raccoons tearing up WS containers

This is the 2nd morning I've come out to find WS containers ripped open. This morning it was cucumber seeds. Any ideas about how to deter them?
Andrea

I'm sorry Andrea.

Do you have a dog? Can you borrow one?

No and too bad. I have 3 cats but they have to come in at night because we had 25 cases of rabies in the local counties last year. I have no idea if it will help or even attract those stupid critters even more but I have some really stinky deer repellent spray left over from last yr . Maybe I'll do a light squirt on the inside of the containers or something. I don't like to smell it myself either! I did a search on the net and it seems most veggie gardeners have given up and gone to fencing and electic wires. Last year I bought dahlia tubers in the names of all the members of my family - it was going to be the start of my family garden and those d _ _ _ coons tore up the tubers over and over till they were just totalled.

Rats! no wait - no rats either!
a

Okay, I saw something in the Peaceful Valley catalog (www.groworganic.com) called the Phantom Guard 'n Protector. It makes the hiss of a mountain lion. I don't know if it works (and it's $50!) but it's supposed to protect up to 4 acres from raccoons, coyotes, skunks etc, and P.V. stands behind their products... there's a manufacturer guarantee and warrenty on it, too. Order their free catalog: it's really fun to browse through, and they give great ideas for all kinds of pest and disease control. The web site is harder to navigate.
http://www.groworganic.com/item_PBR957_PhanTomGuardNPROtector.html

My first thought was that one of those motion detector "sprinkers" would work well, too. Your cats might not appreciate it, but I guess it could be turned off during the day. P.V carries those too, but you can probably find one around you.http://www.groworganic.com/item_PBR956_SprayAwayMotionDetectionDeerRepe.html Oh, I should add that P.V. sends free seeds on orders over $50, hee hee.

I'm trying to think of a low cost alternative for you, but apart from building a chicken wire "cage" in which to put all your w/s containers, I can't. Sorry.

Okkkk
But what if they don't know what a mountain lion is? Here kitty kitty, nice puddy tat...!

That's an instinctual fear, not a learned one.

I was just kiddin!

No, but I was just thinking what I'd think if I were walking around at night and heard a low hiss. I'd be out of there pretty quick. The only problem would be if they got used to it or figured out there was no real threat, and raccoons are quick learners.

I have it! Get a real mountain lion.

you may want to give cayenne pepper a shot. I had bulbs dug up three time in a row a couple of years ago. I finally went to BJs (like Costco, but not) and got an industrial size container and sprinkled it over the ground. Never had a problem after that.....but I'd like to have been there when they got a "snootful" of that stuff. :) I've startd sprinkling it around some of my particularly yummy plants that my woodchucks like. Seems to work so far.....unless it rains. A note of caution though....I accidentally got it on some leaves and it did burn them, but it didn't cause any permanent damage. Oh..and I wouldn't recommend doing it on a windy day.

The pepper is a good idea. I wonder if I could use it in my sown containers of lettuce? I had an old time gardener tell me she sows lettuce in the bird baths in the early spring for a couple cuttings, then cleans them out and they return to bath duty. So my kids and I sowed mesclun tonight - it was fun!

Hot pepper is an excellent suggestion. However, you need to be diligent about reapplying it after each rain storm.

Personally, I would NOT grow anything in a bird bath that I would eat! Your neighbor is taking a big risk regardless of how clean she thinks her bird baths are!

you know - I never thought of that. Ewwww yuck. I am dumping that puppy right now. H5N1 here we come! I knew there was a good reason to pay the $15 to join DG.

Here I am bleaching containers for WS and potting up cuttings and I didn't even think to bleach something for food. Good goin A! And thank you Shirley1 that was a welcome comment.

We had a horrible racoon problem last year, but after carting off 7 of the little ****ers via the Havaheart cage that trapped them, the rampaging stopped for the rest of the year.

merryma, ditto about the red pepper - thanks.

I have also had plenty of racoon damage to property as well as anything else they could get a hold of. I've used a live trap and then released them on county land several miles away. I was also advised by a local wildlife refuge to turn on a radio.....to loud obnoxious music. There was a family (with lots of little ones) living under my deck. They prefer peace and quiet, so the music annoys them and they leave.

Best of luck. I would probably try everything all at once in the hopes that I could get rid of them quickly.

Maybe when they leave, they'll take my squirrels with them - they keep eating my tulips!!!

Too bad it's not a healthy idea to make petting zoos out of all our visiting critters - the friendliest one ever to visit our Havaheart trap was a skunk! He loved that cage and just slowly ambled around when released with a "pat me" 'tude.

you know that was a ploy....