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I get so tired of all the plants they break, the holes they dig and the things they continually knock over and destroy. Anyone have a deterrent that will not really harm them? THANX!
The coons are always coming up on my deck to rummage through my container garden.
What works is to open the door and yell "Get out of here you Coons!"
But I really don't do it because they are so cute I love to have them visit.
They are pretty tame and will stand up and look in the windows, and I love to hear them twitter and purr.
Luckily, they are friendly Coons.
If they weren't, they would tear my cats to pieces because a couple of them try to engage the Coons in kitty games like chase and wrestle.
The Coons don't usually pay much attention, they just take whatever they are eating and move a little ways away, but once in a while one gets fed up and makes a mock charge toward the offending cat, who runs off.
The other day, one of the Coons was up on the railing digging through some little carrots and one of the cats, Big Frankie, was sitting about six inches away watching him. Every once in a while Frankie would reach out and bop him on the head.
It was a small, young Coon and he eventually ran off, but I hate to think what would have happened if he was one of the big old tough ones.
Like that old guy with no tail.
I actually saw his tail on the ground about a mile away at the U-Store-It. I thought it was a fake tail like you might hang on a bike, or on your 1926 Roadster, but on closer inspection I saw that it was real and recently cut off.
I don't know what the story was, but the old guy seems to have recovered OK.
Look up Wascally Wabbits. Several of us have had all kinds of rabbit problems over the past few months......I've tried tons of stuff....the final blow to my lawn was massive destruction by crows and either a coon or opossum......I finally bought something called Scare Crow......it's like a big rainbird...you hook it to your hose....it has a 9 volt battery in it, senses motion and sprays water for 3 seconds.....
One time a bunch were digging up my parent's lawn to get at the grubs. Not just a few random holes, but a full scale blitzkrieg. I procured a Havahart trap, used marshmellows for bait, and promptly caught two coons. Took them to the state park and released them. The pillaging of the lawn ceased.
One time a bunch were digging up my parent's lawn to get at the grubs. Not just a few random holes, but a full scale blitzkrieg. I procured a Havahart trap, used marshmellows for bait, and promptly caught two coons. Took them to the state park and released them. The pillaging of the lawn ceased.
I've been that route, too. You're brave, coons can be mean. I caught a lot of skunks under my avocado trees using that trap, (and then I'd pay an exterminator to haul them away.....at $50 each, it became expensive. He had to throw a tarp over the trap so that he didn't get sprayed). My first trap was stolen, I had to buy another and also a big chain and padlock to wrap it around a tree trunk.... When we moved, I lent the 2nd one to a friend who used it to catch an opossum....she had it for several years and it disappeared from her property, so I guess the 2nd one was stolen, too.... I think my traps were about $100 each, but that was at least 25 years ago...... Anyway, tuna is another good bait for coons...(and I think catfood that smells like fish)....and of course, they like avocados.....
I've learned that you have to continue spreading grubb killer on the lawn....one application won't do it....
I've been that route, too. You're brave, coons can be mean. I caught a lot of skunks under my avocado trees using that trap, (and then I'd pay an exterminator to haul them away.....at $50 each, it became expensive. He had to throw a tarp over the trap so that he didn't get sprayed). My first trap was stolen, I had to buy another and also a big chain and padlock to wrap it around a tree trunk.... When we moved, I lent the 2nd one to a friend who used it to catch an opossum....she had it for several years and it disappeared from her property, so I guess the 2nd one was stolen, too.... I think my traps were about $100 each, but that was at least 25 years ago...... Anyway, tuna is another good bait for coons...(and I think catfood that smells like fish)....and of course, they like avocados.....
I've learned that you have to continue spreading grubb killer on the lawn....one application won't do it....
It was a bit unnerving to open the trap and let them out. But they just ran away as fast as they could. Possums are easier, they move much slower and are more timid.
Location: where the moss is taking over the villages
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I know you don't want to hurt them but maybe cayenne would be a good idea. I think the cayenne would be noticed from a safe enough distance... I wouldn't want to hurt them either.
You... could... plant a diversionary garden, perhaps. I've only had a problem with deer & mice, although we have all the other critters here.
They love cat food. Maybe a dish of that would divert them? Except it would feed vermin also, sorry not a good idea.
Every day we see a raccoon family cross the road to go to someone's house in the late afternoon. I'm guessing that's the time of day when the cat food is put out.
It'll be interesting to see how this evolves if you share your outcome with us!
I know you don't want to hurt them but maybe cayenne would be a good idea. I think the cayenne would be noticed from a safe enough distance... I wouldn't want to hurt them either.
You... could... plant a diversionary garden, perhaps. I've only had a problem with deer & mice, although we have all the other critters here.
They love cat food. Maybe a dish of that would divert them? Except it would feed vermin also, sorry not a good idea.
Every day we see a raccoon family cross the road to go to someone's house in the late afternoon. I'm guessing that's the time of day when the cat food is put out.
It'll be interesting to see how this evolves if you share your outcome with us!
I'm still searching for ideas. I know they LOVE water...my main beef is they muck up the bird baths, knock them over and occassionally smash them too.
I was going to put mouse traps around the baths...but I don't want to harm other critters and I don't want to possibly break a racoon's "leg". I thought the trap snapping would scare them; but I have a mental vision of the trap stuck to their leg and torturing them. I do not want to do that, even though they "torture" me....LOL.
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I think my traps were about $100 each, but that was at least 25 years ago...... Anyway, tuna is another good bait for coons...(and I think catfood that smells like fish)....and of course, they like avocados.....
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