Death to all Raccoons

[rjmt]

about 10 years ago, we had a large raccoon that would jump on the cars to set off the car alarms and then run up a tree to watch us come out
my daughter was home from college one weekend and was trying to sleep in
this big guy jumped on her car and she woke up and ran out to check her car - she didn't know about his tricks
so she went back to sleep and 20 min later he did it again
She came running out of her room screaming "M. F. - someones gona DIE" she grabs the 10/22 at the back door on her way out
when I heard her shoot, my son and I ran out to check on her
she shot this big fellow out of the tree, then walked up to him, screaming "DIE, M.F." and emptied 10 rounds in to his flinching body
the she came back in and went back to sleep

 

[Provincial]

Story #2
Had a friend whose neighbor had a deck with a nice view of a creek that ran through their back yard. They would watch as raccoons would come down 'to wash their hands', but the coons would never approach them.
A couple of litters later the family would leave food out for them to get them to approach.
A couple of litters later they got some to take food from their hand.
A couple of litters later the young kits had zero fear of humans.
A couple of litters later they came home to find about 20 raccoons inside their house bc someone had left the sliding door unlocked. And since they had no fear they couldn't chase them out! Destroyed the inside of the house!

My friend had warned them but they didn't listen.

You are talking about humans, not raccoons.

 

[Lazyfaire]

You are talking about humans, not raccoons.

The reactions of both, especially when getting something for free, are about the same

 

[Lazyfaire]

I know, but this is a little raccoon who comes up for breakfast every morning
I know he didn't kill the goose and I hate to kill him - he sits on the porch and lets me feed him
yesterday, I aimed the Ruger at him at just saw that cute face in the crosshairs - couldn't pull the trigger
I did shoot the big one eared male yesterday afternoon - he's probably the one who killed the goose
I want this little guy to go away and not grow up here
I have no reservations killing other raccoons, but this little guy is like a pet

Really? You just moved the little one up on the eating pecking order.

 

[Knobgoblin]

You got it all wrong , Arj. That damm sasquatch has the trash pandas distracting you while the Bigfoot boogaloo is being planned and rehearsed out the back 40.

 

[OldBroad44]

I know, but this is a little raccoon who comes up for breakfast every morning
I know he didn't kill the goose and I hate to kill him - he sits on the porch and lets me feed him
yesterday, I aimed the Ruger at him at just saw that cute face in the crosshairs - couldn't pull the trigger
I did shoot the big one eared male yesterday afternoon - he's probably the one who killed the goose
I want this little guy to go away and not grow up here
I have no reservations killing other raccoons, but this little guy is like a pet

If it were me in this case I would trap and relocate the raccoon to somewhere far from any human residences. I figure that your feeding the coon made him people-dependent and non-averse. And even if you discourage him away from your own home and poultry, he would be a problem for someone's else's home and poultry once he got a bit bigger. But you could have done worse. At least he's not a bear. Much harder to catch and transport a bear.

When I first moved to my current home and got my ducks, I initially trapped the coons and moved them far into MacDonald Forest and turned them loose near a nice creek. This took a couple of hours per coon. And not all coons can be trapped. I suspect that most coons that get trapped and released never enter a live trap again. And I just shot the possums and skunks. After one huge old coon actually challenged me, and I shot him with my EDC, I figured there were just too many coons to catch and transport them.

 

[Tlock]

If it were me in this case I would trap and relocate the raccoon to somewhere far from any human residences. I figure that your feeding the coon made him people-dependent and non-averse. And even if you discourage him away from your own home and poultry, he would be a problem for someone's else's home and poultry once he got a bit bigger. But you could have done worse. At least he's not a bear. Much harder to catch and transport a bear.

When I first moved to my current home and got my ducks, I initially trapped the coons and moved them far into MacDonald Forest and turned them loose near a nice creek. This took a couple of hours per coon. And not all coons can be trapped. I suspect that most coons that get trapped and released never enter a live trap again. And I just shot the possums and skunks. After one huge old coon actually challenged me, and I shot him with my EDC, I figured there were just too many coons to catch and transport them.

Just kill them, relocating is not the answer

 

[DirectDrive]

Let's say you're using " coon cuffs".
I don't think it would be easy to "relocate" when using the cuffs.
It would take two people, one with a heavy canvas tarp to belly-slam the coon down to the ground and then the second person unhooks.
Would be very fun to watch on video.

 

[Tlock]

Let's say you're using " coon cuffs".
I don't think it would be easy to "relocate" when using the cuffs.
It would take two people, one with a heavy canvas tarp to belly-slam the coon down to the ground and then the second person unhooks.
Would be very fun to watch on video.

In that case you'd use a catch pole. I've let lions out of traps solo

 

[DirectDrive]

In that case you'd use a catch pole. I've let lions out of traps solo

Makes sense.
Lock his head down to the ground with the catch pole
Then something like leather welding gloves to unhook since the non-caught paw will be flailing around.

 

[OldBroad44]

Just kill them, relocating is not the answer

That's what I ended up deciding.
Its not as if transporting them is all that compassionate, either. Its taking a soft spoiled people-dependent coon who is used to bowls of free dog food and tossing him into a niche where he has to scramble for a living and not knowing how. And that niche is probably full of competent tough wild coons, cougars, and coyotes. I wonder how many such released coons get torn up by bigger coons, eaten by mountain lions, etc within a few days of being released on unfamiliar ground.

 

[Tlock]

That's what I ended up deciding.
Its not as if transporting them is all that compassionate, either. Its taking a soft spoiled people-dependent coon who is used to bowls of free dog food and tossing him into a niche where he has to scramble for a living and not knowing how. And that niche is probably full of competent tough wild coons, cougars, and coyotes. I wonder how many such released coons get torn up by bigger coons, eaten by mountain lions, etc within a few days of being released on unfamiliar ground.

Odfw actually made it illegal to relocate coons now. There reason is disease spread

 

[The B]

Odfw actually made it illegal to relocate coons now. There reason is disease spread

its not just disease spread, its also not making your problem someone elses. urban trappers trap them and then drive them a useless distance out of town and let them go in martini farm country. spreading disease but also trash-can dependent pests that then immediately lay claim to someones property

 

[rjmt]

we're now feeding the outside barn cats on a scheduled basis, not just leaving food on the porch as before
that way we can watch the food bowls for uninvited guest
still have to put food outside, but as of today no raccoons up on the porch, except our breakfast guest
but he gets no food now, so I don't expect him to stop by for long
installed our trail cam on the porch to verify
our family of geese still have 4 goslings, but no raccoon has gotten near them during the day with 5 very protective full size geese
at night, everyone is locked up
I can't stop random predators wandering through, so we are building a new, larger goose coup reinforced with machine cloth

 

[rjmt]

so, set the live trap out on the raccoon path
less than 15 min later, one of the barn cats was screaming because it got caught in the trap
this didn't work

 

[Flopsweat]

so, set the live trap out on the raccoon path
less than 15 min later, one of the barn cats was screaming because it got caught in the trap
this didn't work

I don't know. I bet he doesn't go in there again.

 

[JohnnyMac]

my son came up with the idea to use his old paint ball marker to "discourage" them

If you freeze the paintballs, they work better....

Hate to say it, but she musta found a cooler dude to hang out with.
It can happen.

Probably a guy that drinks whiskey, not wine.

 

[Xaevian]

about 10 years ago, we had a large raccoon that would jump on the cars to set off the car alarms and then run up a tree to watch us come out
my daughter was home from college one weekend and was trying to sleep in
this big guy jumped on her car and she woke up and ran out to check her car - she didn't know about his tricks
so she went back to sleep and 20 min later he did it again
She came running out of her room screaming "M. F. - someones gona DIE" she grabs the 10/22 at the back door on her way out
when I heard her shoot, my son and I ran out to check on her
she shot this big fellow out of the tree, then walked up to him, screaming "DIE, M.F." and emptied 10 rounds in to his flinching body
the she came back in and went back to sleep

Another raccoon tik tok challenge gone wrong...

 

[OldBroad44]

yup
we've had friendly raccoons hang out over the years
but recently a big male missing an ear started comming arround at mid day
he would growl at the others and even me
I think he's the one to killed the goose, but I got him yesterday afternoon

Hurrah!

 

[OldBroad44]

so, set the live trap out on the raccoon path
less than 15 min later, one of the barn cats was screaming because it got caught in the trap
this didn't work

Yes it did work. Your cat is unharmed. If it really hated getting caught it will stay out of the trap.

Some critters don't mind. My younger brother made a wooden box trap to catch rabbits. He caught squirrel. one squirrel. Over and over. The squirrel would eat all the food and then, apparently, nap in happy security until my brother let him out. Whereupon he would stroll out casually and amble off.