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Turn your cats into indoor pets. They'll live longer, and you won't need a cat door. The last thing you want in your house is a damn raccoon. I know a lot of people who have had them as unofficial pets, but they are also pretty capable of being vicious and of course rabid.
We have a cat door and the cat can go outside to a large pen where she likes to sit. If she ran loose, she would be gone in no time from predators, or she would be killing birds. The coons will just keep coming and coming. You could trap them in a live animal trap and relocate, but better off just making it so the coon does not have access to the cat door and the cat does not have access to run wild outdoors. A dog in the yard will deter coons. Here's the dog you need on youtube.
Raccoons are dangerous to people as well. Not just because of rabies, but they could probably rip your face off if they wanted too. I'd be more scared of a raccoon than a coyote or wolf.
Don't be ridiculous.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bonnie Carr
Hello,
Raccoons are deadly vicious if cornered, kill fowl, and totally destroy crops, without even needing it for food. Worse, there is more and more findings of Rabid Raccoons in live trap checks. I would use a live trap, with the cat food as bait. Once the raccoon is caught, call your local animal control to deal with it. BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL!! And since you have pets, MAKE SURE ALL ARE UP TO DATE ON RABIES SHOTS!!! These shots last 3 years, but are recommended every 2 years.
Bonnie Carr
You too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Woof Woof Woof!
Raccoons are not dangerous. They are everywhere and we need to learn to share the world with the other animals that are out there.
Since raccoons are drawn to food, then the best solution is to either get rid of the cat door or only make the food available during the day when raccoons are not around.
Pretty all correct.....raccoons will come out in the day time without being rabid! When our little "Rocky" started appearing in the daylight my first reaction was it had gotten rabid. Nope, she is just a piglet and eats whenever now. She started out nocturnal but after learning she could get "fed on demand" she changed her habits and I suppose her instincts. She has her own dish out by the backdoor and she even takes food offered to her by hand. We don't want to get rid of her!
Just be careful of the proliferation of the raccoons. My parents used to hand feed them thru a swing out window in their kitchen... cute.. friendly.. yep.. then they nested in the crawl space under their house and had babies... and then more babies. It cost my parents around 10k to repair the damage they did under the house.
When I was a teenager you could buy raccoons from pet stores. Bred and raised in captivity. Cute and usually friendly. But I've also seen how vicious they can get and shred with their nails and bite with their teeth when they get mad.
Just be careful.
To quote Capt Jack Sparrow.... "pirate".
Just be careful of the proliferation of the raccoons. My parents used to hand feed them thru a swing out window in their kitchen... cute.. friendly.. yep.. then they nested in the crawl space under their house and had babies... and then more babies. It cost my parents around 10k to repair the damage they did under the house.
When I was a teenager you could buy raccoons from pet stores. Bred and raised in captivity. Cute and usually friendly. But I've also seen how vicious they can get and shred with their nails and bite with their teeth when they get mad.
Just be careful.
To quote Capt Jack Sparrow.... "pirate".
Thanks. We don't have any crawlspace for her to get under. I call it "she" because my friend says she saw teats on her. She hasn't brought any babies yet. I don't think she is even 6,7 months old yet. She used to be much smaller. I have lost track of time.
I found out how sharp the claws are the first time I offered food from my hand! I didn't realize she would extend her arms out so far! Didn't break the skin but I felt them! So now unless I have something I can offer that leaves space, like a slice of pizza, I just put it in her bowl.
When the Coons started visited us, I fed them dog food a kibble at a time.
They were pretty gentle as they took it from my fingers.
But there was one guy who would slap his hands together with my fingers between them.
I don't think he was being mean, I think it was his idea of a joke.
So I started feeding them out of a bowl.
Over the years their families grew and their little bowl grew from 4 inches wide to 16 inches.
I fill it several times a day.
They eat about 150-200 lbs of high protein dog food a month.
We have known some of them for years.
They are not pets.
They are wild animals.
But they are part of our extended family.
This year, three mothers had three kits each.
Then there are the males, and some younger females.
I don't really know how many there are.
We bought the forested lot next door for them.
A bunch of them moved in there.
We call it Coon Town.
We also have a little swimming pool for them, a large fountain, and a big bowl of clean water.
When the food runs out, they look in the windows and stand up in front of the glass door to get our attention.
I mounted a bell out by their dish with a cord they can pull.
They haven't caught on to it yet.
But I know they eventually will.
We used to have one that would get a rock from the yard and knock on the door with it.
We had raccoon problems for years in our old house. The raccoons would set up house in the attic, they even had a liiter of babies up there. One even fell asleep in the chimney and was knocked out by CO before being rescued and taken down by my pet loving neighbor. I placed a raccoon trapping cage (looks like a large dog pen) up in the attic and put some peanut butter on a piece of bread inside to catch a few of them. Also sealed up a hole they dug in my soffit to get into my attac. The raccoons were docile but they had to be released in woods across the river about 20 miles away to keep them from coming back. You can get an animal friendly pet trapper to do the job for you if you want but it will probably cost you around $100 to get them to trap and relocate the animal. Raccoons are very intelligent and usually pretty docile unless attacked. They are essentially fearless because they have razor sharp claws and could gut an animal or a human in a few seconds if they wanted to. They also can look cute and loveable. Despite having them cause several thousand dollars worth of damage over the years I could never kill one.
Got dozens of coon pics last night. They come to our big pond at night to feast on crawdads. I would not recommend supplementing their diet. Just asking for an unhappy ending.
I don't recommend a live trap inside your home. You never know what's going to come in a pet door.
How'd ya like to wake up to a ticked off skunk in the trap in your kitchen.
If you do inadvertently or on purpose live trap skunks, use a large trashed sheet or blanket, hold it in front of you as you approach the trap and cover it. This works every time for me. You can then relocate via your pick up.
When my mom leaves cat food out for her outdoor cat she'll see raccoons stealing it. One night she let a coon inside the house, thinking it was the cat! thankfully it ran back outside. But the coons hang out together.❤
When my mom leaves cat food out for her outdoor cat she'll see raccoons stealing it.
She should put more out.
Then then all the creatures can share it and the Coons won't have to steal it.
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thankfully it ran back outside. But the coons hang out together.❤
