Dang Raccoons

[CathyA]

Drove 35 miles one way to my favorite greenhouse north of here. Bought $50 of garden plants. Put them on the covered front porch to harden them off. Last night something (no doubt a coon) pretty much destroyed the entire tray of them. I'm bummed. And the few that might survive don't have their labels anymore. What a waste of gas, time, and money. :(

And I saw a coon go under our shed, and now I'm hearing babies crying. I don't shoot things.........so I'll have to come up with some other plan.

[IshbelRobertson]

How annoying.

With us, it's the badgers that cause most damage in the garden, the foxes normally just rootle through the compost bins. Occasionally a squirrel will get into the attic roof space, but they do no damage since all the electrical wiring is now enclosed!

[catherine]

Oh, man, what a bummer!!! I know how you feel.. with my pest problem of rabbits and deer. The deer not only ate ALL my tomatoes last year, but they also ate the flowers off my tulips, hydrangea and balloon flowers.

But what just arrived from Amazon is a Scarecrow, which Simplemind recommended in another post. I'm going to try it out in the front and if it works, I'll buy another one for the back.

We don't have raccoons around here, but I remember them from my younger days--they're tough to outsmart.

[iris lilies]

Racoons are very destructive, and quite clever.

The thing about pests from the animal kingdom is that thy have all the time in the world to get into your stuff. We could defeat them if we were willing to put the time into it,sit with a weapon watching them. But we have to live our lives and we do not have time to devote to watching over our garden 24/7.

[Yppej]

I found a burrow with 6 baby rabbits on my property this week but I didn't have the heart to do them in. I will just buy more of my produce.

[CathyA]

I don't kill things.........just try to outsmart them or build barriers. I usually put my tray of veggie starts up on something higher on the porch for nighttime, but I forgot. But in years past, when I would forget, nothing would happen to them.

They are in I.C.U. now. I've added potting soil to them and will baby them. Hopefully they'll be resilient. But several of the labels were thrown about, so I'm not sure which tomato is which. Oh well, I guess we'll have integration this year.

I do need to go back and buy a few more though. Fortunately, there's still plenty of time left for planting.

Yes, coons are extremely smart........and obnoxious. I try to live in peace with animals. I'll have to think for awhile about strategy.

We had a 3' chicken wire fence around the garden for a long time......but it was fairly useless, since deer and rabbits........and anything could just step over it. A couple years ago, we put in a taller, stronger fence and there's been no more bunnies. The deer won't jump it probably because I have so many raised stock tanks and trellises. But coons can do whatever they set their mind to.

Whenever I plant anything outside........trees, bushes, flowers, etc., I have to protect it for a couple weeks at least because I believe it's either coons, oppossums, or cats who always dig newly planted stuff up. I wonder if it's the potting medium that's attractive?

I had a nest of baby bunnies under my green beans a number of years ago, but I just let them be. There were plenty of beans for all of us. :)

I don't grow sweet corn anymore. Too much work.....weeding, propping up after a storm.....trying to get to the corn when it's ripe before the coons do. A person gets tired of the struggle. I'm glad we wouldn't starve if the garden didn't do well!

[Tybee]

The raccoons killed my bluebirds and my chickens. I am not fond of raccoons.

[early morning]

I'm sorry, CathyA - I hope your plants make it! We trap and release raccoons. Sadly, I know - this just makes them someone else's problem. But dang, it's really hard for me to kill something I'm not going to eat and who is not harming me greatly, just being their raccoon selves. And I love to watch them when they're trying to figure things out - they really are smart, and curious. They want to know what's there, just because it's there. That's a very human-like response, I can relate! So, we rarely kill them. Once in a great while we get one who acts aggressive, and that we cannot tolerate. Those don't get relocated. Cathy, I've been told they can smell fresh or disturbed soil of any kind. Makes them hungry for grubs and encourages them to go digging. Putting things "up" won't help. They can climb almost anything. I don't garden anymore, other than the occasional tomato plant or square of lettuce, but if I did I'd invest in a solar fence charger and some small step-in stakes. They don't like being shocked and they really can't keep their hands and feet to their selves -they have to touch everything...

[CathyA]

Yeah, when I had chickens I thought I had the Ft. Knox of coop and run......but a coon made it through that one small breech and killed Pepper Anne and Hawk. It ripped the back skin off Brownie. It's a good thing it got away, because I was so mad, I think I would have attacked it with my hands........which wouldn't have been very smart. I did bring Brownie inside for several weeks and her back healed very well. (Unfortunately, not too long after that, she must have fallen off the roost and broke her neck). :(
But I think the danged coons dug up the 2 chickens' grave and stole their bodies the night we buried them. Now, when we bury any pets, we put lots of fencing over it, along with several cement blocks. Lots of work to keep plants/trees/flowers/pets safe around here!

If I have any trouble this summer in the garden, I'll put an electric wire on the top of the fencing.....probably a solar one. Gosh, I hope the baby coons don't hang around forever.

early morning.......that's interesting about them smelling fresh/disturbed soil. That's probably true because they don't eat the plant.......just leave it to die. Fortunately, many of my plants last night were wet all night because of the storms, so I put them back in pots and added potting soil......so hopefully I saved a lot of them. Sh*t builds character, right? So maybe they'll grow up to be really strong peppers and tomatoes! :)
I don't know though.........it hasn't worked very well for me. haha

[Float On]

The coons pretty much did me in when I had chickens. I'm not opposed to putting a few into deep sleep if it gets the word out that they are not welcome.
Sorry about your plants, how disappointing.

[CathyA]

The thing I hate about coons is that they don't always kill to eat. Sometimes, they just like to kill.
Float On.......I'm assuming your chickens were free range? I live in mostly woods, so I would have loved to let them roam, but they probably wouldn't have survived a week, between the coons, feral cats, hawks, owls, etc.. One of my vets has chickens and lets them roam and she says if they die, they die. I guess I wish I could feel that way, but I'm too much of a wuss when it comes to my "pets".

[whisperingpines]

Soak a rag in Ammonia, and shove it in the hole where the coon enters and exits the shed. DO it during daytime hours when they are sleeping. Do it for a couple of days.

Coons will move out.

Works well with woodchucks also.

[Tenngal]

Drove 35 miles one way to my favorite greenhouse north of here. Bought $50 of garden plants. Put them on the covered front porch to harden them off. Last night something (no doubt a coon) pretty much destroyed the entire tray of them. I'm bummed. And the few that might survive don't have their labels anymore. What a waste of gas, time, and money. :(

And I saw a coon go under our shed, and now I'm hearing babies crying. I don't shoot things.........so I'll have to come up with some other plan.

that makes me mad for you........

we have the deer that eat most all the hosta and several other shrubs........

Made up my mind we are not going to shoot the deer.

Have you thought about contacting a state agency to see if they will rehome the coons?

Might be worth a try.

[Tybee]

Cathy, I know it's too late for these plants, but we bought a bunch of black netting--it's a light plastic--and put it around the edges of where we plant lettuce and spinach, etc. They won't step on it because it feels really creepy and attaches to your feet- I get my fingers tangled up when I touch it--we had great luck bunching it around the edges of the garden, and you can float it over, too.

[Chicken lady]

Early morning. Please don't relocate raccoons. It can spread disease. Also, here is what happens when you make it "someone else's problem"

i live out out in the country. From the road my "yard" looks like a long stretch of woodland and creek - perfect for releasing vermin.

i do kill things. I have lost 15 chickens this year.

Last night I poisoned raccoons number 7 & 8. I scared off the mom with four half grown young, but I know she will be back tonight and hopefully I will be cleaning up their bodies tomorrow. Poison is not a pleasant way to die but it is fast and efficient (they died within three feet of the bowl.)

if you want to protect your raccoons I suggest feeding them so they stay on your land where they are safe. But a word of warning - an adult female can produce up to 12 young each year.

[nswef]

CL, we are deciding what to do with groundhogs....What kind of poison do you use?

[Tybee]

CL, we are deciding what to do with groundhogs....What kind of poison do you use?

It is illegal to poison wildlife in many places, and some states require a license and exemption. This is info, for example, about Texas:
From the State of Texas Dept of Parks & Wildlife:

"No, there are no across counter or restricted-use pesticides that are legal to use on any furbearing animal in Texas.

You can shoot or trap and if you trap the raccoon or skunk, you can euthanize it shooting, drowning, lethal injection or asphyxiation."

I would look into this more closely if you plan to start poisoning wildlife.

[Chicken lady]

It is legal for me to kill the raccoons. Animal control does not seem to care how I do it. When I had one with probable distemper and called, they suggested I shoot it and burn it because "by the time we come out there, we probably won't be able to find it anyway." (Um, didn't I just say it was turning circles next to my barn door? How far is it going to go?)

i put out a bowl of coke and fly bait for the flies in my barn. The raccoons break in and drink it. Herbivores will not do that (the skunk ignores the flybait, but he sprays the raccoons. I have a guard skunk. I share my eggs with him.)

snares work best best for groundhogs.

also btw Tybee, I have been told I can (although I never would!) shoot a dog with a collar and tag if it kills a chicken. And if I turn in the tag, animal control will collect the value of the chicken from the owner and pay me without releasing my identity. My county takes livestock pretty seriously.

[Chicken lady]

Ok, I read the law. The law says I can poison raccoons as long as I don't violate the instructions on the label. The label says I have to put the poison OUTSIDE of the barn. Because the barn contains food producing animals.

that will make it a lot easier for the raccoons to commit suicide.

the law also says you can't relocate a raccoon and you have to kill it if you trap it.

[Float On]

The thing I hate about coons is that they don't always kill to eat. Sometimes, they just like to kill.
Float On.......I'm assuming your chickens were free range? I live in mostly woods, so I would have loved to let them roam, but they probably wouldn't have survived a week, between the coons, feral cats, hawks, owls, etc.. One of my vets has chickens and lets them roam and she says if they die, they die. I guess I wish I could feel that way, but I'm too much of a wuss when it comes to my "pets".

I locked them up at night in coops. Coons were very good at figuring out how to get into coops or reach through wire. They are mainly interested in killing and tearing heads. They leave the body. :(

[Tybee]

Ok, I read the law. The law says I can poison raccoons as long as I don't violate the instructions on the label. The label says I have to put the poison OUTSIDE of the barn. Because the barn contains food producing animals.

that will make it a lot easier for the raccoons to commit suicide.

the law also says you can't relocate a raccoon and you have to kill it if you trap it.

It's good that you read the law for your state. I know the law differs from state to state, and that was why I weighed in when someone was asking you what kind of poison to buy.
If someone reads recommendations about poisoning wildlife, they need to check out the law where they live, too.

[CathyA]

Chickenlady.........please don't poison animals. Then other animals/birds eat them and get poisoned too.

[Teacher Terry]

My folks owned a summer resort in northern WI for 10 years when I was a kid. The raccoons would knock over the huge garbage cans every night and make a mess that had to be cleaned up each am. No matter what they tried it did not work. Even though my Dad was a hunter and we ate what he killed never once did it occur to him to harm the raccoons. I am sure their ar eother ways to keep the chickens safe without poisoning the wildlife. I sure would not want to live somewhere where it is legal to kill a dog with a collar either. Ugh!

[Chicken lady]

The raccoons undermined the side of my barn and pulled ten pound rocks free of the foundation.

i am very careful when disposing of anything possibly sick or contaminated. Nothing eats them. The coyotes and vultures are my friends.

there is a big difference between knocking over my garbage and pulling my chickens apart alive.

[Chicken lady]

Oh, and if there is more than one raccoon, you can't trap them, because raccoon #2 lets it out.

[Simplemind]

We are constantly fighting them in our koi pond. We have it alarmed and a motion detector. DH was out the other night in his underwear chasing them with a hose and a baseball bat. They jumped the roof to the backyard and he chased them into the garden where they surprised the deer that were going to town on the apple trees. He finally got to bed and an hour later I went to let the dog out and a bird flew in. Took over an hour to get that out of the house. It is like wild kingdom around here....

Good grief, what a night!
We've had similar nights. One year the halks and coons got all but one koi and I overwintered him in my laundry room sink. First night back in the pond the coons got him meanwhile we were out back thinking we were chasing coons away from the coop which turned out to be a mama black bear and cub.

[Chicken lady]

My friend had to resort to elaborate string art to keep the heron out of her koi pond. It is very visible so that the heron would not get tangled. I have a bass pond, and the herons are welcome to share!

No raccoons this morning. I am truly hoping the mother and young moved on after being chased out of the barn and having the large male die. I am opposed to raccoons only in my barn. That is an extremely small subset of my 28 acres. They may eat the fish and crayfish and frogs from my pond and the creek. Rabbits with my blessing, and even the song birds although it makes me sad. They may not eat my chickens or my rabbit. They are banned from 2400 square feet of land. (Well, actually if they would just stay out of the chicken coop and rabbit hutch - a mere 200 square feet, we could coexist.)

i did kill a mouse last night. I feel worse about the mice. They are only committing a transgression of location. Any harm they do is to property, not lives. However, I don't see "catch and release" as a workable option. They already know how to get into the house. (The barn mice face no threat from me, but the cat and chickens kill them now and then. The greenhouse mice belong to the black snake.)

[Ultralight]

My parents have what they call a "porch coon."

A raccoon started living on their porch, so they began feeding it. Now it is something of a pet. They named it Tyrone.

[Float On]

My parents have what they call a "porch coon."

A raccoon started living on their porch, so they began feeding it. Now it is something of a pet. They named it Tyrone.

Be careful one "porch coon" will turn in to a horde of 35 banging on the sliding doors demanding cat food. Happened to the lady my husband rented a room from before we were married. It got so bad you had to toss food out one door to make it from the other door to the cars.

[iris lilies]

Be careful one "porch coon" will turn in to a horde of 35 banging on the sliding doors demanding cat food. Happened to the lady my husband rented a room from before we were married. It got so bad you had to toss food out one door to make it from the other door to the cars.OMG! Funny!