4 baby racoons

[Big Reed]

For some stupid reason , I decided to mow our back yard: 2 acres of weeds. After doing so, mama racoon showed up digging in my new found grass. Today her 4 baby racoons joined her. I' m not sure where daddy racoon is. Maybe he's at the US Open, or in Detroit chasing sea gulls. or maybe he's that racoon I passed on the road just taking a 24/7 nap.

 

it appears the baby racoons like to climb my trees. On a positive note, the squirrels who were eating all our bird food have now left.

 

Does anybody know of a humane way to give these racoons a subtle hint that there are better places to live?

 

Should i put out my racoon tail as a subtle gesture as to what hppens to racoons when they make humans mad? Do you think they would understand? or would they think this must be racoon heaven?

 

I' m not real big on shooting or trapping or poisoning animals. but , i've also seen the destruction to aticks (SP)that racoons have done.

 

our fearless attack cat meowed at the racoon a couple of times, and it kind of ignored him.

 

is this a case for leemur man?

 

Should I put on my Easter Bunny outfit?

 

Should I send them one of my emails?

 

Should I chop down the tree?

 

Should I feed them some of the same food that gives me the runs and hope it has the same effect on them?

 

any suggestions?

ideas?

 

I'll post a picture tommorow- they are kind of cute.

[berniebrewer4life]

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Does anybody know of a humane way to give these racoons a subtle hint that there are better places to live?

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BB gun. Won't break the skin, but will give em a nice message of "here isn't a good place for you". Eventually they will move on.

[cweber39]

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BB gun. Won't break the skin, but will give em a nice message of "here isn't a good place for you". Eventually they will move on.

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Really??? Do they have thicker skin than rabbits and squirrels? My boss is always talking about how he takes out rabbits and squirrels in the yard.

[Getpaddled]

no.... I wish BBs was/were the cure.... but they will never take a hint.. and I KNOW this because I worked on a farm for almost 3 years with racoon problems.... You can shoot them, you can do a lot of things, but if they find a home no matter what you do they keep comming back.... Only way they will go away is if you kill them... Sad but true. My buddie that still owns this farm still has racoon problems and must have killed almost a dozen of them in the last year and a half.

[berniebrewer4life]

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Really??? Do they have thicker skin than rabbits and squirrels? My boss is always talking about how he takes out rabbits and squirrels in the yard.

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With a BB gun? My father has been shooting squirrels with BB guns since he moved into his new house(about 5 years). Never left any blood or anything. Maybe with a bb gun rifle(that depends on where you shoot em, obviously headshots do more damage than hitting one in the leg), but with a BB handgun i have never seen any fall, or limp even. As for the skin, it might be. I don't remember, as my squirrel/coon hunting days are long behind me.

[cweber39]

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Maybe with a bb gun rifle(that depends on where you shoot em, obviously headshots do more damage than hitting one in the leg)

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Yeah I think it's a BB rifle, he says he kills them?? Who knows?

[Big Reed]

our house is on a lakeshore. We have a woods with a creek running through it right next to our house, and an alfalfa pasture across the street. I can see why the racoons like it here. Yesterday, we saw a momma deer and her 1-3 day old baby fawn walking down the road.

 

These little guys are real cute now. but they will become fat, curious and ugly in a couple of months. I don't want our place becoming the neighborhood zoo. I also don't want pepe la pue and his cousin finding out about this great wildlife preserve.

[Fatter than Joey]

BB gun. Won't break the skin, but will give em a nice message of "here isn't a good place for you". Eventually they will move on.

 

This won't work -- It doesn't work on the neighbor kids, I can't imagine it would work on raccoons...

 

One idea would be to use a live trap and then release them in the woods somewhere.

[Big Reed]

My wife bought an air pellet handgun and rifle to keep the squirrels off our bird feeder. I have found both guns to be extremely inaccurate from 25'. To me, it was a waste of $200.

 

I shot a bb gun in scouts. but I have a bad feeling a bb gun would kill the squirrels and racoons.

 

I had a friend who used traps for ground hogs in Ohio. he would catch them and then release them in the woods. i later read that trapping live animals and relocating them was against the animal rights law.

[JimH5]

What about live traps?

 

You trap them (probably one at a time), and then take them someplace else and release them. . .

 

Probably best (most humane) to wait until they're old enough to fend for themselves, or else you'd be releasing them to certain death in their new home.

[uecker9]

I'd do what Joey said, live traps are like $50 or so. Throw in some marshmallows for bait, one trap would work although it might take a couple trips. If you catch mom, the babies sometimes just mill around the trap and are easy to get.

[Fatter than Joey]

My wife bought an air pellet handgun and rifle to keep the squirrels off our bird feeder.

 

They make bird feeders that keep squirrels off.

[trwi7]

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You trap them (probably one at a time),

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Won't work because the babies can't survive without their mother unless you plan on buying like 5 traps and then releasing them.

 

If you're in a rural area without any people around try blasting loud music out there. Celine Dion usually works.

[Big Reed]

here's a picture of two of the racoons..

 

www.pack121.net/DCP_3789.JPG

 

I paid extra for the things such as a squirrel guard to keep the squirrels out of the bird feeder. but we have some really smart squirrels that were not deterred. the mama racoon, just opened up the bird feeder and emptied it on the ground. I guess perhaps we could just get rid of the bird feeder.

[brewers19]

Those guys are cute, I say you let them stay.

[Point Beer Is Best]

The only way to get rid of them is to cut off the food supply, it's pretty much all you can do.

 

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no.... I wish BBs was/were the cure.... but they will never take a hint.. and I KNOW this because I worked on a farm for almost 3 years with racoon problems.... You can shoot them, you can do a lot of things, but if they find a home no matter what you do they keep comming back.... Only way they will go away is if you kill them... Sad but true. My buddie that still owns this farm still has racoon problems and must have killed almost a dozen of them in the last year and a half.

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It was the same on our farm. We had one live trap and used marshmallows as bait. One summer we caught 12 raccoons in 14 days. Once we caught them, my dad used a .22 because they did pierce the skin. There is no other way to get rid of raccoons when you live somewhere that has a constant supply of food (for us, it was silage and ground corn) so we had no other choice. But I'd probably take the bird feeder down if you don't want them exploring your home more intimately.

[JimH5]

Geez, Reed. . .

 

With waterfront property like that, what do you care if a couple of racoons come along for free lunch and a view of the sunset? Set up a lawnchair down at the shore, crack open a frosty one, and enjoy your own little version of Animal Planet.

 

I would let them be until they start to cause actual damage. Are they getting into garbage cans? Are they gnawing at wood, or ripping up any landscaping?

 

If you really want them to leave, I'd discontinue with the bird feeder for awhile. Other than that, I'd enjoy the show.

[qrk10000]

Reed, we had a problem with chipmunks and raccoons a few years back. The chipmunks were digging holes in the yard and eating a good deal of our garden. The raccoons were just plain trouble-makers and got into whatever they could. We tried a number of different things and ended up purchasing a live trap. It worked beautifully. Within a week or two we no longer had any problems and felt good about taking care of the problem humanely. Just be prepared to catch more than just raccoons in there. We caught several very angry squirrels and, sadly, a number of birds that ended up killing themselves trying to get out. I couldn't figure out exactly why but all five birds that got caught died, and died quickly. The faster you get them in there and then go and release them, the faster you can get rid of the trap. I would echo the suggestion to wait until the raccoons grew up a bit too or you could have an extremely mad mommy waiting for you when you go out to take the trap away to release them.

[sbrylski]

Send them to my house! Woodland creatures are always welcome!

[1992casey]

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Those guys are cute, I say you let them stay.

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Let's not and say we did. Cute, cuddly baby raccoons that sleep and purr in your lap turn into hard-to-control adults that may try to take your hand off. Making things worse, you can't release 'adopted' raccoons back into the wild because fear of humans is one of their main defenses.

 

As far as the live traps, check out the animal shelters or park/forest services to see if they have traps you can borrow.

[MHgb]

Yeah racoons aren't animals that you want in your yard. Trap and relocate if you want to give them a second chance at life. Removing food supply will also help.

[iluvlamp]

Unless they are doing damage, let them be. How soon until the raccoons have no place to relocate because all the land is developed? And shooting animals is stupid unless you're going to eat them or they attack you. If you have kids and are worried about rabies, that's one thing, killing them because they "invaded" your property is nonsense.

 

--brought to you by Concerned Citizens for the Ethical Treatment of Raccoons.

 

http://www.homewood.k12.al.us/edgewood/staff/fwoodruff/animal/raccoon2.jpg

 

He's sad.

[trwi7]

What's wrong with raccoons? I have 3 or 4 that live in the sewer about 50 feet from my house. They've lived there for a few years, come out at night and don't bother anybody.

[brettac1]

www.havahart.com/

 

Get one of their traps, catch and relase the racoons. You can find these traps at a lot of stores pretty easily.

 

They're definitely not an animal you want hanging around your property. A lot of them end up contracting rabies, also, and they can be pretty mean animals. Not to mention they love digging in garbage.

[cweber39]

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My wife bought an air pellet handgun and rifle to keep the squirrels off our bird feeder.

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Or just buy a squirrel baffel.........

 

It looks like they are cleaning up the bird seed on the ground. We have a racoon that comes by every night to clean up the seed on the ground, he/she comes and goes. It doesn't climb the feeders or cause any problems with garbage. Hopefully they will move on once the babies are bigger.