DIY raccoon traps have only limited success. However, if you do catch a raccoon, always hire a local expert wildlife removal firm to deal with the critter. Raccoons bite, and they can be dangerous. So, you should ask a professional raccoon removal Toronto services to deal with the pesky trespasser for you. Also, please check this article that describes why DIY traps have a high probability to fail.
However, if you have problems with raccoons damaging your property, you might want to build a raccoon trap out of wood so that you can re-use the trap, as and when you need to.
What you’ll need:
- A wooden pallet
- One 8” x 1” piece of wood
- One 2’ x 5” piece of wood
- Four 24” x 5” pieces of wood
- One 13” x 5” piece of wood
- Three 19” x 4” pieces of wood
- Two 24” x 32” pieces of plywood
- one 13” x 26” piece of plywood
- 52 wood screws
- One hinge
- Nylon fishing line
- A prybar
- A drill
How to do it:
- Using the prybar, remove the three long pieces of wood on the bottom of the pallet and the two boards on the side.
- Saw the remaining “skid” in half lengthways.
- Take two of the 24” boards and screw them onto the top corners of the skids you made so that they form a narrow crate shape. Flip the structure over, and repeat the process on the other side.
- Now, take the plywood, and screw a piece onto the top of the crate between the two boards. That will form the top of the crate. Next, turn the crate over, and screw the other piece of plywood on to form the bottom.
- Take the hinge, and screw it onto the 13” board, ensuring that the barrel of the hinge faces you.
- Now, screw the board with the hinge attached about half-way inside the crate.
- Next, make a door. Take the 2’ x 5” board and mark it in the center lengthways and across. Do the same with the 19” x 4” boards. Take one 19” board, and screw it into the center of the 2’ x 5” board.
Now, screw the remaining 19” boards an inch away from the ends of your crate. - Fix the hinge to the door, ensuring that the hinge barrel is facing away from you, and then screw it onto the center of the end of your crate.
- Attach a long screw seven inches down from the crate’s door, ensuring that the screw is adjacent to the pressure plate’s screw.
- To make the trigger, screw a small wood screw to the corner of the pressure plate. Wrap a length of fishing line around the screw. Adjust the length of the fishing line so that the pressure plate activates correctly.Drill a hole into the 8” piece of wood. Run the fishing line through the hole and tie it.
- On the same end as the hole, you drilled, cut a notch in the 8” piece of wood an inch from the end.
- Apply weight to the pressure plate to test the trigger mechanism. You may need to adjust the length of the fishing line if the door doesn’t close completely.
- Finally, place the bait right inside the trap so that the raccoon has to step onto the pressure plate to reach the treat, activating the door in the process and trapping the critter inside the crate.