What is the best raccoon trap bait out there to make these critters walk right into your cages and trap settings to get them out of your home for good?

Dealing with raccoons can be tough. These animals are known for the mess they make and for the risk they pose to your home, family, and pets, which is why keeping your backyard free of them is paramount to maintaining your house in order, and the best – and most humane – way to do this is by catching them in a door trap and relocating them into a more suited habitat a few miles away from your house.

While knowing what the best traps are for catching raccoons is important, as well as being informed on how to properly and safely set them, you have to keep in mind that what will do the work here is using the right type of bait. Unattractive smelling bait can make a trap completely useless, so the best you can do is take a look at all your options and follow the expert advice on choosing the best trap bait for raccoons.

 

Our Top Pick –  Overall Best Raccoon Trap

Trap bait options

Everyone has different experiences when it comes to catching critters, and especially when it involves animals as difficult to trap as raccoons, so many experts and experienced catchers will give you different points of view on what the best trap bait is. However, these are the top three options to take into account:

• Store-bought bait:

You can look for these in any trapping specialized store, and find them in a wide variety of prices and presentations. Store-bought bait has the benefit of coming with already mixed ingredients that you just have to place inside and around the trap to attract the raccoon, and most of them have a long shelf life as well, which makes them perfect for repetitive use in case the problem persists. However, keep in mind that finding properly working bait at the store might take some trial and error.

• Bait you can find in your own kitchen:

  

  A lot of people prefer to save money and use what they can find in their pantries, which usually contain a lot of the flavors that raccoons are strongly attracted to, such as fruits, cookies, tuna, and sweet vegetables like carrots. The sweeter the better, so using cheap marshmallows or another type of candy will do the trick.

• Homemade bait:

  If you’re a bit more of an experienced trapper, you can make your bait in the comfort of your home and tailor it to what you think will work best for luring the critters in. Raccoons are very attracted to fishy smells and sweet flavors, so any mix containing the two is a sure way to success; good homemade bait may consist of a combination of sweet corn, peanuts or even dog food, and any form of canned fish kept in oil, such as sardines or tuna.

 

How to properly use your bait

Once you have your bait chosen, it’s time to properly set it to make the raccoon walk straight into the trap. Before handling the bait, make sure you wear gloves to keep the human scent at bay; also, if you are using bait made out of fish, don’t freeze it before using it, since once thawed, fish odor reduces significantly, thus making it less attractive for raccoons.

Another thing to keep in mind while setting the bait is to properly place it about your trap. Whether you’re using a door trap or a dog-proof coil spring, you ought to make sure that the bait is placed far enough into the trap to ensure that the raccoon steps or grabs onto the mechanism that activates the trapping.

 

Best Dog Proof  Raccoon Trap

Havahart Dog Proof Two Door Coon Trap

  

Bait trails are also a good way to lead the raccoon into the trap, as well as introducing the trap as a food spot in the first place before setting it for catching. Raccoon pest control is all about patience, but there’s no doubt the best trap bait makes the procedure a whole lot easier.  I hope you found this information helpful and you can now stop the raccoon’s destroying your property!