Raccoons, how do I get rid of 'em?

I don't wanna harm 'em I just want to have them visit elsewhere. Besides tearing up my flowerbeds, upsettting planter boxes, and believe it or not, fighting at 3:30 am just outside our bedroom door, they also eat roots, dig holes, pull up drain covers (presumably to find bugs to eat), drink out of the pool and poop in my nice rock waterfall. That last one about did it. I've had it with 'em!

Do those products that smell like deer, coyote, wolf, fox urine etc. do any of them actually work? I'm afraid I'll invest in some of that stuff and it'll either not work or make the backyard smell bad.

Here's a pic I snapped after the fight that woke the GF and me up. I tried to scare it off but it stopped to have a drink of water before I it got to leave by blasting by hose at it. Had to take a pic of it first...

How do I get rid of these critters?

I have a nice humane trap but it's too small to get these bigger ones that have been coming by lately.
A few years ago I caught one (of a pair) one night and took it to the animal shelter the next morning.

All I catch now with this trap are possums, which aren't nearly as harmful as the coons, or so I've been told.

I share your pain only my problem is an armadillo, roots around the plants for worms, etc. Short of fencing (electric) I don't know how to get rid of them. Embracing wildlife is one of the reasons we live out in the country, however, that one I can do without. You have a lovely area there and those bad boys are a real problem for you. Consider the electric fence.

im with you about the armadillos. thats one animal i would be glad about its extinction.... unfortunately that wont be any time soon.

Do you think they (armadillos) are a sign somehow?? Used to see them decades ago only in Florida and maybe close to the Fla/Ga state line. Now we are seeing them EVERYWHERE!!! Kinda makes one think Fla. will soon really be swampland!! Yikes.........

im not sweattin' it. well, lets try and fix FOF's problem.... if it was me i'd kill em, but thats just me. are they atracted to anything in your yard. here they always visit the trashcans. on the Island, people cant even put out the trash the night before trash day. duct tape doesn't even keep them out. i think you should get rid of anything that would attract them.

well unfortunately they like to drink the pool water so that's out, LOL

there are these motion sensing sprinklers that are used to scare deer away... maybe that could help. they are called scarecrows or something like that. maybe you could post this on the pests and diseases forum

motion sensing sprinklers, now that's a good idea! have to look into that

We got a dog and that helped. The raccoons were pooping on my deck and it wasn't pretty. Their diet was mostly seafood (oysters from the marsh) and it didn't smell any too good either. They had to go. Animal control does not touch them in our county. There is a service here that is outrageously expensive but they will trap them and carry them off.

We pretty much solved our problem by getting a dog. We still get the occasional one but it is usually a baby that doesn't know any better. The dog is inside but he carries on when there is a raccoon outside and they scamper off. I have 3 water features and they haven't touched one this year at all.

I recently saw an armadillo along I-95 halfway through SC on the way to NC; much further north than I thought they had gotten.

those stupid things are taking over the country

FOF Do you feed cats or anything outside? Around here they are attracted by pet food. You might try getting pet hair and spreading it around the perimeter of your property, maybe that would deter them. If you don't have a neighbor with pets, stop by a pet grooming place and ask them for hair.

Armadillos are a problem in SW MO also. People say it is global warming that is making them travel north. You can tell where they have rooted around because it looks like a pig has been there. Sometimes if you treat your yard for grubs they will leave because there is no food.

No pet food outside here and they wouldn't need it as they have a ready supply of berries (from palmettos), oysters and fidler crabs.

speaking of palmettos.... alice do you have any? if you do, i was going to ask if you cut off the flowers once they start making fruit, because the babies are weeds. for a native the sure are weedy. could you Dmail the answer so i dont get this thread off topic

My aunt in Northwest Washington State had ENORMOUS raccoons come right up to her porch and we would all watch them through the plate glass window in the evening. I mean these things were the size of full grown Labrador Retrievers. They ate the bird food she put out. Her place was much more primitive so they did little harm.

I have heard that the motion sensitive sprinklers are effective, but that they have to be a pretty strong jet of water to STAY effective - that is, if it just wets them, it won't deter them for long. Just what I've heard from relatives up North.

oh... Maybe replacing the water with acid would do the trick? Just thinking...

Maybe just some cayenne pepper put just inside the nozzle would be enough to scare the little guys off - or you could throw a chicken leg in your neighbor's yard each night . . .

thanks everyone for your input. Kind of interesting reading...

No I don't feed my cat outside, I only feed him inside, as he is a outside during the day, inside at night kinda cat. Since we also have coyotes roaming the neighborhood at night, I don't leave him out, otherwise he might scare off the coons or at least make them want to visit other yards, not mine. Since I watched them drink the pool water, I know this is at least one attractant which will keep them coming back night after night. Good thing I don't own a gun or I would be sorely attempted to shoot 'em.

I'm going to look into the predator scent thing and hopefully that might work. Jungleman said raccoons wouldn't be bothered by sprinklers at least for the long term and I think he's right.

You might need to borrow someones dog for a while, let it chase them off.

If you shot them it would be my luck all I would do is blow a hole in the pool and miss them.

Yeah a rottweiler or a dobie would do the trick. But our backyard is no place for a dog, even for a while, there is literally no yard for it to run around in. Just concrete, pool and a little patch of penny royal groundcovering. I wouldn't want to be that cruel to someone's dog.

And instead of raccoon poop I'd have to scoop up the dog poop, in the end kind of a wash.

This may not be PC, but, hey, my wife was a Swede and actually LIKED the stuff. She also thot the story was funny.

Two old friends met on the street and one said to the other, "I've got racoons under my porch, how can I get rid of them?"
The second said " Just throw some Lutefisk under the porch and the racoons will leave."

A few days later they met again and the second guy asks "Well, did the racoons leave?"
"Yup" said the first, "But now how do I get rid of the Scandanavians?"

LOL

Some one up here had many raccoons , they were having the house worked on by several guys, the owner wouldn't let the guys use his bathroom, so they kinda pee'd on the nearest downspout, happened to be right where the coons crawled up to the roof. One whiff and away they went. Jerry Baker use to reccomend this too. :-)

I have used the old human "scent" trick before.

Obtain one spray bottle and label it very clearly "yuck."

I believe pure urine will burn foliage. Diluted human urine will do, 1 to 3 mix of urine to water. Collect it as you would, and mix ...

Go around and spray. It worked for me with ground hogs.

Or do as my friend Tashie did, go around the grounds in the middle of the night ...

:)

-Joe

P.S. I love the lutefisk story. Wheeeeew.

This message was edited Aug 22, 2008 11:29 PM

I had a small pond on my rooftop... a part of the garden last year.. one night the cat was going wild... standing under the stairway to the garden and talking up astorm.. go get alife cat..get with it..it's2 am.. go out or go to sleep.. the next night it was the same thing with her.. looking up I found the reason.. comming down about the 5 th step into the house... RACCOON...
I chased him away... and the next day.. I found two packs of ramen noodles from the kitchen opened up on the roof... from his daytime invasion...
this roofgarden is on the 5th floor level.. in Brooklyn... lots of raccoon interactions here.. but for me they aren't as much of a problem as the squrrels... who also travel up the fire escape ladder to my roof... and then eat my expencive dahalia bulbs.... and plant peanuts and wallnuts given to them.. uprooting other planted items..
thankfully.. this year... no coons yet
Gordon

I have heard that they absolutely detest hot dogs and twinkies. Sprinkle a few outside the house and make sure you get pictures..;)

Hours of entertainment:

A racoon kitten, sugar cubes, and a water bowl to wash them in. :)

-Joe

RACCOON UPDATE:
I was just trying to fall asleep last night after watching the Olympics, it was around 12:30 am or so and just as I was getting sleepy enough to drift off, I heard the gentle sound of water being lapped from the jacuzzi and sure enough, by the time I could get up and find the flashlight and shine it out into the yard, there it was, sitting in the waterfall, doing it's thing yet again!

So i grabbed my Croc slipper, and threw it at him! It took off and ran up to the top of the yard. I grabbed the hose, turned it on and sprayed a jet at it until it scrambled up a plant and scurried off.

Too late for the waterfall though, another poop mess to deal with.

But I like the spray idea, I'll be marking my territory just like a dog!

i heard that this only works with male urine because it contains testosterone, which is what deters them. so yeah... dont get the family to all collect it in a bucket because then if any girls pee in it, then they will dilute the scent.

well that's good to know... we'll see if it works. I never knew when I bought this house that nine years later I'd be marking my territory like an alpha dog. WOOF!

FondOfFronds, Don't know how to get rid of them either. I try to avoid them as they can be rabies carriers. Some here in NE Mississippi can be aggressive: rearing up on hind legs and vocalizing. Wish I could help. Leeflea51

that happened with us when we were staying on Hilton Head Is.. they got our trash every week and growled at us.... they were huge too

1cros3nails4gvn, I can become afraid of them when they rear up and start making sounds. It would horrify me if one ran at me and attacked me. If that happened, I'd be the first one in the emergency room demanding they start the rabies shots on me, then and now. Our cats stay clear of them. On a documentary, I recently saw named, 'Grey Gardens' (an aunt and a cousin of Jackie Kennedy living in the Hamptons in a rundown mansion), the younger of the two fed the raccoons in the attics and they made no move on her and she hand her hands right at them. Love animals but don't want some close to me. Hilton Head---beautiful place as is Myrtle Beach. Leeflea51

yeah it is nice down here but for teenagers, it can get really boring. especially in the winter!!

UPDATE:
Night One of the Human Male Spray Repellent: No raccoon visit to the waterfall!
SCORE:
FoF: 1
Raccoons: 0
We'll see what happens tonight...

FOF, great news about your success. Where on earth do you get such a product. Am interesed in getting some. please rsvp. Lee

ummm, Lee... follow the thread my friend. LOL
It's my own spray, if you get my drift...
3 parts water, 1 part me...
and one nice new spray bottle from Wal-Mart!

FOF, that is the best thing i've heard in weeks. and how cheap it is, too. Since I'm a coffee fiend do you think it would be even more effective. Wonderful---Had to show Owen and he's laughing til he's crying. Thank you for the useful info and the best laugh I've had in such a long time. It was much more effective for my pain than the opiates i take. You simply must contact me again. I'll put you on my favorites list. Gratefully yours, Lee

You guys are giving me ideas!
I'll market my own line of products!

I better sign up for the Sparklett's man NOW!
ha ha!

FOF's Famous Fur-fiend Frightener

Ingredients:

Water, natural byproducts (from coffee, water, juice, soda)