Magic bait formula to trap raccoons and other critters

Was just curious what folks in the forum consider their "go-to" bait to use when trapping raccoons, possums, etc. I have used dry cat food, but had to change tactics because my pet cats kept hanging around the traps. I switched over to sweet items such as apples and bananas, but ultimately found what I consider to be my secret weapon...popped kettle corn, vanilla extract and pancake syrup. I don't know what it is about that combination that smells so good to the critters, but they love it, and my cats want nothing to do with the bait now, which is a good thing. Here's what I've caught this year using all or parts of that combination:

-6 raccoons
-2 possums
-1 gray fox
-1 skunk (that was definitely a stinky situation)

So, what seems to work for you in trapping critters, besides cat food? I'd really like to hear about some of the more unorthodox combinations.

I use dry cat food and drizzle a little fish oil in the dukes trap

We have used smoked oysters and they have been working great.

For coons, Sardines are working well for me.

Sardines in oil will work on about anything.

If you are trapping at a feeder, the coons came for corn. Use corn. I am at over 400 (nearing 500) coons and I just grab some from the feeder and put it in the trap. No need to bring anything special along.
Crazy thing this last deer season. We had a feeder that for some reason the deer quit coming to. The ground was solid yellow with corn. We would still catch a coon in the DP trap every night. I do not know what it is, but the trap itself seems to be an attractant.

For raccoons and DP traps, I use mini-marshmellows. Most of the other combinations that I've tried always wind up catching a darned skunk, which I do NOT care to deal with! Your kettle corn recipe sounds interesting, but it sounds like a lot of trouble. And that formulation has got to be a bit messy to handle and store.

Peanut butter has worked for me for raccoons, possums, rats, and squirrels.

You're making me hungry. Corn seems to be enough for the coons at our place.

I use marshmallows coons love them and they don't make a mess of you're dog proof traps

Does anyone else have skunk issues? If so, what do you bait with so I can avoid it....

In regards to skunks, I've got the opposite problem right now. I had caught a skunk last month on the popcorn/vanilla/syrup combo. It was a total accident catching that one at the time, but now I have a specific skunk at one of the feeders I need to get rid of because he is becoming a pest. When I watched the game cam, this skunk comes up to the feeder, starts to eat the corn, and will let no deer whatsoever near the feeder should they try to approach him while he is eating. A couple of young stupid deer who tried to play with him got sprayed the other day and stunk up the property, so now I'm trying to find a good bait combo this skunk likes that will get him away from the feeder. I've tried corn, cat food, and my secret bait combo, but nothing seems to get him interested in the trap. Guess I'll have to keep trying something until I can get rid of this joker.

In regards to baits, I'm a bit of a recycler, i.e. if it's old, smelly and going in the garbage anyway, I use it for the trap. That's how I stumbled upon the kettle corn. Saturday night is Movie Night at my house, where the kids pick a movie to watch, and we pop some bagged kettle corn to eat while watching. One Saturday night, I had popped the corn as usual, but we had already had a big dinner, so most of the popcorn went uneaten. It was smelling up the trash, so I got the idea the next morning to use it in a trap, and it worked great. Now my kids bring me items such as stale bread, old pretzels, old fruit, etc. before they go to throw it away and ask me if I want to use it for the trap that night. It makes for interesting bait combos, so say the least, but the neighborhood critters seem to like it all the same.

I have had great success with mini-marshmallows and chocolate syrup in the leg hold traps for Coons.they just can't resist the sweet tooth.

Marshmallows in the foot trap works every time, that's my magic bait.

Changed up my bait last night. The kids brought me an overripe banana that no one wanted to eat. It was going to be headed for the trash can anyway, so I thought "why not?", and decided to put it in my traps. In the Z-Trap I sprinkled a small amount of cat food into the bottom of the tube, then put a small chunk of banana on top of that, resting just under the trip lever, so a raccoon would have to move the lever up to get at the banana sitting on top of the cat food. On the live trap, I sprinkled cat food underneath the trip plate and placed a couple chunks of bananas at the far end of the trip plate so a raccoon would have to walk over the trip plate to get to the banana.
Did it work? Well, you be the judge from the pictures below.


Got lucky twice last night...a raccoon AND a ringtail! The raccoon was so eager to get into the bait he got both of his paws caught in the trap. I had a heck of a time trying to compress the spring on the trap just to get his paws out. I was using the live trap to catch a pesky skunk that's been hanging around, but the ringtail was a cool surprise. Looks like the critters went bananas, for bananas. A new recipe to add to the baiting arsenal.

they would work on me

Cheetos

Sounds like you need to set up an ambush for this dude and take him out with your favorite firearm! He appears to be taking over the place and desperately needs a fast lead injection.

Mikei,
I would concur with your comment, this skunk must be dispatched in an exepedient manner. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to use firearms where I live (only bows), so if I'm going to nail this critter, it's going to have to be with a taste of carbon fiber and stainless steel from my crossbow. As a matter of fact, I did actually go sit out in the blind last night hoping to ambush the little stinker, but he didn't show. However, the evening wasn't a total loss, because I did skewer a raccoon, so it still turned out OK in the varmit department.

Note to self: Old store-bought blackberries placed in a live trap will catch grey foxes...caught this one last night.

Used this for years when running a trapline for coons.

Caught 16 coons last weekend with sardines. Gonna head back down in a couple weeks and put'em out again.