Any of y'all that have kept up with your numbers over the last couple of years and dont mind sharing, post them up......I'm interested in seeing if there is much variation between us with coon:possum ratio......I have a theory about sumpin.....

I started running traps a couple weeks ago and right now I'm at

6 coons
3 possums

......or a 2:1 ratio

So here’s the theory……..

Possums don’t really eat corn like coons do……So therefore their populations arent going to be directly impacted by the additional food source like the coon populations will be. That alone should increase our ratio…..But if we take into consideration that coons and possums also compete over some food sources and coons seem to be the dominant competitor…..then artificially inflating coon populations would have a negative impact on these overlapping food sources and therefore driving the possum population down even more…..with most of their population basically being supported by the other food sources like carrion (dead stuff) that don’t overlap……In a nutshell it would mean that the higher the ratio the worse your coon/corn problem likely is………In theory.

When I first started killing them at the house it was about 50/50 6 years latter we are about 80/20 possums to coons. I have no idea where the possums keep coming from.

A few years ago I trapped here behind the house for over 2 months straight along the same little creek drainage......When I stopped I was still picking up another coon or possum at the rate of about one every 3-4 days.......I ended up catching around 30 that spring.......Came back in the following winter and caught another twenty for a total of something like 52 coons and possums from the same spot. There was a big hatch of young turkeys that year too.

I thought there was something like 3x the number of possum/sq mile over coons. I may be off on the numbers but remember it was weighted towards possums.

Interesting.......I've always caught more coons than possums on any run I've done around here. I wonder what a "normal" ratio is supposed to be??

Been using DP traps. Started about 3 weeks ago on 5 corn feeders. 46 coons 1 possum.

I catch more opossums than coons. Especially in the last few weeks. Mostly females with babies lots of babies

Make great pets, scary as heck to

I don't take any prisoners. Everything dies

This year from February 10th - March 20th I caught 68 coons, 6 possums and The only bait that’s on over 4000 acres is in 2 hog traps.

I don’t remember the start and finish dates but I caught 73 coons, 5 possums last year.

I’ve always caught more coons than possums even when I only had cage traps.

I haven’t caught a possum in 4 years

Well……..there definitely seems to be a good deal of variation. There’s probably a number of things that would effect this like possibly the way we’ve manipulated the habitat in some form or fashion that gives the coons a more distinct advantage. The exact spot where the trapping is being done could also have an impact…….But I’d say the main overriding factor should be food though.

Generally speaking I think it should be kinda similar to the wolf and the coyote. The wolf is the dominate competitor for an overlapping food source so the more of them you see, the less coyotes are present. Take away the wolf and the coyote will expand…..Similar things should be happening between the coons and possums I’d think. The more coons you produce the more they’re gonna dominate and the less possums they’ll be……The more you supplement the coons diet the more this will occur.....Again though, in theory.

It could be other factors at play here but there's the potential for you to not be baiting at all but still be impacted by this idea if you have a lot of neighbors who are baiting.......If they are feeding coons and the female coons on their properties are having lots of babies....then all of those babies around you are going to be looking for a place to disperse to when they become an adolescent.....

I'm at an 11:6 ratio now.......

I havent seen a possum in about a year. Ive killed 11 raccoons in the last 3 weeks.

Killed an armadillo this past weekend, havent seen one in a while on the place and don't see as many in the road as 'normal' in the last couple years but do still see probably one road kill a day.

You know I was just thinking about armadillos myself......I see them run over every once in awhile around here but their populations seem to have decreased.......I havent had one messing around in my test field for quite some time.......A lot of this stuff is tied to the food chain.....If we artificially inflate the coon population with corn to the point that they over use some of the other natural food sources then the "co-users" of those resources will diminish.....Not that anyone likely cares about armadillos but just that these things are signs that help us to see what is happening.

I think it would be difficult to build a ratio based on trapping alone. I think coons will travel /smell / hunt a little more than possums. Don’t get me wrong, a opossum is just as likely to be in your trash at night, but I think the coons are a little more mobile and will search out your scents in your trap.

Yeah, I suppose a lot of that would likely depend on how "off site" you were with your trapping......I'm trapping right along a swamp drainage that seems to be prime habitat for both coons and possums. My possum count is actually catching up a little now at 11:8 after this morning's catch......There's so much dead smell flowing down this drainage at night that it makes me wonder if I'm not actually drawing in the possums more now because of it.

Well we are possum/ditch tiger heavy the last month. Quail are happy now.

11:10 ratio now.......I swear it seems like they never stop coming in. It makes me wonder just how big of an area you could affect if you just trapped in one spot along a main coon/possum run continuously?? I suspect that I'm scooping up more and more of the local dispersion.

I know several years ago we had a coon that was easy to identify because he was missing his right front leg/arm with a big bald spot down his right side. We had pictures of him all over a 2500 acre lease in a short time span hitting the hog bait sites. I don’t know the home range of a coon or if they just travel all over. This dude dang sure covered a lot of ground but he disappeared after a couple months and I haven’t seen him since.

Predator ratio

Hope this link works. I remember seeing it before and just ran across it today...

That link didnt work k bush.......

Here's my spreadsheet so far.........I caught 3 coons and 2 possums before I started taking weights so I'm at 25 total right now......I thought it was interesting how evenly it was splitting between the two.....It's dang sure weighted toward more males too.

Two possums and another ditch tiger this week.

Are you catching the tigers in cage style traps?? Them things are pretty rampant around here too at times

I dont know if I've made mention of this but all of these coons and possums I'm catching are being caught in virtually one spot or area......I've got 16 DP's and 5 foot hold traps set out in gangs along about a 300 yard stretch of a SMZ.....It's a little overkill but I have the traps so I figured I'd increase my odds the best I could by putting them out.

Mountain curs

I hear that.......Two more coons last night......Snagged another female......Up to 27 coons and possums now

Something is targeting these young possums I believe......Had another one with its tail bit half off.

Absolutely!

Up to 30 total now........16 coons and 14 possums

Another male coon last night.......31 total now......17 coons and 14 possums

I catch more coons versus possums, when I am trying to catch them around a feeder. Now that there is a feeder ban on my lease, I don't know what the ratio will end up like. I guess it depends where I put traps. If I trap along creeks, I suspect I will catch more coons.

I did have a possum cross the road in front of me going in to turkey hunt this year, and I chased it down with a flashlight and a 22 and popped a cap in it.

Gonna pull my traps this afternoon or in the morning........Total ended up being 18 coons and 14 possums.

Do you catch possums in your DP traps?

Yes

Decided to leave one easy to check gang set of DP's out just to see how long it takes for them to stop filling in if they ever do stop......Caught another big male coon last night.......Total 19 coons and 14 possums

My place is small. I only run 2-3 traps. When I first started trapping 3-4 years ago, got way more coons than possums. It was kind of rare to get a possum. I’m 7:1 possums to coins this year. One of my traps is in the yard. Both coons and possums get on porch and eat cat food. But it’s been more possums this year.

Been slow for the last week with all the rain.....I caught a double last night though with two more male coons.....New total is 21 coons and 14 possums

BTW.......I've been trying something just to see if it made a difference.....It doesnt seem to matter if your cat food gets wet and turns to slop inside the DP....just sprinkle a little bit of fresh on the top of it and they'll still get caught just the same

I was wondering that I’ve been dumping the old food out

Yeah, I used to do that too but there's no need to.....It may even work better to have that mush in the bottom with some fresh sprinkled on top. Once they get those few fresh pieces eaten they probably reach down into the mush thinking the trigger is just another piece of cat food....I've trapped for 6 weeks or so now doing nothing but just taking a bag of cat food with me and sprinkling a little bit of fresh bait into the traps every few days.....mainly to keep the scent good and fresh.

Picked up another possum last night.........Total ....21 coons and 15 possums

One more possum..........Total 21 coons and 16 possums


Out of 37 catches I have only gotten 5 female coons

One more male coon.......Total 22 coons and 16 possums.......Its amazing to me how more of them just keep on showing up

Another male coon last night............23 coons and 16 possums now.