A single Idyllwild trapper caught 5,255 raccoons and 435 coyotes in Riverside County during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2021, according to state Department of Fish and Wildlife filings. Most of those were killed, the trapper said.

Those astronomical numbers are more than the annual catch by all of California’s other 603 licensed trapping companies combined. Trapper Tracy Philippi’s tally averaged more than 14 raccoons a day, seven days a week — and more than a coyote a day, despite the cagey animals being notoriously difficult to trap and only 796 being caught statewide during that period.

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