coons and other critters

davidh

davidh

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my old ex neighbor lady spent every night feeding and watching the neighborhood animals. the ones that live somewhere in the wild. she fed deer, raccoons, birds, chipmunks, even skunks. since she has been out of her home / recluse farm the animals have not been fed by humans, at least not with intent. its been over a year now since she left. the skunks disappeared since but the raccoons are a different story.

one night last spring when I went to let my cat in for the night, a small raccoon tried to come in with the cat. . . . . whew, that’d be a interesting saga with the German Shepard in the house.... fortunately I was watching closely and managed to push it back out before it realized what happened. I didn’t see any more of those cute little monsters again.

deer are a different story. last year, mary’s straw bale garden got eaten to the nubbs when it first started growing. this year the straw bale garden is heavily guarded with wire fence, and more wire fence. hopefully this will deter the wild critters from munching on the nice fresh green things. . . . but. . . .

last evening, I noticed one of the bird feeders that mary has being kept full, was laying under the big pine type tree, with the top off and all the lilys of the valley under where it was in the tree. bears ? probably not, but they have been here in the yard before. nope, I just hung it back up, empty.

this morning, went to let the chickens out of their big cage and lo and behold, two other bird feeders wer laying under the big tree, half empty. . . . crap, at least they should eat the stuff if they are going to tear them down. im afraid the coons have come to my house now, can’t say as I blame them. there is always something somewhere for them to eat. so the question is. . . . . short of removing the bird feeders, how can I deter the coons ? I tried many years ago to use gun powder and lead but ended up blowing the hell out of a real nice bird feeder I had built. that feeder has been laying behind the barn, still semi attached to its cedar post. I don’t have the heart to burn it.

besides the coons, yesterday mid day I was loading a step ladder into the back of the truck, and happened to notice a fawn, watching me very intently, from just a couple feet away. . . . it really caught me by surprise. I reached for my phone / camera and by the time I got it out of my pocket, it trotted back to its mom that was about 15 feet from me, and away they went, down the hill and into the deep grass. they are soooo frail looking this time of year. but they will not get mary’s garden this year.

back to the coons, how the heck am I going to keep them from crawling up and over the 6 foot fence that’s around the garden ? I do have a couple electric fencers and could wrap hot wire around the upper part of the fencing, but I hate to do that. or do I ? ? ? (evil grin) is there a good chemical available that anyone has used successfully ?
 
I don't know of any chemical repellants, but the electric fence would get my vote. Once they get a couple of jolts they will go off to find easier pickings elsewhere. Personally, I would build a two wire setup, with the first wire about a foot off the ground and about four inches outside your mesh fence. Put the second wire outside the mesh fence right up near the top so that there is no way they can climb past it without touching it.
 
Use the electric fence. It will do them no permanent harm. Be sure to position the wire so that they must touch both it and a grounded wire to get over. Don't use one of those so-called "pet fencers". They're just high voltage transformers with current limiting resistors. They can kill small animals while not deterring larger ones.
 
My grandparents had problems with raccoons climbing on the deck, then onto the hummingbird feeder and drinking the juice. So he screwed a piece of sheet metal to the deck railing where the coon would stand, and wrapped a piece of wire around the metal hummingbird feeder post. He then used a transformer (not sure of what current coming out, but just enough) connected between them so as soon as coon would touch the pole he got the zap of his life. Very effective.
 
The electric fence is a good humane way to deter the critters. I used one to teach the farm dog not to wet my magnesium wheels when I was in high school. I've had better (more permanent) luck using the gunpowder method on varmints. Racoons are pretty hard to get rid of unless they have to cross roadways.

My Dad is a consummate tree hugger, and was attempting to re-forest about 5 acres of open area. He spent a fortune on the trees, and everything and everyone else necessary to plant them. The deer promptly came along and ate every one of them down to the ground. He invited me and all of my friends over to hunt deer on the property that fall. I guess it's all in how you look at it.

GG
 
Racoons were never supposed to be in Utah but somebody brought them in and now they city dwellers. My grandfather used to keep some of the produce he grew in his garden in the basement fireplace with a board to close it up and the food would stay fresh all winter. One day he went downstairs to get some potatoes and there was a racoon in there. He decided that maybe a piece of burning paper would smoke it out so lit some newspaper and threw it in. Well it landed on racoon and it turns our they are very flammable. So here is this large racoon ablaze in his fireplace and it was a bit excited. Grandpa was wearing gloves so he dropped the board and started beat the flame out. By this time the racoon was hairless, chard and dead. He closed the fireplace up and went to get a crate to carry it out in. He returned with the crate, opened the fireplace, and the racoon was gone. Never had another racoon problem.

Dave
 
The electric fence charger will teach them to go elsewhere but it may take awhile before they all learn about it. This fall when the raccoon seasons open you may consider eliminating as many as you can. Raccoon pelts have been bringing $14-$18 each. If you don't want to do it yourself ask around to find a local trapper. Most trappers are always looking for new places.
 
OldMachinist said:
The electric fence charger will teach them to go elsewhere but it may take awhile before they all learn about it. This fall when the raccoon seasons open you may consider eliminating as many as you can. Raccoon pelts have been bringing $14-$18 each. If you don't want to do it yourself ask around to find a local trapper. Most trappers are always looking for new places.
Click to expand...

One of our neighbors keeps a pack of coonhounds and hunts them regularly. We have a little trouble with coons, but not much. Woodchucks, on the other hand...
 
davidh said:
my old ex neighbor lady spent every night feeding and watching the neighborhood animals. the ones that live somewhere in the wild. she fed deer, raccoons, birds, chipmunks, even skunks. since she has been out of her home / recluse farm the animals have not been fed by humans, at least not with intent. its been over a year now since she left. the skunks disappeared since but the raccoons are a different story.

one night last spring when I went to let my cat in for the night, a small raccoon tried to come in with the cat. . . . . whew, that’d be a interesting saga with the German Shepard in the house.... fortunately I was watching closely and managed to push it back out before it realized what happened. I didn’t see any more of those cute little monsters again.

deer are a different story. last year, mary’s straw bale garden got eaten to the nubbs when it first started growing. this year the straw bale garden is heavily guarded with wire fence, and more wire fence. hopefully this will deter the wild critters from munching on the nice fresh green things. . . . but. . . .

last evening, I noticed one of the bird feeders that mary has being kept full, was laying under the big pine type tree, with the top off and all the lilys of the valley under where it was in the tree. bears ? probably not, but they have been here in the yard before. nope, I just hung it back up, empty.

this morning, went to let the chickens out of their big cage and lo and behold, two other bird feeders wer laying under the big tree, half empty. . . . crap, at least they should eat the stuff if they are going to tear them down. im afraid the coons have come to my house now, can’t say as I blame them. there is always something somewhere for them to eat. so the question is. . . . . short of removing the bird feeders, how can I deter the coons ? I tried many years ago to use gun powder and lead but ended up blowing the hell out of a real nice bird feeder I had built. that feeder has been laying behind the barn, still semi attached to its cedar post. I don’t have the heart to burn it.

besides the coons, yesterday mid day I was loading a step ladder into the back of the truck, and happened to notice a fawn, watching me very intently, from just a couple feet away. . . . it really caught me by surprise. I reached for my phone / camera and by the time I got it out of my pocket, it trotted back to its mom that was about 15 feet from me, and away they went, down the hill and into the deep grass. they are soooo frail looking this time of year. but they will not get mary’s garden this year.

back to the coons, how the heck am I going to keep them from crawling up and over the 6 foot fence that’s around the garden ? I do have a couple electric fencers and could wrap hot wire around the upper part of the fencing, but I hate to do that. or do I ? ? ? (evil grin) is there a good chemical available that anyone has used successfully ?
Click to expand...

Sounds like interesting challenge. I remember watching a nature program years ago. They also used electric fence but leaned it outward to confuse the deer. They have trouble with depth perception. I would suggest adding arms to the top of your posts like you see on chain link fences. Angle them outward so the coons are baffled and electrify to discourage the determined ones. Otherwise get live traps and release them miles away, they have a good travel range. If all fails contact your Agricultural Extension Agent for help. Good luck,
 
I use an electric wire around my high-bush blueberries, six feet up. They would be well grounded to the chicken wire cage when they touch the wire. It's fed from a transformer, current-limited but close to 2000 volts, and comes on only at night with a timer. Haven't lost a berry in twenty years. Actually it's not so much the berries, but raccoons are heavy enough to break branches while getting them. Lost a filbert tree that way.
 
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