Sure, but what do you do for that last coon that's previously been trapped and left in the cage trap by a homeowner for 5 days before being set free at the park down the road? That coon will be hard enough to catch outside of the home let alone inside of it.

If this would have been my call I would have blocked off the potential access points with material the coons can easily tear through, set cage traps at potential access points to the structure, and applied Vanish to coon sized (fist sized) openings in the materials then reblocking them before trying other techniques.

When approaching a job like this, I recommend asking yourself how do you know if the noises the client is hearing are from rats, mice, squirrels, starlings, raccoons, opossums, building materials, or something else? With openings like this, what you hear making noise now may be made from something different in just a couple of hours.

So true with the size and amount of opening, ALL the critters in that dwelling! I had couple squirrel traps near openings and all the bait was licked clean from mice each day.
So far got 2 coons.

I truly appreciate all the information you guys are giving!
Thank YOU!!!

My instinct is to look for location for a positive set and block secondary entry points to leave just one or two openings. They animals have to move. Lots of guys send us pics of traps screwed into walls, soffits etc. in every possible position, vertical, sideways, upside down, side by side and run nearly 100% success with positive sets since the animal has but one way to enter, where the trap or traps are. Skunks, woodchucks and squirrels are all dealt with in the same manner, when feasible. About the only time I would pass, at least in the beginning, if an entire area of entry was too large to block. But even for skunks under an open porch, I carry small sheets of aluminum, very light, and can block 20 or 30 feet in a minute, while all but guaranteeing a catch.

Jim, would you please send that post to every one of our guys before I start disemboweling them one by one!

My wife asked why I don't go look at their jobs when they're having a hard time?

The answer is simple; I'm now licensed for concealed carry and I didn't plan on any of our guys being the first victim.

I checked a job today. All three cages were empty, closed, and no bait. I'm still fuming!

I just can't get a cage to fit in the left corner of the last pic! Roof is horizontal from what you can see, however, entry is left side, behind tree. Roof line there drops to the left. 2 trusses one directly to you (as pic shows) the other pitching down to the left. Hard to explain, a hip style roof. The "soffit" is wood and it's brittle plus the window is right there. My only guess is getting a 155 inside. It necks down to 5" travel route. I just have to figure out how to set it rigid.

Paul, you are welcome to copy the post or have them call me for a pep talk. Some of those spots are tough, a lot of figuring. A wire nose cone mounted sideways with a cage mounted sideways to match I think would do it. The affair might need just a little wire or blocking on the lower part of the nose cone, tough to describe too. Some boards would have to fill the other gaps and the cage secured to handle a coon.

In lieu of many trips and just crossing your fingers and hoping when I get a critter that is difficult, I would happily trade extra trips, gas and travel on a chance for even a couple of hours of work that translates into a "sure thing." Love to leave a location knowing I have it covered and will make the catch with no options left for the animal, but to get caught.

I think your area and type of service that company is offering will determine what methods a control person wants to use. In my state only snares or cages can be used. so I have to plan on that, also what are the goals of the job. Is it is a trap job, or is it a full seal up, or just a patch the hole thing. I am called in by the builders or carpenters a lot, to just get the coons/squirrels out so they can do the repair work. kinda nice as I don't warranty the work and when the critters get back in I get another job LOL Next, what is the animals use to seeing, For example in my area at least 40 percent of my coon are trap shy, why? simple, my state is the most densely populated state per mile in the country. and has been for as long as any of us on this site can remember. People and I are trappers, have been trapping their own coons for years, take them to a park, school yard or a patch of woods and turn the coon loose, also every 3 year wonder, reads and hears how great positive sets are! and one way doors are! And they are till the coon see's it one time !!!!!!! again, they turn it loose, who knows where and say Run Run be free LOL run run to the next house just 500 yards away!!!! LOL I am disagreeing with both Paul and Jim at this point BUT I DO HAVE A SMILE ON MY FACE LOL as I see Pauls face getting red and his neck swelling up LOL I will be seeing Jim in April so he will chime in then LOL So it is not uncommon for me to just place a trap by the entry hole, not even set the trap and the coon will leave. and not come back until the trap is taken away, only then to just start ripping shingle off the roof line or pulling aluminum capping off. so if the customer tells me they want the coon out fast and I know the coon is in the attic, I will positive as you all say. I call it force the hole. But this can backfire on me as I will have some bad coon as I call them, sometimes not come out for 3 to 5 days all the time trying to find another way out, and the customer in my ears saying I heard it all night long again last night this is the 3nd night can't you wave a magic wand? LOL many of them will find a way out from inside, those plastic gable vents don't do much to hold a coon in LOL When I force I tell the customer I am not responsible for the coon if it blows something out or comes down into the living space. I will repair the blow out but it will cost extra. By the way that coon will be killed if and when I catch it. My coon except for females ready to drop the young, Like right in this phase in my area, now at this time of year, will be travelers. so my sows will be on a 5 to 8 day circuit, my breeder males will be on a 8 to 10 day circuit, this time of year the sows ready to drop will be there every day from now till June. Ok so getting back to the beginning statement of trap shy. If I do not think the coon is inside I will set the trap on the ground where they are going onto the structure, most of the time on the corners or downspouts. for the first day, if the coon is not shy or smart I will have it the first night or as soon as it come back. if it just walks by the trap then I know it is not shy, maybe smart, but I will move it up to the hole. if I think the coon is shy or it is trap smart I will go to the baited coon box with a snare.

That pic that was shown I would anticipate squirrels in there during the time frames that the coon are not there. so I would want everything closed down to one hole so I could monitor the activity, IE squirrels and or raccoon I would put duct tape across the one hole to see what sign is there. By the way I have to promote baits and lure use, what kind of bait and lure manufacture would I be if I didn't !!!!!! lol

On the contrary, Jonesie, after reading your post, I would have to agree that the entire population of New Jersey is pretty dense.

LOL

Maybe I should be happy that our coon were wiped out by rabies after all. Coon have without a doubt been the most difficult critter to deal with from a perspective of making cages that catch, cages that they can't get out of and cages that will hold them without getting destroyed. It wasn't easy, a nightmare at times. Anyone turning coon loose, should be called to recapture each and every one. I hear lots of stories about released coons, something I never thought much about. Sometimes a wire trigger will work for a smart one when they have been pan trapped and released, but certainly not always by any means. I know when animals get cage shy they won't enter anything for any reason. There's not a lot to do, except maybe plan B, a snare, or a foot trap here, something you can hide.

Have not had to deal with a coon in an attic that will not come out for days, but feel your pain, a no win for sure. Getting a call from a client at midnight with a coon banging around....not the hot set up as they say. Caddy Shack, with no real answers.

Do coon excluders do any good? or I guess a coon would have to go through the excluder same as a cage and might not and even pass through it and if he did he'd be probably try to get back in again.

That is the problem Jim, you hit the nail on the head. If we do get them out. next year they are back and ripping the place apart. I have found that sows just like female squirrels for whatever reason, atleast in high pressure areas, when they choose a home, even though they leave now, I can count on them coming back next time around the circuit, or like now this time of year, that sow may leave now because I took the safty factor away, stuck in the attic is a good harassment technic but sucks as a methods.LOL she will come back next march. Started a job yesterday where he the customer has been chasing coon out for many years, every year at this time. it is a big coon he thinks. Made 4 holes in the dormer soffits in the last week. I will tell you this I think your style of trap may work better on a force on these trap shy coon. also I am redoing all my pans to the pan design I had years ago in my cage traps that I made. to try to fool some of these coon.

And PAUL that was not nice to say Took me a few mins but I got your thoughts I am still laughing

If I can get serious for a minute ( but only a minute ) I think we are finding less cage shy raccoons than we used to. First of all, most of our males will go into cages like opossums; just as long as there is food, they'll go into a cage every day.

The important thing, I believe, is using your head when you release them. If you release raccoons like I do, you will probably never see them again and if you do it will be in a cage. I let them go in an area of both trapping and raccoon hunting. Not to mention that expressways are east, west, and south of the release areas and probably kill more raccoons than hunting, trapping, and distemper, put together.

Since I never release female raccoons in an urban area, we don't get the kind that Jonesie is talking about. Lactating female raccoons are wary enough without having been caught before. I do like the difference in cages. Wickenkamp, Tomahawk, and Comstock, all present a different look to a raccoon.

Jonesies, if I have to put LOL after every smart remark that I make, I'm either going to have to get better material or a sharper audience!

My offspring have a counter to LOL. It's called DEH, which stands for Don't Encourage Him!

All in fun. That is what makes this stuff so interesting. Different areas have things that are the same and things that are different. I am lucky as I am sure as a lot of you on here, I/we talk to guys all over the country that tell us what and when in their areas. animals adapt they have to or they die. I get a chance to see or hear from folks that I trust on how things are not the same in different areas and pressures. In my area even though we have a lot of farmland there are houses everywhere. once a critter is born in a house it is another house or building that they are going to. there is not a place where I can turn a coon loose and it not be able to find a house in a hours time So we hope as Paul stated, Good year, we have a lot of cars and roads so good year takes a lot of those problems out on a relocated coon. they get stupid to cars and such when relocated. in other areas in the country, you have places where the coon may not be able to find a house fast and they either don't make it or adapt to wherever.

hey how come no one else is saying anything ?

They're probably all out making money while you and sit here twiddling our thumbs and talking smart.

Looks similar to a job I did last year.
They had opossums and coon everywhere.
I used 10 bucket sets in the attic with 160's and 220's and had 6-8 critters per check for 3 checks then dropped to 1-2/nite for another 2-3 nites.