Picked up 50 acres that is very urban. Pile of coons. On 50 acres I’ve caught 53 since dec 14. 90% in dog proofs. A few have mastered the art of scraping everything out and not being caught. This has happened with sardines, moist cat food, dry cat food, marshmallows. No clue how they pull it off as I would struggle to do it with a pair of forceps. Running Z traps so push/pull style.

Any suggestions/fixes?

You sure it's coon cleaning them out?

Sounds like mice or smaller rats.

Cover the top with something to keep the small critters out.
Stick something ON the trigger.

Do you have the caps? I have them premanately attached to trap with cable. Amazing how many time you lose them. You could also use sheep's wool with molasses below and on the trigger. I've been hammering coon like crazy with that.

Caps will keep the rain and mice out of your DPs and save your bait.

I use golf balls to cover my traps, I pick them up at yard sales usually a dollar a dozen . Seem to work good at keeping the mice out !

YEP, a short pc of surgical tubing!

Didn't you get the memo?

And if a rat is big enough to remove the ball, he’ll be waiting on you in the trap.

https://tenor.com/view/mr-jingles-the-green-mile-gif-10739601

Golf balls never worked for me. I don't want anything impeding the coon from getting to the bait anyway.

The best thing you can do is not push your trap in the ground past the little circle on the stabilizer, mash down weeds on the sides that give mice an easy way to the top of the trap and once they figure out a way and start cleaning you out, simply move the trap on the trail a few feet. That will buy you another couple nights before they find it again.

I haven’t used the caps and think it almost has to be coon doing it as opposed to mice as more often than not, the trap will be turned over on its side or displaced to a degree

Haven't had a problem yet with golf balls , sometimes finding them after the catch is tricky.

Get colored golf balls. Orange and yellow ones really stand out in late season. White is nice in fall with no snow but in winter I use colored balls and they work great easy to find.
Jim

Is the soil really loose, letting them pull the trap and turn it over to dump the bait out?
But I still wouldn't rule out mice entirely.

You made a post a week ago about how you were struggling with this method, I'm curious what changed? Also what does hammering coon in January mean?

Thanks

Add a sploob of squeeze grape jam. It will glue the loose bait in place so it won't roll out, and leave residual jam on the trigger for the coon to try to steal.
I have caught hundreds of coon in DPs and have yet to find any bait left in it once the the coon was removed. They are known thieves, but their downfall is greed.