Raccoon removal/repellant advice (birds, dog, wildlife, pet)

[mengembara]

Hello,

I live on a small acreage property in the Houston, TX area. The area is wooded, and has a lot of brush.

I need to clean the brush. but that will take a while, several weeks or months, before I can get it done.

I have a pair of raccoons, I think a grown mother and child, coming to my patio at night.

I do not have any trash out, or any food, just some plants, and a bird feeder out in the back yard.

I understand that one option is to remove the bird feeder and plants, but that is a sacrifice I do not wish to make.

Do you know what deterrent/removal options there are?

I know trapping is an option, does anyone know of a good online site to buy traps?

Are there any other methods? any repellents?

Or can I use a bb gun or pellet gun? Or is a firearm the only other options?

Any tips on how to deal with the raccoons, legally, and as humanely as possible will be really helpful.

Thank you,
mengembara

[LIcenter]

First thing is take in the bird feeders before nightfall, and see if that makes a difference. Obviously something is attracting them to your yard.

[NHDave]

You want to deal with them humanely yet in the same breath suggest killing them

How about removing what's attracting them to your yard. What is the actual problem with them being on your patio?

You live in a wooded area, wildlife lives in the woods, it's a given that it'll wander into your yard. I'll never understand the human reaction that the solution is to kill it.

[Fat Freddy]

Our society has suffered from Coonaphobia ever since the media started showing raccoons as masked bandits.

[Almrausch]

I have every year raccoons visiting my garden.All I have is flowers,bushes,trees and birdbath.They just do their rounds at night.Solong you have no food out you'll be fine,just let them be.You know they are good climbers can even get up a brick wall.We have to learn to live and coexist with nature.

[gouligann]

Raccoons love leftovers or dog food. Feed them some food down in your grass every night and they'll leave your bird feeders alone. It helps them and gets rid of your leftovers Win-win.

Unless they are rabid (or you have rabies in your area), they are FAR more afraid of you, than you are of them. If you open your door when they are nearby, they'll vanish quickly.

[Redraven]

Do a google search on "how to cook racoon".
They are pretty good eating when properly cooked!

[NJmmadude]

There was another thread about this a few months ago, you may want to check it out.


I do highly recommend reading up on raccoon roundworm and how to prevent getting it. There is a chance of being infected by this roundworm (which can be potentially fatal to humans) if you come in contact with raccoon scat, whether intentionally (through cleaning) or unintentionally. Please be safe when cleaning up the area.

[earslikeacat]

They.ll move on and be a neighbors problem soon enough.
Cut out the birdseed at sundown.
I would see it a cute blessing as long as they aren.t causing any destruction or attacking my pets.
I remember once having a skunk family under my front stoop: they hung around awhile and I think the (very close) neighbors were giving me guff. So we called a wildlife trapper, and sure enough, right on cue, they had left the night before the traps were set and i paid a few hundred $ to trap air for 2 weeks.

[Ottawa2011]

They hate mothballs, the smell of them repels the raccoons... so you could put those around the porch to keep them off of it. Squirrels also hate mothballs.

The bird feeder though, that'll draw all sorts of animals.