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did a coon feast on young rabbit...? #7296784
06/30/21 01:49 PM
06/30/21 01:49 PM
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 6,323
se South Dakota
NonPCfed Offline OP
trapper
NonPCfed  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 6,323
se South Dakota
I live in suburbia. When we built here in 2008, we were at the end of the subdivision with a pasture up the slope and tilled ground on top. Now there's 40-50 more houses behind us, another 80 to the east (about 2/3rds of them were there in 2008). The end of my lot has a 25 foot wide "easement" that is mostly sloped down to a "creeklet" that flows through the subdivision. Actually, there's another creeket that comes down the other side of a side hill and joins together at the culverts on the city ground that abuts my property. From there, this larger creek flows about mile and quarter down to the river. My creeklet has cattails and willows and is a wildlife corridor. I've caught a couple of mink on my easement before all the houses behind me showed up. I never have set for coon there and never seen lots of coon activity but I'm sure they come through the creeklet.

Fast forward to now. Most of my easement I've turned into a decent sized garden. Cottontails have been a problem but the numbers are even more now so because I can't kill any right now and my location, after armoring up parts of the garden that had the most rabbit tenders they like eating, I got out my old but still functional (on 1 side) small live trap. I think the main breeder adults won't go into the trap, but I've caught 4 yoy so far and have "migrated" them to a nearby park (mile or more away). I reset the trap last evening using some Swiss chard for bait (first 3 bunnies were caught with no bait) but when I was watering the garden this morning, the trap was gone. I first thought that some kids were along the creeklet last evening and maybe they took it but after watering, I decided I better look around some more. I found the trap about 9-10 feet from where I had it placed, down slope more towards the creeklet and in the heavier grass. It was upside down and empty but looking closer, there were a couple little tuffs of bunny hair and blood spatter on the inside roof of the trap. It appears that a dink rabbit did get caught but didn't make it to the more relocation plan phase of my operation.

I suspect a coon nailed the young rabbit. The trap door that still functions opens pretty easy when the trap is upside down. Not easy enough for the rabbit to free itself but easy enough for 5-digit masked bandit to pull open and get access to bunny. If that's the case, I'll re-set and see if it happens again. Saves me a little gas money...


"And God said, Let us make man in our image �and let them have dominion �and all the creatures that move along the ground".
Genesis 1:26
Re: did a coon feast on young rabbit...? [Re: NonPCfed] #7296792
06/30/21 02:24 PM
06/30/21 02:24 PM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 15,537
Champaign County, Ohio.
K
KeithC Offline
trapper
KeithC  Offline
trapper
K

Joined: May 2009
Posts: 15,537
Champaign County, Ohio.
The coon might have even pulled the rabbit through the wire, piece by piece, if the gaps are big enough for the coon's front paws. I have had coons do that to pigeons and small domestic rabbits in cages before.

Keith

Re: did a coon feast on young rabbit...? [Re: NonPCfed] #7296796
06/30/21 02:33 PM
06/30/21 02:33 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
330-Trapper Offline

trapper
330-Trapper  Offline

trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
I've seen that twice with all bones pulled through except the rabbit skull and another time it was a grey squirrel skull in the trap. Both traps had 1 x1" wire


NRA and NTA Life Member
www.BackroadsRevised@etsy.com




Re: did a coon feast on young rabbit...? [Re: NonPCfed] #7296818
06/30/21 03:29 PM
06/30/21 03:29 PM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
330-Trapper Offline

trapper
330-Trapper  Offline

trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
[Linked Image]
1"x 1" wire cages allow raccoons to reach in.


NRA and NTA Life Member
www.BackroadsRevised@etsy.com




Re: did a coon feast on young rabbit...? [Re: NonPCfed] #7297117
07/01/21 12:58 AM
07/01/21 12:58 AM
Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 6,323
se South Dakota
NonPCfed Offline OP
trapper
NonPCfed  Offline OP
trapper

Joined: Dec 2015
Posts: 6,323
se South Dakota
The "mesh" on my little cage is about 1 1/4 to 1 3/8th inches wide-- I didn't measure with a tape measure. I was left with such a little "trophy" as seen in 330-trapper's pic. I reaset the trap and have it in another part of the garden. We'll see what happens...


"And God said, Let us make man in our image �and let them have dominion �and all the creatures that move along the ground".
Genesis 1:26
Re: did a coon feast on young rabbit...? [Re: NonPCfed] #7297120
07/01/21 01:10 AM
07/01/21 01:10 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,896
Oakland, MS
Drifter Offline
trapper
Drifter  Offline
trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 11,896
Oakland, MS
Wouldn't put it past a feral cat either. Stake the sucker down may keep it busy enough to still be there when you get up.


Some individuals use statistics as a drunk man uses lamp-posts — for support rather than for illumination.

Andrew Lang (1844-1912) Scottish poet, novelist and literary critic









Life member NTA , and GA Trappers assoc .
Re: did a coon feast on young rabbit...? [Re: NonPCfed] #7297121
07/01/21 01:12 AM
07/01/21 01:12 AM
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
330-Trapper Offline

trapper
330-Trapper  Offline

trapper

Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 62,661
Minnesota
I put hardware cloth over the 1x1 with small cage clips.

All new traps built I use 1 x 1/2" cage wire


NRA and NTA Life Member
www.BackroadsRevised@etsy.com




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