Racoons

[DancingLady]

Anybody have problems with racoons? What can you do about it. Coons can be pretty destructive. I know you should not put anything outside that is not fully broken down compost, but aside from that I don't know what you can do to prevent them.

 

[Chuck]

Anybody have problems with racoons? What can you do about it. Coons can be pretty destructive. I know you should not put anything outside that is not fully broken down compost, but aside from that I don't know what you can do to prevent them.

I have a terrible problem with coons. Not so much in my vegetable garden but in my peach orchard. Coons are extremely intelligent animals, they observe and they quickly learn. I have completely lost the last 2 years of peaches because of them. I live way out in the country and have no neighbors to speak of. These coons are all country coons, never having even seen a garbage can or even any kind of civilization at all. I have tried repellents of all kinds and nothing works. I have used HavaHeart Traps, caught a couple and now the rest of them avoid a trap like the plague. I have even loosely wrapped barbed wire around the trunk and thru the limbs. I even tried leaving my dogs out there at night. They sent a decoy coon in and while my dogs were chasing it the rest of the herd ran in and gobbled up the fruit. Nothing works. This year I am going to try something different. If I posted what I am going to do next PETA would have a stroke and be living in my driveway. There finally comes a time when enough is enough and to hell with trying to be nice and politically correct

 

[Rosyrain]

Raccoons are evil little mean creatures and you want to keep them away from your yard as much as possible. We used to have a dog and we would leave his food bowl outside. The coons found the bowl and would come and eat out of it each and every night. We ended up having to bring the food inside so that we could keep the coons from coming over at night. You have to make sure all food sources have been removed or secured and make sure your neigboors are doing the same. If your neighboors are leaving food sources outside, the coons will most likely find their way into your yard.

 

[DancingLady]

Yes they are nasty. There is one in our area that has an injured hind foot and no tail, probably from a fight my room mate heard some nights ago. I do not know if anyone is leaving food sources out. I live in an apartment complex, so I can only control my own yard. The other renters know they are not supposed to leave things out, but that doesn't mean someone isn't doing it. People don't always follow all the rules in the rental agreement when they don't feel like it.

 

[Rosyrain]

No they do not and it is not being considerate of others, that is for sure. Aside from coons, there are bears living in the woods where I live and we are all told not to bring out the garbage cans until the morning of trash day. Believe it or not, I am always seeing people bring out their garbage cans the night before. Each year there is a bear spotting around here and that is because people leave food sources outside. I have kids that play outside and I do not want them to run into a coon or a bear because others can't follow instructions.

 

[DancingLady]

That is pretty serious. Bears can do some real damage if they come around looking for food. You should send out reminders that it is a safety issue for the whole neighborhood if everyone isn't following that rule.

 

[Ladybug]

Loads of coons around my neighborhood! I remember one night when I went outside in the dark to the car, I heard a bang. I looked towards the sound and there was a big raccoon digging through my garbage! I got locking lids after that.

 

[DancingLady]

Loads of coons around my neighborhood! I remember one night when I went outside in the dark to the car, I heard a bang. I looked towards the sound and there was a big raccoon digging through my garbage! I got locking lids after that.

Oh, that is the worst, they make such a huge mess when they do that. Glad you found lids that can keep them out. Our area has the flip top lids because the garbage tuck picks up mechanically. Not sure if they can lift those or not as I've always been at an apartment with a dumpster.

 

[megankl]

I have never had a problem with raccoons in my garden but this summer me and my boyfriend went camping and at night around 11 o'clock around the campfire we were eating a bag of chips and I heard something in the forest beside me so I stopped eating for a minute then all of a sudden I seen eyes on the other side of the camp fire and I said babe! I think there is an animal. So we jumped up and sure enough it was a raccoon I was so scared I jumped on top of the picnic table and my boyfriend kept trying to scare it away and just when we thought he was gone he would run up towards us eventually we dashed it into the tent and as soon as we got in there literally we turned around and that pesky bugger was already up on our picnic table. Thank god we were smart enough to keep all food, etc put away. Although he came the other 2 nights we were camping too. Annoying.

 

[Chuck]

I have never had a problem with raccoons in my garden but this summer me and my boyfriend went camping and at night around 11 o'clock around the campfire we were eating a bag of chips and I heard something in the forest beside me so I stopped eating for a minute then all of a sudden I seen eyes on the other side of the camp fire and I said babe! I think there is an animal. So we jumped up and sure enough it was a raccoon I was so scared I jumped on top of the picnic table and my boyfriend kept trying to scare it away and just when we thought he was gone he would run up towards us eventually we dashed it into the tent and as soon as we got in there literally we turned around and that pesky bugger was already up on our picnic table. Thank god we were smart enough to keep all food, etc put away. Although he came the other 2 nights we were camping too. Annoying.

First of all when camping you should be in bed way before 11. Second of all you should not jump on the picnic table, you should jump on your boyfriend and sip up the tent.

 

[Primalclaws1974]

There used to be two abandoned houses next door to me, and the raccoons lived in them. We were right in town, yet they flourished there. Raccoons are smart and probably more inquisitive than a cat. I was surprised how big some of them got! The problem of having raccoons in your neighborhood is that the city won't do anything, because they don't see them during the day. We also could not keep any garbage outside ahead of time. Even inside a weighted trash can, they were smart enough to tip it over and get into the bags. They can also be aggressive like a dog. My friend was chased by one that was caught by surprise. The only thing I can suggest is to make sure there is no food at all left out. If you live on a farm or another property where you can destroy or remove where they live (like the houses I mentioned), this may discourage them into leaving.

 

[marlingardener]

Although we live in the country, we rarely see raccoons, and only on one occasion had one get at our bird seed. We use galvanized containers for any of the animal feed and make sure the lids are on tight. I put kitchen scraps on the compost piles, but haven't had anyone digging through the piles.
It seems our great raccoon repellent is the local coyote population. When we lived in town, raccoons were a nightly sighting. We should have gotten some coyotes . . . .

 

[Primalclaws1974]

At least in the Midwest, Raccoons are semi-domesticated. What I mean by that is that they have adapted to life around people, because there is no shortage of trash from humans, and garbage = food. They aren't very scared of us, and will only flee if you dash at them. There are numerous other animals that are more plentiful in town than the country, for this same reason. Red squirrels are absolutely everywhere in town. We probably have fifty in every city block. Birds are the same way (ducks, geese, sparrows, robins, and ravens to name a few).

 

[Mockingbird]

Recently had a raccoon that as it turns out was taking up residence in my neighbors garage, I was very worried of letting him stay, being a true tree hugger it is hard for me to justify removing any creature from the garden, anyway I set out a couple of humane traps. Last I heard the raccoon is gone, I think my neighbors dog got it. The problem with the raccoons is they can have rabies and they will try to get into your house if given the chance. Coons climb and will even find ways to get in you would never expect. I am sad the poor thing is dead, but better then being bit I guess.