Help ID this Warren and Latrine please

Hi All,

I got back from some time fishing and found this near the back door of my house. I assume this to be Racoon but I'm not sure. I'd leave it be normally, however I have a mastiff and it's within his yard. I'd rather skip the vet visit if he digs them out and gets his nose scored. I've had a hav-a-hart trap out near the latrine baited first with anchovies then with tuna for a week with no success. I'm starting to wonder if it's actually Racoons or if they moved on when we returned to the house, I've had no sightings of them at all. Any thoughts regarding ID and methods to remove these guys safely? The scat is roughly 3/4" with blunt ends. There are large insect carcasses littered throughout. Thanks for any help.

 

Don’t know what the scat is, but if raccoons were present they would have rolled your traps over and all around by now. Trail cameras are popular for photoing things of this nature if you can be confident that no one will steal the camera.

 

Quick update... I'm sure the warren is still active, there is fresh scat and detritus there today. Any thoughts on ID and bait for the trap? I may pick up a camera as suggested but need to remove/drive out these guys soon as the mastiff gets back in a couple of weeks with the wife. I'd prefer to avoid fatal traps.

 

oldscout@: Do you have wood rats down there? We have some up here but not enough to worry or to have learned about but I thought of them today. Also called packrats. Search for “wood rat scat” images. Don’t know what they eat but I imagine insects at least to some extent. Keep us posted as I’m very curioius about this. I’ll keep thinking too.

 

We should be south and east of packrat range but I'll keep it in mind... the scat looks like it could be a match. Update on trap, carrots and lettuce got no hits last night.

 

After my lack of success in trapping and not seeing any new droppings for a couple of days, I decided to coat the two entrances in ash to see if there was any discernable movement or disturbance, or if I could catch a footprint. I believe the critter has vacated.

This leads me to another question... I believe I should clean up the latrine before the mastiff gets back next week. If I dont miss my guess its loaded with worms and such. Any other thoughts on that welcome.