Racoons (home, neighborhood, to buy)

[irin73]

Is any advise to try to get rid of them, i found out they come every night to my backyard, and i dont have food, not even the garbage outside, and last night they took off, my bird feeder, wich used to be hanging on a tree, and they rip it in pieces and they finish it all the seeds, i didn't know till now they will like the seeds, now i can not put any feeders outside because of them. If you have any ideas to scare them off, will be nice thank you.

[rainroosty]

They do exactly the same as the bears do and they are in the bear family. Both are attracted to bird feeders loaded with seed. You just need to remove the feeder. Putting seed directly on the ground would help some. The raccoons have just as much right to be there as the birds do, as we all know, so you just need to accept their funny behavior. :-) I wish we had more racoons around us, here where I live.
And O'possums!

[stevep111]

They sell a product called Critter ridder at home cheapo for Raccoons. I used it for rabbits that were chewing my yard up with mixed results. One thing you might try that I am about to do is to get a very large rubber snake and put it out in my yard. About the only other thing you can do is to take the bird feeder in at night.

I had a cat problem a few years back where they were coming into my flowers and killing them with their urine and crap. I got some of those very small mouse traps and put them in the flower beds. The cats are too quick to get caught in the trap but the snap of the trap cured them from coming back.

Short of that about the only thing you can do is get some traps either from the Animal shelter or from Home cheapo and trap them and drive them far away and let them go until you are rid of them. The only problem with that is they might be aggressive when you let them go so be very careful.

[rainroosty]

Originally Posted by stevep111

They sell a product called Critter ridder at home cheapo for Raccoons. I used it for rabbits that were chewing my yard up with mixed results. One thing you might try that I am about to do is to get a very large rubber snake and put it out in my yard. About the only other thing you can do is to take the bird feeder in at night.

I had a cat problem a few years back where they were coming into my flowers and killing them with their urine and crap. I got some of those very small mouse traps and put them in the flower beds. The cats are too quick to get caught in the trap but the snap of the trap cured them from coming back.

Short of that about the only thing you can do is get some traps either from the Animal shelter or from Home cheapo and trap them and drive them far away and let them go until you are rid of them. The only problem with that is they might be aggressive when you let them go so be very careful.

The traps can break the cats toes, or worse, and trapping the racoon and driving it far away is a cruel and heartless thing to do to it just so that a person can put up a bird feeder. Taking the feeder in at night, like you said, is the best and only humane solution....and then you can enjoy the birds AND the racoons....everybody's happy!

[irin73]

well thank u evrybody for the advise, i think the best solution will be take in the feeder at night, hopelly it will help, i saw few of them one night and they dont' seem agresive i wa at the window and they came to the window to look at me more closer with a curious face, they kind of cute, but very destructive, i didnt like they destroy my feeder, now i have to buy a new one for the birds

[2goldens]

Originally Posted by rainroosty

The traps can break the cats toes, or worse, and trapping the racoon and driving it far away is a cruel and heartless thing to do to it just so that a person can put up a bird feeder. Taking the feeder in at night, like you said, is the best and only humane solution....and then you can enjoy the birds AND the racoons....everybody's happy!

I wouldn't ever use mouse trap-like devices for wild animals. After all, you are in their territory. This is quite dangerous to the animal.

Why not replace the bird feeder (not so expensive) in the tree and add a small bowl on the ground for the raccoon to eat too.

Feed one, Feed them all.

[Retiredcoach]

I saw your post, and although I do not live in your area, my neighbors and I had to deal with this problem on a much larger scale. The raccoons lived in the sanitary sewer drains running through our neighborhood. They would come out from their "local habitat" in droves during the late evening hours. Not much startled these raccoons, as they maintained a sense of dominance. I can remember about 10 of them tearing apart a gas grill in my yard to get to the drippings on the foil. Throwing stones merely interrupted their dining experience long enough to move them a few feet before their return.

If raccoons have an easy food source, they would return to scavenge to the same location nightly. They loved trash collection night.... an easy meal in virtually every yard and the open garages with a multitude of unseen raccoon delicacies. Few trash receptacles could deter them from gaining entrance.

Despite being an attraction of nature, these animals can be very aggressive. They are capable of tearing apart a pet cat or dog when feeling threatened, and are especially aggressive when mating season begins. They are very intelligent animals.... good luck trying to deter their presence with a plastic snake. Driving them to a new location, if close enough, will merely test their excellent honing skills. If you ever see a raccoon during daylight hours, be extremely wary.... the animal is sick, will be agitated, and may be carrying rabies and are extremely dangerous..... most will be destroyed by local police in this condition.

The best solution to addressing your issues with raccoons is to limit (and/or) eliminate their food sources around your home. If the source is abundant enough, your raccoon numbers will grow surprisingly fast. I cannot stress how inventive these creatures are..... they will find the means of finding access.

[sallygoodin]

Interesting and informative post, coach.

I'm assuming having citrus trees in ones yard would bring the same problems with racoons and possum??

[Retiredcoach]

Originally Posted by sallygoodin

Interesting and informative post, coach.

I'm assuming having citrus trees in ones yard would bring the same problems with racoons and possum??

In many parts of the world where there raccoon establishes a presence, it is considered a real threat to the ecosystems. Your citrus trees are excellent food sources for these voracious omnivores.

[sallygoodin]

Now where did I put the chain saw?