Bait Station Lessons learned in the past few days.

[customcutter]

Apparently switching one light to white for a single night has put the critters off their game.  I switched both to red last night and it was still after midnight before Rory raccoon showed up. 

I screwed down a piece of chicken breast with the backbone in it.  First try he got part of the skin, second try he got the rest of the skin, and third try he got the rest of it off of the screw.  He sat it on the ground and ate it there.  The opossum has been grabbing items and running off camera and out of the light for several minutes before coming back.  Also this is the first time that the raccoon has gotten to the bait before the opossums.   Hmmm, is this different feeding behavior between the species, or is it because he knew there was more food available?  Before he would stroll into the picture look for food and see nothing and be on his way.  The opossum would grab a small piece of the food and take off with it to return 5-10 minutes later, after consuming it.  The raccoon stayed in frame and ate all of the chicken, then pulled off a half and apple and made off with it.  Interesting, I think I'm going to look for some type of mesh (onion bag comes to mind) or some hardware cloth.  I think I have some 1/2" mesh in the shed.  To put over the bait and secure it.

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

I've observed the same, the raccoons just don't care, they'll sit right there in front of you and feast away!  The possums are more the grab and go types!  I have also observed that possums move slow enough that often times they will move in grab what I've left behind (dead rats) and make off with it and the camera never records their presence.  They are kind of the ghosts of the night! 

[ranchibi]

I've observed the same, the raccoons just don't care, they'll sit right there in front of you and feast away!  The possums are more the grab and go types!  I have also observed that possums move slow enough that often times they will move in grab what I've left behind (dead rats) and make off with it and the camera never records their presence.  They are kind of the ghosts of the night! 

I read somewhere that a possums core temperature can be lower than what the heat detector is reading....have had the same thing bappen! Some possums trigger the cams heat detector and some do not.....weird! But, all rats trigger it...YES! LOL!

[customcutter]

I've observed the same, the raccoons just don't care, they'll sit right there in front of you and feast away!  The possums are more the grab and go types!  I have also observed that possums move slow enough that often times they will move in grab what I've left behind (dead rats) and make off with it and the camera never records their presence.  They are kind of the ghosts of the night! 

All those empty pics and I thought that it was being triggered by something up to 75' away.  Now I know it's a ghost.

[JungleShooter]

I think I'm going to look for some type of mesh (onion bag comes to mind) or some hardware cloth.  I think I have some 1/2" mesh in the shed. 
To put over the bait and secure it.

This thread continues to be extremely educational!  Cool ideas!! 😊👍🏼

This whole baiting business almost requires a scientific approach...! 😄
Matthias 

[customcutter]

I also remembered that last night there was only a sliver of a moon that probably set about midnight.  I know from years of deer hunting that they were always more active on dark nights as opposed to full moon nights.  So the critters should be active early and all night long, until the moon starts increasing.

[customcutter]

Last night the opossum showed up at 8:20, but only stayed for less than a minute.  Less time than I could have gotten to my shooting position.  I don't think I spooked it.  I sat in a chair behind a table saw with a tarp over it for nearly 20 minutes.  I finally realized that most of the critters are approaching from the north.  There was only 20' between me and the fence, so I was actually blocking their access.   I went back inside and was determined to stay until the next visitor.  I had taken a Walmart shopping bag and and double wrapped another piece of chicken in it, poked a few holes in it for scent release, and screwed it down to the bait station.

I thought that the critters had been showing up after the house was silent and I had gone to bed.  So I turned off all the lights, TV, everything except my laptop, I spent the next 4 hours reading old threads in the Hunting Gate.  Finally about 12:15, I got an alarm.  Grabbed the Carbine and shooting stick, and headed toward the garage door.  As I went through the kitchen I glanced out through the blinds, TOTAL DARKNESS!  Yesterday had been overcast all day, so sometime between 8:30 and midnight the solar lights went out.

I reviewed the cam pics this morning.   Puss was the culprit that triggered the alarm at midnight.  The next critter wasn't till almost 3AM and it was Rory Raccoon.  It took him less than 20 seconds to pull the chicken in the bag off of the screw and this time he made off with it immediately instead of eating it on the spot.  Different from his last visit where he stayed at the station and ate each piece.  I guess it was easy to carry in the bag.

Make sure your batteries are charged and you are not sitting up for an alarm with no working lights.

Don't make it easy for critters to take all of the bait by bagging it for them.

Don't sit in plain view of the animals approach angle.  Last night was still overcast, and there was a lot of ambient light being reflected back down by the clouds.  After sitting I few minutes my night vision returned and even I could see features in the yard.

[Rat Sniper (AKA: PaulT58)]

  As I went through the kitchen I glanced out through the blinds, TOTAL DARKNESS!  Yesterday had been overcast all day, so sometime between 8:30 and midnight the solar lights went out.

And there's your justification to invest in a night vision scope!   

[customcutter]

  As I went through the kitchen I glanced out through the blinds, TOTAL DARKNESS!  Yesterday had been overcast all day, so sometime between 8:30 and midnight the solar lights went out.

And there's your justification to invest in a night vision scope!   

I have an Armasight Zeus 3X12X75 that I bought almost 10 years ago.  It's on my Grendel AR.  I have thought about using it, but I'm not sure if I can get it to fit on the AEA HP Carbine.  The mount on it is Picatinny and the AEA is 11mm.  Also the 75mm objective might be a problem.  If I can't figure out the vermin problem soon, I will get busy finishing up my BT65 bullpup conversion and it will mount on it!

[Blowpipe Sam]

A little trick we in the park service use for trapping raccoons.  Take a can of cheap cat food and punch four or five holes in it.   Dribble some juice from the can around and then wire it to your bait station.  We have to do this for coons that know how to steal the bait without tripping the trap.

[HunterWhite]

Wi fi. I couldn't get 5 ghz wifi to reach out to 100 feet, but 2,4 ghz worked fine.

Hunter

[customcutter]

A little trick we in the park service use for trapping raccoons.  Take a can of cheap cat food and punch four or five holes in it.   Dribble some juice from the can around and then wire it to your bait station.  We have to do this for coons that know how to steal the bait without tripping the trap.

I've got one piece of chicken left.  If I don't have any luck, I might have the wife pick up some canned cat food or sardines.

Thanks for the tip.

[customcutter]

Wi fi. I couldn't get 5 ghz wifi to reach out to 100 feet, but 2,4 ghz worked fine.

Hunter

Thanks, I think we have both freq. on the router.  Trying to go with low tech right now.

[customcutter]

Today was overcast again.  I knew the bait station lights were going to be a problem.  I even brought them inside and took the front cover off to see how easy it would be to get to the 18650 battery.  4 screws and the battery was right behind the front lens.  Only trouble was I didn't want to spend half the day looking for the charger.  So I stuck them out in the sun and hoped for the best.

I took the last piece of chicken breast and backbone and put it securely under a piece of 1/2" hardware cloth.

About :30 after dark the DD went off for the first time.  I grabbed the gun headed out the garage door and peaked around the corner.  Nothing, not the first ray of light.  I was thinking that they didn't charge, but I just realized that I turned them off when I brought them in to pull the batteries.  Talk about giving the enemy the advantage.

I came back in, left the TV on lights on.  Figured tonight would just be a video night.  A little after 8 the DD was off again.  I ignored it, no lights, no way to spot the critter in the scope if I could make a sneak on it.  Finally after 15-20 minutes of constant alarming I said what the heck I'll take the flashlight, maybe I'll get lucky.  Sneaked up to the corner of the screens, hit the flashlight nothing.  I said well, I'm sure he didn't come back north maybe he's on the south side of the pool in the garden.  I walked over shined the light around the perimeter, nothing there.  I was about to turn and come back in and for some reason I shined up in the mango tree.  There it was 2 little beady eyes staring back at me through the large leaves.  I tried to line up a shot through the leaves and limbs, and the eyes disappeared behind the dense leaves.  I finally caught motion as it was moving further up the trunk of the tree.  I couldn't see it for the leaves so I decided to walk under the tree almost directly under the opossum.  Sure enough there it was about 15' up the tree.  Scope was on 3X but try as I might it wouldn't focus, just a blur of fur.  Finally I decided to aim down the side of the barrel, with the limb going up at an angle I figured a heart/lung shot and possibly into the head.  Lined up the shot, squeezed the trigger, and it fell out of the tree almost instantly.  I couldn't find the entry wound, but the exit wound was just left of center directly between the ears.  I tried to get pics, but my tablet would not flash for some reason.  I'll post pics in the AM.  (I know no pics, it didn't happen.)

One opossum down and at least one more to go.  As I've said before they normally get a pass from me due to eating ticks, etc.  But I can't have them eating holes in my new screens.

This lesson, never give up!

[customcutter]

Here's a pic of the exit area.  The shot actually entered just in front of the right shoulder and exited center top of the head behind the ears.   I put him in a bucket of water to keep the raccoon or feral cat from making off with the body until I could get pics this morning.  No picture, it didn't happen.

[ranchibi]

Ken, excellent shot! Not mnay folks can claim to have shot thru the vitals and fuze box with one shot! No wonder it fell immediately from the tree.

[customcutter]

Ken, excellent shot! Not mnay folks can claim to have shot thru the vitals and fuze box with one shot! No wonder it fell immediately from the tree.

I was aiming down the side of the barrel, trying to hit the heart/lung area and then into the brain.  From all the blood that was pumping out I thought that I had hit my target.  This morning on closer examination I actually hit him just in front of the right shoulder and up through the top back of the head.  I think I actually may have hit the artery in his neck, he was also bleeding out both ears.

I just finished watching the trail cam pic's/videos of last night.  The second opossum showed up a little after midnight, and managed to pull the hardware clothe off of the station.  

Puss the feral cat made several appearances also but was never able to get any of the chicken.

[ranchibi]

Ken, excellent shot! Not mnay folks can claim to have shot thru the vitals and fuze box with one shot! No wonder it fell immediately from the tree.

I was aiming down the side of the barrel, trying to hit the heart/lung area and then into the brain.  From all the blood that was pumping out I thought that I had hit my target.  This morning on closer examination I actually hit him just in front of the right shoulder and up through the top back of the head.  I think I actually may have hit the artery in his neck, he was also bleeding out both ears.

I just finished watching the trail cam pic's/videos of last night.  The second opossum showed up a little after midnight, and managed to pull the hardware clothe off of the station.  

Puss the feral cat made several appearances also but was never able to get any of the chicken.

Dang! That second possum is very strong! Hope you get it soon.

[ER00z]

Hello everyone, wanted to revisit this thread and show my initial night setup...

For the moment, I have a log set up between my barn and shed (in front of a tree) with a side board mounted as a critter ramp, and an (empty) pellet tin nailed on top of the log filled with cracked corn and a little peanut butter smeared around. There's a back board leaning behind it for now, but plan on something a bit different... Possibly giving it legs to level & stake into the ground, and/or making a silent trap of sorts. All I need is a ding-donger and maybe a trail cam set up. I had forgotten all about those until today     

Of coarse I didn't take any day photos, but here's a few lit up with a red flood light in the barn light fixture... Front ( possible shooting) view first, then one from the rear and side some.

[customcutter]

If they don't find the bait immediately you might want to smear some pnut butter up/down your ramp.  The HF ding donger works well for me.  I tried a second one from Rural King and it wouldn't transmit 50'.  Good luck, and post pics!