Mt Dew will kill coons

If you trap coons, please don't go releasing them. Kill them. It is wrong to release them somewhere else and move your problems to someone else's homestead. You might think you are releasesing them 'out in the wilderness' but that is someone else's land.

Another problem with catch & releases is you can spread disease that way.

Remember: Catch & Kill.

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SugarMtnFarm.com -- Pastured Pigs, Poultry, Sheep, Dogs and Kids

Am I confused? I thought that's what "protect the company from liability" meant.
You sound like a talking (typing, lol) government rule book. There're the "rules" - then there's real life. BTW, I'm well aware of the rules, so you can stop spouting them at me now, thank you.
We don't use ANY type of chemical on our farm. No chem. fertilizer, no chem. pesticide or herbicide - this is an exception where I feel use is warrented.
Did you miss the part where I said these animals are eating our food? I suspect either you don't grow much of your own, or you don't have trouble with critters destroying your hours and hours of hard work, or you would understand.

Thanks Stephen!

Barons mom ,thankyou for making these precautions known to us. I think it is very inportant to be mindfull of the precautions on the lables so as to help us make the right choices on our homesteads.

in this case i am comfortable and confident that i can atchive great results without bad results by useing the product not according to lable.


again thank you for your valuble insight and input. informed decisions can not be made by ignoring the lable information provided by our govt..

The advantage to drowning raccoons in Mountain Dew over using a poison is that you know which animals you are killing. And when the raccoons are dead their bodies are also not poison. The sugar coating from the Mountain Dew also attracts ants, which speed their decomposition.

By using a non-selective poison in a method that allows access by many types of animals, you create a situation in which the poisoned animals might travel a bit before they die. Because you have created a hazardous situation, you are morally if not legally responsible to make sure any animals killed by your poison cannot be eaten by animals that are outside your property. The poisoned bodies could be easily dragged away from your land by scavengers and left on another person's property where their animals or wild animals on their land might ingest the poisoned dead animal and be harmed.

As I said earlier, I may talk like a government rule book because I have to know the rules...we should all know the rules when we use chemicals!

As for produce and gardening...

My family has a large garden that on average produces 700 quarts of canned green beans a summer, then sweet corn, tomatoes (we have 23 tomato plants), potatoes, green peppers, salsa peppers, raspberries, strawberries, summer squash, cucumbers, onions, melon and pumpkin...we're now starting plants for the fall garden which includes lots of cabbage. Although extremely dry and hot this year, the garden has drip irrigation - it is an oasis. It is a wonderful garden that feeds several members of my family and extended family.

The north side of the garden is 8 feet from a wooded area (trees/brush), the south and west side of the garden are bordered by field corn which is now 12 feet high. The garden is not near the house - about 100 yards away.

We don't have any trouble with wildlife that is worth using a bait mixture that could affect non-target wildlife or humans.

The garden is fenced and there is an electric fence (2 rows lower to the ground), there is a barnyard (Mercury) light near the garden, AND it helps to have the assistance of an effective farm dog...Coons that get in the garden are trapped in a homemade live trap and humanely disposed of (if you consider a shotgun humane). We've only had problems with one raccoon make it in the garden this year (so far)

If you want lethal methods and live in the country and the law allows - shoot the coons, trap the coons then kill the coons.

I appreciate you don't want to use chemicals - sometimes in desperation we're willing to try things that cause more harm than we expect.

LOL, dh and I were just wondering this morning - if we took the dead coons and possums and put them up on them mountain maybe we could kill some of the coyotes too? We're covered up with them.

J/K

OK, we have a ground hog(s) and several babies in our back yard on the creek bank. They've made huge holes and burrows in the side of the bank and towards one of our barns. Do y'all suppose this stuff would work on ground hogs? Do they like sweet stuff like Mountain Dew or Coke?

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"I've learned that you shouldn't go through life with a catcher's mitt on both hands; you need to be able to throw some things back..." Maya Angelou

They love sweet stuff, but the fly bait you mix with the MD is nasty. Smells like something dead (bought some today.) I don't think groundhogs would eat it.
They're easy to trap with a live trap with some cut apple pieces though.

I don't live in the countryside. The raccoons in my neighborhood are not a problem to anyone that I can discern. My garden is not my main food supply (still working on that). But it seems to me that poisons are a very scattershot and hazardous way of dealing with the problem.

I put up the MSDS link so that, since you guys will probably use it regardless of any opinion of mine, you have the information to recognize if you or your animals have been exposed, and are aware of what treatment to expect if you get medical care in time.

If I were to catch and release an animal I would release it in an area that is not used for agriculture (eg: steep mountains or state/national park).

isn't it illegal to poison wild animals in PA?

Pauls, I PM's you.

Would that be one of those fancy breeds, or would a regular, dehydrated barn cat work?

Actually, I honestly believe that, given enough of it, the Dew would kill the coon -- drink enough of that kind of garbage and it WILL kill you.

Tracy

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Ignorance is the true enemy.

I've seen the village, and I don't want it raising my children.

www.newcenturyhomestead.com

Better not be too hard on die hard dew drinkers I know several people that ---- a Minimum of a 6 pack a day~!! And haven't died yet as this has gone on now for 20 years for many of them.
My vending friends put More Mt. Dew in their soda machines then ALL Coke Products Combined~!!! I kid you not. Now Coke has come out with a product to equal Dew called Vault, But they are not marketing that way as a replacement for Dew. So that is cokes fault lol. But there are very die hard Dew drinkers out there and plenty of them as Dew has 2 times the amount of caffeine then regular soda. Note:: Not including Jolt~!!! Jolt says right on the bottle 2 times the sugar 2 times the caffeine~!! Not that is one that really DOES give you a lift

Iffn it would kill packrats or not, dangit

I realize the problems the raccoons may cause and I have no problem with population control but knowing this still would not allow me to use this method of control. In Wisconsin and many other states it is illigal to use, if caught using this method you are subject to large fines and possible jail time. Not only raccoons but other animals and birds will "take the bait" and those that don't over indulge, do make it a ways away from the seen of the crime to parish. These critters become a food sourse for other preditore animals and they are also indescrimitly poisoned. While the immediate impact is seen as a blessing by some, I do wonder about the long term impact. For me, I choose not to waste indisciminatly and would hope good conscious would be the rule on this subject. Part of mans responsibility is to be wards over the creatures that abound this earth.

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Over 50 yrs. trapping, if I can help answer any question, just email. Served Wisc. as Pres., V.P. and on the Trapper Ed. Committee. On the National level as a Director. Director of the year in 1992.

If you can't afford fencing (the basics) then maybe you should save up before bringing home any more animals.
Poison is a cruel method.

The old-time ranchers around here say "If you want to protect your place from wandering animals, it's your resposability to fence it." Great wisdom in that. I've had horses and cows come by and they can cause all kinds of damage so I've learned to be prepared. The same holds true for any animals that are wondering around looking for something to eat. Where I live there are so many critters that I'd never be able to get rid of them all, I wouldn't want to anyway, so I focus on trying to outsmart them. That's where the real fun lies....Having good watch dogs helps too.

You guys just don't get it. You can't fence raccoons and possums out.
I'd wager your bleeding-heart attitudes would change right quick if the only food you had was what you could grow.
What do you think farmers did in the old days when the above was true?
If it comes to my family eating or the varmints, guess who wins?

Trapper (or anyone with experience)

I bought a Haveaheart trap the other day to trap the coons that have been ravaging my corn. The first two nites something had been messing with the trap (turned over) I think it was coons because more of my corn had been destroyed. For some reason they will not go inside the trap. I know it works ok, because I caught the neighbors cat last nite. I use fish for bait.

Any suggestions as to what I can do to get the coons to go inside the trap?

TIA