How do I trap raccoons and opossums without catching my cats

I was out smoking and looked behind me to find the raccoon with the messed up jaw on the porch with me. I yelled at him(or her I guess) and he ran off. We have a freaking young opossum that won't go away. I can get it to scram by yelling at it(nothing here is naturally afraid of humans) but Mitzi had a really hard time getting it to get out of her yard a few nights ago so she could let Dylan and Jazzy out to pee. I carry myself very confident and can sound just as dominating and fierce as a man and it doesn't hurt that I'm loud(my dad is from Brooklyn, and his entire family is loud, it's genetic since my half-brother is the same way and he was adopted and raised by a librarian and her husband. No one from NYC is quiet, you gotta be loud or you aren't going to be heard.) I can get them to go but Mitzi couldn't seem to get the stupid opossum to go away.

I called Mitzi to tell her to watch out for the raccoon with the messed up jaw(yes that is how we identify him, there are at least 4 that we know of not counting the 2 kits one of them has) when she went to let the dogs out to potty(she goes outside with her flashlight and baseball bat to scare off anything in her yard before letting the dogs out.)

She wants to set a trap(humane trap) to get rid of the freaking raccoons and especially the opossum. They will find a nice new home in a nice wooded area far from us and other people.

How do I catch them and not one of the cats? I know the worst thing I'll have is a very very PO'd cat but if a cat is in the trap we can't catch what we're after.

Like I said we are not going to be harming them, we just need them out of here, like I said nothing here is afraid of humans and I don't appreciate having a raccoon join me on the porch, it was after the cat food(I hadn't put it up yet), I know what it wanted but still I was on the porch and so was it. The raccoon with the messed up jaw has been here as long as we have and most likely longer and has no problem catching his own food to eat so he won't starve.

So any ideas on how to get the raccoons and the opossum caught without accidentally catching cats? If we do it's not really an issue, we'll just have a mighty PO'd cat until we release it but as I said the trap isn't any good with a cat stuck in it.

Taryn

You could bait the trap with stuff that coons and possums like but cats don't....eggs might work. But you'll still probably catch a few cats. Just let them go and maybe they'll learn their lesson. Or not .

They aren't stupid so I'm sure one round in the trap will be all for them.

Taryn

Are these feral cats? Or are they yours? If yours, just keep them in till you get the coons and possoms.

Another thing. We have a raccoon that likes to come up to our birdfeeder. I don't want him up hear near the road, so when I see him, I bark like a dog. Now our neighbors aren't real close, so they won't think I am some kind of nut. But when he hears me, he runs. I would be the possom would too.

Or have someone with a dog make you a tape of him barking, the louder the better. When you see the coons or possoms put it in the window and play it. Maybe after a few times of that it will discourage them from coming around.

But trapping and relocating are probably your best bet. Keep the cats in till the coons are gone.

They are my colony. They are not inside cats. They are 6 cats 5 related, Attitude and Nuts' mom, grandma, 2 brothers and sister, and Blue, a blue cat not related to anyone.

Runt(brother) currently isn't speaking to me, he trapped himself. All that was in there was some veggies and an Oreo(nothing to interest a cat.) I put in a pork chop so in an hour I'm going back outside to release the next one who traps themselves. I knew if I put cat food in all I would do was trap cats.

Mama(grandma) was curious but quickly caught a smell and got away from it so I think she knows what it is. Biter(mom) is also ignoring it so I think she knows what it is as well. Goldie Jr doesn't seem interested and Half-tail doesn't seem to want anything to do with it either, but then again Runt didn't seem interested in it either until I found him trapped.

I hope they all end up caught once at most and then leave it alone, I just need the raccoons and possum, not cats, I already have too many of them. It's right outside the door next to the shed so I can see if it's sprung by walking out the door.

Taryn

so far I have caught 3 cats and a ghost.

Taryn

Caught 3 cats and 2 ghosts my first night. Got a possum tonight(well I guess technically yesterday.) Stupid thing pooped in my car as we were taking it to it's new location. I was prepared for that I put down 2 pee pads left over from the dog and 3 towels(I wanted to completely cover Bobby's car seat since the trap had to partially rest on it) and it worked out just fine. It didn't want to leave the trap, Paul had to(gently) shake it loose and once it got out it booked it. Hopefully if it goes around other humans it remembers this and books it out of there, which it wasn't doing before. It shouldn't have any more run-ins with humans, it only chose us because it wanted the sunflower seeds that fell from my bird feeder. I actually put the trap right where the seeds fell and then used a big plate of them as a lure and it worked. Not sure how to get the raccoons, we only need the one with the messed up jaw since it is the least afraid of humans, it wants the cat food, before I put it up and any left over from the small amount I take from the bowl before putting it the BBQ grill which I then bungee cord shut. It will be going to a place where it shouldn't have many run-ins with humans, it only comes to us because of the cat food, it wants to see if it can get an easy meal and I don't blame it and most of the time it's SOL on an easy meal since the bowl is already out up and the cats ate the very small amount of food I put on the concrete of the porch since of course they are suddenly hungry when I come to take up the bowl.

Most likely won't catch the raccoon but I really don't care that much about him/her I just needed the possum moved since it wasn't afraid of people and that was dangerous, as I said where I moved it it shouldn't have any contact with people. It didn't seem too thrilled when Half-tail decided to go greet it when she saw it the other night when I shined a flashlight on it, the night before it was trapped. She walked right up on it, it showed it's teeth(all I could think was 'please god don't make me have to shoot it.') She ignored the teeth walked right up to it sniffed it(and I'm sure it sniffed her as well), they touched noses and then Half-tail just walked away her curiosity satisfied. No one got into it, which was good since I didn't want to have to break up a cat/possum fight with a gun. She came up too fast for me to grab her if I wanted to, and I didn't and wouldn't, she reacts very violently to being picked up or handled and I really don't want to patch up more scratches and bites from handling her plus it increased the chances of the possum freaking.

Well possum down a raccoon to go, which might not happen, the coons are trap-smart. Going to move it into the treeline in Mitzi's yard and cover it with a towel or 2(obviously old ones) and see what I can catch. Still not sure what to bait it with, using cat food would just be plain mean to the cats since they have their food taken up at might due to the raccoons.

Taryn

I didn't get to read the whole thing, but on "Billy the Exterminator" he was using Grape Jelly to catch... a opposum I think, maybe it was a coon. He said that cats and dogs wont go in the trap after it. Um, my dog would try LOL. But she is too big.

Racoons love corn and marshmallows. Get an ear of corn in the trap and you will have your coon.

If it wants corn it can have all it wants. We back up into a corn field so that won't work, lol. The farmer literally has at least 100+ acres of corn and 100+ of soybeans.

Like I said I'll figure something out.

If I catch it I catch if I don't I don't. Like I said all I really needed out was the possum. I'm not even really sure where to put the trap to catch it.

Taryn