Racoon Pests

[rfischer]

I feed the deer in my back yard corn. I even built a small platform to put it on. The other day I noticed a coon was sitting on the platform eating the corn. I want out later in the night and shined a spotlight and there were 2 of them eating. Anybody have a suggestion, besides shooting them, how to discourage them?

[TimSullivan]

There probably is little that you can do to stop the raccoons from eating the corn. They are smart animals and will test anything that you devise.

We have many on our property and have just learned to live with them. We take our dogs out on leashes after dark because we don't want them tangling with a raccoon. My wife has raised orphaned babies on bottles and they do make interesting pets for a while. We always allow them the freedom to come and go they always drift to a wild state.

[Carl]

rfisher,

Try using a old plastic or metal garbage can turned upside down with a piece of wood for a deck for the deer to eat from.

The racoons should not be able to climb the sides since it is slippery and too wide for them to get a grip. Make sure you anchor the handles into the ground though with stakes since those pesky racoons will try to dig under it and tip it over.

Let us know if this works.

Carl

[Pat]

I had 'coons climb my 6 ft high rebar mast for two sunflower seed feeders and bend it over to the ground. They ate the seeds and carried the feeder 20 ft. I straightened it up and set a live trap at the base. They stood on the trap to reach the feeders and didn't have to climb the mast. I rebaited the live trap and moved it far enough so they couldn't use it to their advantage and caught my first 'coon. I got 5 'coons plus two possums before I stopped setting them. The live traps do not injure the animals and double as transport cages. I took them to a much less densly populated area and released them. I don't have a grudge against their living, just eating my garden. If you bait a live trap with something more appealing than corn, you will likely get them. While actively trapping them there were plenty of tracks around the property in other locations. I don't know how mobile the population is or how far they range but they were real slow to "diffuse" back into the area where I trapped so it worked. for me.

Pat

[jimmoore]

I also have a raccoon problem at my place. I have a Havahart trap aand the best bait you can get is put a slice of apple in the trap. You will only catch coons and possums as cats don't eat apples. [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[AndyF]

<font color="blue">The live traps do not injure the animals and double as transport cages. I took them to a much less densly populated area and released them. </font color>

It's not a good idea to do catch and release with raccoons and in some areas it's against the law. When I lived in SW Ohio, Animal Control told me only catch and kill was allowed because of the chance of spreading rabies.

[Pat]

Andy, Thanks for your perspective. I haven't lived in Ohio for decades and then just outside of Lima in the north west. So I am unaware of the coon situation you faced as regards rabies.

Here in south central Oklahoma we are innundated with coons. The roadsides are littered with their bodies (a grizly but fairly accurate way to estimate population density).

On my quarter section there is a significant population. I don't know enough about their habits to know how widely they roam but trapping them near our garden elliminated/prevented ALL garden damage from coons. My original motivation was to prevent destruction of bird feeders.

I don't handle the animals directly nor deal with the cages bare handed. None of the animals were symptomatic but of course that doesn't mean they couldn't be infected. The disease agent does not last long out of the host or supportive conditions. You won't get it next week from saliva from an infected animal caught this week.

I appreciate those animal control folks point of view but reserve judgement until after I contact our state's authorities. Skunks have traditionally been a reservoir of rabies contamination and armadilos carry leprosy so I am careful in those respects. I don't have a grudge against coons and no desire to elliminate them from my property, just keep them away from the bird feeders and garden.

I will take this issue up with the state authorities but until and unless they make a good convincing argument to the contrary, I will, if the need exists, trap and transport as an alternative to killing.

I'm not a dyed in the wool tree hugging PETA suporter and I strive to KILL all beaver on my property, for good cause, but until convinced to the contrary, I have no desire to kill the cute little coons. If the word comes back that they are indeed better dead than moved, I can deal with that. I have traps that are humane and kill virtually instantly as well as various weapons such as a 22-250 that will do the deed at 300 yds.

Related info: I just filled in my balot for a state election. There was an ammendment on it to raise the signature percentage from 8 up to 15 for referenda aimed at changing laws relating to hunting, fishing, trapping, animal sports (rodeo, fox/coon hunting with dogs) and the like. This is a preemptive strike to beat PETA to the punch and make it more expensive for them to dictate our lifestyle to us.

There was also a bill to make cock fighting a felony.

PETA and their allies want to outlaw rodeo, hunting, fishing, trapping, etc. This is a measure to make it harder for folks to mess with our fishing/hunting/trapping laws and our rodeo sports.

I really hate it when I feel compelled to vote for a PETA supported issue but I don't see any good that cock fighting does. These same forces were handed at least a temporary setback if not defeat in Texas when they tried to outlaw cattle branding.

Ranching and farming is tough enough without these medlers going overboard about animals rights.

OK, Animals, you have the right to be eaten! My ancestors didn't spend countless millenia fighting and clawing their way to the top of the food chain so I could eat tofu. Shoot, I like various vegie burgers I've had but not as an exclusive "meat" experience.

PETA and allies have influenced lots of "pet" laws. They want to replace pet ownership with guardianship. Pets would be like children, your responsibility to nurture properly in accordance with PETA dictates or you could be a felon or whatever depending on the particular law. In California they succeded im making it a felony to intentionally injure, for instance, a neighbors cat or dog.

Here, if a dog chases stock, in general the dog owner would shoot it and failing that no one would fault the land owner or stock owner for shooting a dog. Folks say things like, "I wouldn't have a dog that wouldn't stay on its own property, I'd shoot it myself. This is the "old school" attitude and while it sounds harsh and barbaric to the deluded folks who think life is scripted at Disney Studios, it is a GOOD tradition.

So, all that said, you see I'm not against killing animals IF THERE IS GOOD CAUSE like to eat them or protect property but would prefer to not NEED to kill them when there is a viable alternative. I will check with the authorities on wildlife management and make an informed decision.

Thanks again for revisiting this topic,

Patrick