Sometimes I’ll take a cotton ball with fish oil or castor or gland lure on it and shove it down below the trigger..
When I’ve caught the coon and take him out.. the cotton ball is gone..
Where in the world does the blasted thing go?
Every stinking time , that cotton ball is gone.

Still leaves me scratching my head.

mice or shrews

Mice are bait thieves.
Once and a great while a mouse will get caught in a DP.

Try this trick.

Have you ever checked to see if the coon ate it

I'll go with Krig on this. Foxkidd44 says it is happening ONLY after a coon catch.

I’m not sure how a coon could eat it if the cotton ball is under the trigger,, how would the cotton ball come out with the coons paw on the top?
Possibly get it out of the tiny slot were the trigger slides up and down??

Coon pulls it out with toe nails and eats it. Goes back for more and fishes around until it pulls the trigger. Next time check the coon from mouth to stomach for cotton ball

almost never any of my kibble-corn-fishy-smokey bait in a DP after being caught , tells me they are digging for the bits in the bottom of the cereal box when snap

A raccoon, dare I say ALL raccoons, are natural born thieves and as greedy as most Pennsylvanian deer hunters that I have known,
They stealthily steal all of the bait first without pulling the trigger. Once all of the bait is gone, they go in one last time and greedily pull that trigger,
I have caught well over 800 raccoons with DPs and do not recall every having any bait left in there after a catch,

IMO. The coon spends a lot of time at a set before they get caught. Greed and curiosity gets them!!!!

I used bait in the bottom of a DP. Then a piece of white styrofoam on top of the bait. Then set the dp Trigger held the styrofoam and bait in place.

Sight appeal with a treat.

Hahahaha!!!

I use a Marshmallow under the trigger. If a coon is caught by one foot the marshmallow is always gone. If I catch a coon by both front feet the marshmallow is always there. My theory is they use their free paw to get the marshmallow out and eat it.

Fruit flavored gummy Lifesavers with one encircling the trigger.

I use a lot of coon grabbers, and most of the time, it'll still be in the trap with a catch and reuse them. Every now and then I'll have a coon and the grabber is gone.

Funny you mention this,,, I was contemplating today about trying some cheap gummy’s from the dollar store.

This. I have caught hundreds of coons in dp’s. If they are caught by both front feet the bait is ALWAYS there. One front foot and the bait is gone 98% of the time.

Bahahaha!