Destructive raccoons ...

I know this isn't the pest forum, but it is my home forum. So I figured this still might be of interest to some of you. Especially if you are feeding birds and squirrels.

As you can see by the attached photo, the raccoons got into my yard again last night. I checked at 1:00 AM, but no disturbance. They must wait till early morning around 2-5 am.

Added to say:

They literally moved the concrete border out of the way. Kind of made their own little doorway. Those borders are heavy, so I know there must be at least one BIG raccoon. It would take a bit of strength to move something heavy like that.

This message was edited Mar 25, 2007 8:22 AM

They wreaked the squirrel feeder and knocked over the feeder dish that was on the ground. I also noticed that my flat hanging bird feeder had all the seed to one side. Those raccoons are bigger and probably have a better arm reach, so they managed to grab the feeder and pulled down on it. So all the seeds rolled to that side. I am surprised they didn't break the feeder.

They uprooted my baby water lotus washing the food they found.

For some reason they also got into some small pots I had sitting near one of my beds. Totally destroyed what was in them. Grrrr ..... I had some starter Cardinal Flowers that I managed to find on e-bay! Burns me up! Several of the plants didn't make it, but the ones that did are the ones they dug up and shredded. :-(

They are also digging around my garden beds. For what I have no idea!

I had just put fresh water in the bird bath/water bowl before it got dark and you can see the raccoons must have washed their hands in it. What a mess!

But they did leave me a GIFT! LOL!

I have no jacks in my yard anywhere. So one of the raccoons must have brought this with him/her. Maybe it was a toy a baby raccoon was playing with. They like to play with things in their hands.

I went to the pest forum to see if there were any threads on ridding your yard of raccoons. Didn't find one yet, but saw a thread about a destructive Titmouse and HAD to read the entire thread and then some. If you need a good laugh .... and I mean the rolling on the floor type of laugh, then read this thread! It is hysterical!!!!
http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/548658/#new

Oh, yeah, large coons have the strength and agility to do that. As for them digging in the garden and in pots, don't get me started on that! I think they eat grubs, maybe even earthworms, which would account for some of the digging. Baby coons are especially destructive...they PLAY and tear things up quite a bit. Oh, BTW, they seem to love bulbs...or something does, maybe them. Sorry to hear you have them in your neighborhood. They're SO cute, but OMG, I'm just pulling my hair out sometimes, trying to outwit them. And they usually win. BTW, I have a nice peach tree, produces every year. Who gets to eat the peaches? The #@&* coons get them, pulling them off or chewing on them long before they're ripe! But at least I finally found a way to keep them out of the garbage.

Bedcy, that's too bad about Jack (because of the calling card) and his friends! You could try getting one of those water shooting things that they use to keep herons out of ponds.

Also, don't use blood meal or bone meal, can't remember which. One of them attracts raccoons.

I think it was very thoughtful of them to leave you a gift for all they took (lol).

Linda - So sorry to hear about your troubles because of the coons. Not too encouraging. I am going to try stacking some concrete borders tonight and see if that keeps them out. They must come early morning because I kept checking last night and thought I'd out-smarted them, but they are bound and determined to get into my yard.

fly_girl - I didn't know that they like bone/blood meal. I use both. :-( :-( My dh suggested I throw scraps into the vacant lot next to where they are coming in and maybe that would keep them happy. I might just have to try that if nothing else works. I just don't like encouraging them to keep coming around.

It's always something in my neighborhood! The ponds being trashed and my lotus being dug up has me VERY upset!! Those are my babies and these critters have a natural attraction to water. I can see this turning into a catch and release issue. Such a major problem!!!

Is there some kind of scent that they DON'T like that I could spray around the gate?

I am sorry Becky, didn't mean to make light of your problem.

Karen - I had to lol too when I saw the jack in the bird feeder bed. I could picture a whole family of coons - mama, daddy, and a couple of kids. I could picture mama telling the kids to eat their dinner and stop playing. Which was why the jack was left in my yard! lol

It doesn't bother me for folks to make jokes about it. I'm just mad because they are tearing up plants that are some of my favorites! We'll see what happens tonight. I may be calling animal control to borrow some cages to live trap them and then drive them far away to release them. LOL!

Wow they were really busy at your place last night Becky! I've never been blessed (lol) with coons but they sure make squirrels look mild. Sorry they got you so bad.

:o) I love racoons...but I can say that since I don't get them here in the city. They are destructive little buggers. Dad worked with the highway department and would find strays whose mama had gotten run over. We raised lots of orphaned animals when I was younger.

Back at the ranch they manage to open a metal tin (that popcorn comes in). Mom keeps the dog food in that big tin and every now and then she'll find the lid pried open and dog food strew about. Mind you, the dog sleeps either at the back door or near the garage where her food is. Must have some sneaky racoons!!!

Oh well Becky, look at the bright side...at least you didn't have a 'possum find it's way into the doggy door and scare the daylights out of your Mom. Mom stayed with me for about six weeks to recuperate from foot surgery. She was sweeping and opened up the sliding door blinds...needless to say...she thought it was one of the dog toys but it just didn't look right so she touched it with the broom - when it moved...she moved even faster on one foot!!! Heh! Heh!

~ Cat

Well, it's been TWO nights in a row since I blocked the gate and no damage found in my backyard. So I "hope" that it continues to work and they don't find another way in. I have walked all around the entire exterior of my backyard fence and unless they parachute in or fall from a tall Brazilian Pepper tree branch into my yard, I think they may have to look elsewhere for bird food. :-)

Here is a photo of what I did to discourage them sneaking in. A bit inconvenient when I want to get into my own backyard from the gate, but well worth it to save my water plants and the bird and squirrel feeders and the rest of my garden plants that they were digging up! :-)

Fingers and toes crossed!!!!

Added to include: Can you see all the scratch marks in the dirt. They DID try to move the concrete borders, but fortunately couldn't!

Cat - One of the teachers at my school raised a baby possum. It would cozy up under his beard and sleep. It was so little and this teacher would carry it around in his shirt pocket to substitute for mama's pouch. The mother was hit by a car and he found the baby wandering around near the road. He brought it to school and shared it with all the students. Bottle fed it. It was really neat! They are actually quite cute! He is a nature lover, too. Lives on about 5 acres somewhere just north of Sebastian and handfeeds snapping turtles in his pond and has some stories to tell about ALL of his wildlife friends! I could listen to his stories for hours! He is so funny! He was my daughter's teacher in 5th grade and she still goes to visit him in his classroom after school. He is a very interesting teacher and I've never heard of a student that didn't like him. He looks like a hippie throw-back from the 60's, but much older! LOL!

This message was edited Mar 27, 2007 10:25 AM

Mine crossed too!! Keep us posted.

Karen - I added to my post above. You might enjoy reading what I added. ;-)

I feel your pain, they ripped open a bag of fish fertilizer a couple of weeks ago here and there are lumps of it dissolving all over the grass (p.u.) and it was for the raspberries, not the grass ! I'm worried when the apples come on.

On the brightside, they never left me a present :) - too funny.

Ours at this house are small still, (we've seen the little guys a couple of times) At our last house, a huge mama and her kids would have parties in our back yard at night.... they totally ripped apart the kids toys, shredded towels and ripped apart chairs - it's amazing how destructive they can be. Can you borrow someone's dog?

*** My father-in-law was excited about his hummingbirds, they get several types on their deck, he coudln't believe they would go through an entire feeder at night.

My mother-in-law woke up one night late and went to get a drink of water. There was a big raccoon standing on the railing of their deck, had unscrewed the top of the feeder and was Guzzzling the nectar out of the top of the bottle !! Funny. Now they take it in when they go to bed.

Looks like you foiled them Becky! Cute story about your teacher friend.

Be careful with your dog, they can easily kill a medium dog, they are ferocious.

Every once and while they attempt to come in my back yard but usually don't leave. They don't have a chance with Miss Lobo, she's a fierce hunter. Unfortunately she's killed 2.

Funny Red....them drinking the nectar.

LOL Redtootsiepop! I'm sorry to hear that your yard has a most distinct scent now. :-(

That is quite funny about the raccoons drinking your in-laws hummer nectar!!! They do have hands like humans and can paw manipulate in the most amazing ways!

fly_girl - Don't worry. My dog stays in except to go do his business. He is NOT an outside dog by any means! lol He's more a pampered pooch. Or actually just an old dog. He has no desire to be outside sweating! lol

What kind of dog is Miss Lobo?

She's not really a dog. I think she had been raised by wolf breeders and she had somehow run away. She was in the country, starving, and in heat, how could I not take her in? If farmers or ranchers had seen her near their farms, she wouldn't have had a chance. So, now she spends her days sleeping (mostly) on the deck and occasionally chasing birds and squirrels out of her yard. She now weighs about 110 and is just beautiful.

Oh my! Do post a photo of Miss Lobo! I used to have Huskies and a mix referred to as a Wolfhound.

Uh oh! I think I may have spoken too soon. I didn't notice any disturbance at the feeders this morning. But later walked around to the gate and this is what I found on the outside of the gate. Obviously something was VERY busy last night. =:-O

Here's a photo of the other side of the gate (from the backyard). So now I get to fill holes and think of another way to barracade the fort. I think this must have taken the raccoon a bit of time. Maybe it didn't have enough time to reap all it's work. I think I shall name it (possibly a big ole strong "he") "Rocky the Raccoon". Can you hear the theme song to the movie "Rocky"?! Now picture the coon with his arms up in the air with his little paws making fists dancing around and looking confident and victorious!!!! lol

Score: Becky - 1 Raccoon - 100+

So now what? Gardening is never dull or predictable - that's for sure!!!! Ack!

ROTFLOL!!

darn, that guy is persistent, he must really enjoy partying in your yard... are you going to put something heavier down? And can't he just climb over, tho? (Mine climb in over the fence) Just curious.

Oh Becky, that's just awful! What will you do?
You could get those big cement blocks, those are pretty heavy. Do you think the bird seed is attracting them?


Ok, here's Miss Lobo

awww, Miss Lobo is a beauty!

Well, I'm not throwing the towel in just yet. This old girl still has lots of fight in her!!!

Next step - use a 16" X 16" paver under the gate. PLUS stack concrete borders around the gate again! >:-[

HA! Let's see if Rocky can move THAT!!!!! (I really wish I could get a photo of this creature hard at work! He needs to come around midnight or earlier. I just can't stay awake past that.) Wouldn't that be a great photo? LOL!

Red - (I hope you don't mind me calling you that to shorten the typing ...) My fence is a slick surface vinyl fence with nothing to grasp on the outside for a raccoon to climb up and over. (Shhhh.... don't say that too loud ...... Rocky might rise to the challenge.)

I am sure this has been going on probably since I installed the bird feeders. Maybe longer, since raccoons obviously like water containers as well. :-S

I might just send my attack lizard out after him! This lizard has been through heck and back and is still mean as can be when it comes to his territory!!!! The lizard's name is Ali ..... :-)


This message was edited Mar 27, 2007 5:12 PM

Haha...what a pretty lizard, what do you think happened to his back?

fly - Your dog is beautiful. Looks very similar to our old dog Cloe. She was a large dog and people always said she looked like a wolf. She was a sweetheart. She's no longer alive, but we have very fond memories of her! What an angel you are for taking Miss Lobo in. (I would have too!) Thanks for sharing the photo with all of us! ♥

fly - I have no idea, but I would sure hate to see what the other guy looks like. This is not a lizard you want to meet in a dark alley. Trust me! He stands his ground against me. Unfortunately, his territory is right next to the hose. He is healthy and that is scar tissue on his back. He probably either got attacked by something and escaped or my son nicked him up with the lawnmower or weed-whacker. He is mean as the dickens! But ...... I am fond of him. ♥♥

His face is all scarred up too! Take another look! ;-)

This message was edited Mar 27, 2007 9:54 PM

Thanks guys!
She's so sweet, I wish people could think of wolves other than mean and hungry, like fairy tales say. When I first brought her home, I had a kitten and she licked that kitten from head to tail. Eddie was slobbering wet, it was so precious.
Sorry, Becky, didn't mean to hijack...let's get back to solving the racoon situation!

Lol, he is a cutie though!

Ali looks mad ! ....You can call me Red :)

Now I understand about the fence, raccoons are such good climbers, I was wondering why he'd bother moving the barricade out of the way!!

You Get those guys, it would be fun to videotape them just to see exactly what they are up to !

We shall see, Red! ;-) lol!

BTW - Ali the Lizard doesn't flit like a butterfly ..... he EATS them for breakfast! :-(

Becky, I just noticed there's a Garden Pest and Disease Forum, maybe someone over there can help.