I have looked at that sprinkler thing, it was my next go-to if the sonic thing doesn’t work. I assume being sprayed with water would be disagreeable to the animals enough to discourage them; plus it would water the garden for a few seconds.
I’m also liking the liquid capsaicin, or maybe liquid mixed with dry capsaicin to form a kind of paste that I could apply to the appropriate areas.
The slingshot would be satisfying but since they come at night I would have to try to stay awake and stay outside until they show up. I would have to be more desperate than I am now to try that.
I really do appreciate these ideas, I can always count on the SD to come through.
I, too, once had a major issue with coons digging holes all over my backyard/garden. The whole yard was covered with an enormous/intertwining pumpkin vine (which gave no deterrence apparently). I got a live-trap and started trapping them overnight. For a week straight, I got one every night and released it in the wild, about five miles away near a lake (as per local animal control’s suggestion, fwiw).
The last time I trapped a coon in this period, there were TWO full-sized coons in the trap - not sure how they both got in there as it was not a particularly sizable volume in trap, as in they were crammed in there tightly. I used cat food as the bait, fwiw. I trapped coons from youngish-sized to full adult-size, so there was a variety of ages of coons involved, if that matters in any way. I left trap out for maybe a week afterwards and got nothing, so I considered the area ‘clear’ and quit keeping trap out.
I never saw another coon in my area after that in the area. IMHO, going to the trouble of removing them physically will get good results, but gotta stick with it for awhile if there are a number of coons prowling around, of course.
I have caught (and relocated) raccoons that wandered into traps that I set for rabbits (who are the real menaces in a garden in my experience). The raccoons tend to make an unholy racket after they realize they’re caught, howling and screeching (which is not great, given their propensity for getting into the trap at 3 a.m.).
Before someone (inevitably) mentions it’s cruel to trap and relocate raccoons or other nuisance animals since they’ll lack a burrow/support network/good TV reception in their new locales, too bad (seeing the alternative is killing them).
I question how humane the use of predator urine is, given how this must be collected from captive animals.
If I was having a raccoon problem I’d try either a localized electric fence or a motion sensor water spray device.
“Released animals may return or present a problem to someone else; and, in fact, the animal you have trapped may have been deliberately released near you. Release of animals is a major factor in the dissemination of numerous diseases to other animals including pets and humans.”
Probably grubs and if they keep coming back they must be finding them.
My only suggestion is try to make sure they don’t blame you for the deterrence. My wife chased a mommy off her deck years ago and it then proceeded to take a shit in front of her door every couple days afterwards. So, umm, good luck!
I doubt that anyone released raccoons into our collective back yards. And if I were to trap and release, it wouldn’t just be to someone else’s neighborhood. I hope I’m not that kind of person.
As mentioned upthread, if the sonic repeller doesn’t work then I’ll probably try the motion-sensor sprinkler approach, and then as a last resort, trapping.
However, it does appear that I was spared a visit from the critters last night, based on the absence of dirty paw prints in the usual locations. I am cautiously optimistic.
No, if you trap and release, you have to go far enough out of town that they won’t beat you back home. It’s not a great solution, but it’s worth a try.
No such thing as overkill when dealing with coons.
You gotta move your owl around or the birds get used to it. Of course, it doesn’t work at all when the problem is REAL owls. :rolleyes: Those bastards kill just for the fun of it. :mad:
We live in Toronto - world raccoon capital. The only thing we have found effective was vigilance and the guardan hose. Every time we see a raccoon, we spray them with the hose - they don’t ‘stand their ground’ to a hose-spraying. It annoys them so much that, eventually, they give your yard a miss … more or less.
According to this site, which is from your area, trapping and releasing animals is illegal in California.
It also says that animals that are trapped and relocated usually die within 2 weeks, since they don’t know where the food or water sources are at the new location. It also creates the problem of orphaned animals. You never know if the animal trapped is a mother with a bunch of babies waiting for her return.
Racoons run rampit inToronto.A mother Racoon almost prevented me from selling my marital home.She would get in the garage,shit all over and strew the contents of 8 legal boxes from my divorce throughout the garage.I called in wildlife services to trap and remove the pests.My neighbour disapproved of action and would dismantle the traps nightly.I recalled the experts for the successful removal of the Racoons.The garage then had to be cleaned and painted.
I had an issue with them early on in my career. It affected my job because… well who could spend an hour every morning finding bits of paper, aluminum foil, and bone and bagging them while still trying to get to work on time?
My boss seemed OK with it, but suggested that I “man up” and kill the raccoon by any means necessary so as not to interfere with work productivity.
I ended up using 2-3 bungee cords to close each can in a way that would make going elsewhere easier. I didn’t kill the raccoon.
Yeah, the figurines didn’t deter hawks much, either. It keeps birds out of the garden, but didn’t protect my chickens much. Hawks would still take them if I wasn’t careful. :mad:
I used to have a terrible problem with garden pests. In the middle of nowhere, critters galore. A garden is like a blinking neon light to all. I tried everything I could find without much success.
Then I was introduced to “Billy Bass”. Figured if something like that freaks me out, it just might work as a scarecrow. Since I was in a bar during my introduction, and the owner of the place was just as irritated at the thing as I was, he happily sold it to me.
Brought it home, installed it in the garden and had the immense satisfaction of watching a couple of white tail deer jump my 6’ garden fence and set the thing off. Heh, they were so anxious to get out of there they crash landed on the outside of the fence, never to be seen again.
Poor old Billy didn’t last all that long out in the weather, so I built him a weather proof shelter where, complete with a door that I can conveniently shut when I’m in the garden. I’ve been through a number of them over the years, so I haunt yard sales and keep it on my favorite list with Amazon.
Between Billy Bass with all his iterations plus the ratting dogs I was introduced to years later, I actually get some produce from the garden now.
There’s a good idea! Maybe browse the Halloween decorations in your local big box store. There are all sorts of motion sensor driven ghoulies that wave their arms and make lots of noise in the stores this time of year. . .
Nice idea but I’m afraid the noise would bother both me and the neighbors (remember we are cheek-by-jowl to each other around here), especially going off at all hours of the night.
I’m still waiting for my motion-sensor sonic repeller to arrive some time this week.