Can a raccoon climb out of a large, empty Dumpster? (coyote, wildlife)

[chiroptera]

Success!
Dumpster devoid of raccoons now.

[Blinx]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

Success!
Dumpster devoid of raccoons now.

Yeah!!! Very good to hear.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

Success!
Dumpster devoid of raccoons now.

I hope the trash hauler did not just empty it! I presume that you mean that your boards were still in the dumpster and the animal was gone? Thank you for saving the little raccoon!

We enjoyed taking raccoon pictures at our bird feeders. We were wondering why our bird seed (black oily sunflower seed) kept going down every night. Then we turned our security system on the bird feeders and found out we were feeding the local raccoons. My wife ran a blog that she played with the pictures for a few years: Marie's Raccoons We eventually had too many visitors and had to shut down the bird feeding pipeline. But we still have fond memories of the raccoons and their babies.

[Almrausch]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

Success!
Dumpster devoid of raccoons now.

Thank goodness! Well done!

[NJ Sherri]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

Success!
Dumpster devoid of raccoons now.

Yippee! I was pulling for the little guy.

[Fox Terrier]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

Success!
Dumpster devoid of raccoons now.

So glad to hear it!

Good job!!!

[jackmichigan]

Originally Posted by chiroptera

If not, I'm lowering a baited live trap in there tonight. I TNR feral/stray cats and the traps work just as well for similar-sized wild animals.

Congrats on saving the raccoon.

Now if you'll only stop releasing feral/stray cats, you'll really be helping wildlife. (I know, that should be a whole new thread!)

[NY Annie]

Well done, Chiroptera!

Starvation is no way for any creature to die.

Jack, it's a food chain. Those birds eat worms, why aren't you caring about the worms? Feral cats eat rats, snakes, and mice - oh heck, even domestic kitties do.

[chiroptera]

Thanks all for the encouraging comments.

Yup, boards still in place (I pushed them in), Dumpster not emptied, no raccoons in there. Actually I thought it would be really funny if the paper bag of food I'd dropped in there attracted more raccoons and I peeked in this morning to find, like, a dozen of them in the Dumpster.

fisheye, I loved your wife's blog! Some of those raccoon pics were hysterical.

jackmichigan, I do understand that many people are concerned about the damage outdoor cats can to to wild bird populations. Although, bonus, I have no mouse infestations in my house! This area is awash with un-owned cats. What I (and a neighbor) are doing is trapping existing cats around here, getting them spayed, neutered and vaccinated, and re-releasing them. The ultimate aim is to have a well-fed, stable, vaccinated, sterile local cat population that will not continue to repopulate with endless litters of kittens every year.

[weltschmerz]

When my brother was living in Chicago I'd visit frequently. He was doing his PhD at the U of Chicago and lived in the Hyde Park neighborhood. Which, apart from the relatively small park, is extremely densely populated.

On two different occasions, while taking my dog out late at night, I saw raccoons. Apparently, as densely packed and urban as Chicago is, raccoons live all over the city, not just near the forested lakefront either.

There are far, far more raccoons living per square mile in a densely-populated city than out in the bush.