Racoons, this is WAR.

big rockpile · #61 09/02/10, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wendys_goats

An Amish friend of mine would put a bowl of milk laced with fly bait out for them in her garden. She found one dead on the spot. Maybe anti freeze would help too.

Don't want to get caught doing something stupid as this around here you will find yourself in Jail.

As far as Trapping and Killing we can here but are to call the Conservation Agent.

Its just better idea to Trap and Kill durring the Season.

big rockpile

#62 09/02/10, 04:47 PM

LQ..I thought I DID have my bases covered! Racoons are rather smart vermon. They figured out how to open the sealed tub of feed and how to get things off of hooks (they loved my fly paper thingys! Must be fun to play with!) I also had several metal things moved around.

I've now killed 8 racoons. Six of them were spring babies and one was a huge male. How he got stuck in that trap is beyond me! He filled that thing! He was too heavy for me to carry him and the cage to the burn barrel. I had to drag the whole set up.

I haven't had to take a racoon swimming in about 3 weeks. Seems they come into the barn loking for dinner when it's raining out. We'll see how things go this winter.

What's weird if that a few of the old farmers around here whom I confided in said I was doing it right. They were impressed that a 'lady farmer' could figure out how to outsmart a silly ole racoon! Funny, but killing all of these racoons by myself has given me some street cred!

WhiteWillow · #63 09/02/10, 05:25 PM

I only read your first and last post in this thread. I hope that you got the raccoon thing figured out. They can be frustrating little beasts!

sisterpine · #64 09/03/10, 02:04 PM

Did you ever consider buying more secure feed bins and properly fixing your sheds or coops so there's no more holes? If you do effective predator proofing, then you don't have to use such barbaric methods of predator control.

CountryWannabe · #65 09/03/10, 02:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sdnapier

I do let them go but not till I have crossed a local river. In the meantime, they continue to visit my kitchen. Last night I had to chase them out twice and then they sit on MY porch growling at me!!

If you trap and release - you are simply putting YOUR problem onto someone else. That coon you let go will go to the nearest farm and eat THEIR chickens and animal feed, raid THEIR kitchen...

If you find them annoying enough around YOUR place to need to trap them then do the right thing - kill them so they don't do the same to someone else.

My philosophy is live and let live - as long as they don't bother me and mine, I don't bother them. Though I can't speak for my LGDs of course.

Mary

LisaInN.Idaho · #66 09/03/10, 04:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CountryWannabe

If you trap and release - you are simply putting YOUR problem onto someone else. That coon you let go will go to the nearest farm and eat THEIR chickens and animal feed, raid THEIR kitchen...

If you find them annoying enough around YOUR place to need to trap them then do the right thing - kill them so they don't do the same to someone else.

My philosophy is live and let live - as long as they don't bother me and mine, I don't bother them. Though I can't speak for my LGDs of course.

Mary

That all depends upon where you live, and where you relocate them to, doesn't it?
If you do have to kill one, you certainly don't do it in an inhumane manner and then brag about it and cackle over "street cred" and impressing the old farmers.

Anyone who could watch any animal "tread water" till it tired and drowned is not someone I'd want anywhere around children.

Ravenlost · #67 09/03/10, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LisaInN.Idaho

Anyone who could watch any animal "tread water" till it tired and drowned is not someone I'd want anywhere around children.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patt

That is so utterly sick! I'm sorry we have had to shoot our fair share of them because they kill livestock but my lord leaving them for hours to drown and hopelessly trying to stay alive just makes me ill. Find a humane way to put them out of their misery!

Amen to that!

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I feel that it is my responsibility to protect my animals (and their feed) from the wildlife around us. I moved out here to also enjoy that wildlife and it disgusts me how often people choose to kill...kill...kill instead of finding a better solution. It's really disgusting when someone chooses to torture as a way to kill.

In six years I haven't lost a cat, kitten, chicken or duck to a coon or anything else other than our previous neighbor's dog. We've had a coon raise her babies in a hollow tree in our front yard and it was a thrill to watch them.

Hubby has caught two coons in the hav-a-heart trap that had been getting into the sweet feed in the barn. They were relocated in our woods across the creek. And we have put the feed in a container they can't get in.

I'd rather live WITH nature than destroy it. Otherwise, I might as well live in town.

TedH71 · #68 09/03/10, 06:37 PM

Was told by a biologist that if you relocate a coon within 1 mile of where it was captured...the coon can't make it back and will eventually starve to death and be seriously harassed by other coons due to them not wanting that particular coon on their property. Don't know if there's any truth to it because I know some people imported coons to JAPAN. They're breeding and getting into everything over there now

MaineFarmMom · #69 09/03/10, 07:27 PM

There's a disease issue with relocating. You can introduce a disease to an area or move a disease-free animal into an area where a disease is a current problem.

Ravenlost · #70 09/03/10, 07:45 PM

As far as relocating goes, we always relocate within our own 96 acre farm.

I grew up on a 56 acre farm that backed onto a wildlife area in a National Forest. My Daddy would relocate coons and rattlesnakes in the wildlife area. He rarely did this though because he had no issue with wildlife. He was known to plant an extra acre of corn and one of peas for the wildlife.

orangehen · #71 09/03/10, 08:45 PM

Regarding raccoons coming in the kitty door, I had the same thing, so I bought a Nite-Guard http://www.niteguard.com/ , put it up right above the kitty door, and haven't had any problems since.

When I first moved here, I hauled 3 five-gallon buckets of coon "manure" out of the attic, had the over-hanging branches cut down, and still live-trapped 14 raccoons in a short period of time.

I also used to let them loose 5 or 10 miles from here, but when I talked to a guy from the Dept. of Nat. Resources, he said in Illinois they are considered noxious pests, and I could get fined $1,000. each time I released one if I didn't get permission from the property owner first - ha! like anyone would give permission! So I stopped. Now I have to have someone come and shoot them if caught.

I really would like to get a dog, but have lots of outdoor cats, and am looking for one of those nice, furry farm dogs who leave cats alone, stay on the property, can stay outdoors most of the time, chase all wild-life away, and only bark at strangers! Haven't found one yet........

bloogrssgrl · #72 09/03/10, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by orangehen

I really would like to get a dog, but have lots of outdoor cats, and am looking for one of those nice, furry farm dogs who leave cats alone, stay on the property, can stay outdoors most of the time, chase all wild-life away, and only bark at strangers! Haven't found one yet........

Look into English Shepherds/Farm Collies. Ours is wonderful!

MaineFarmMom · #73 09/04/10, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bloogrssgrl

Look into English Shepherds/Farm Collies. Ours is wonderful!

I second that. I have a nine year old (today's his birthday) farmcollie sleeping at my feet. We lost his mother to cancer over the summer. Our new pup is a female we'll be bringing home soon. Coons and skunks are the only problem predators that come to the farm now. The dogs go a long way toward controlling them when there's a problem.

motdaugrnds · #74 09/04/10, 08:07 AM

Interesting thread. I certainly agree with getting rid of coons the humane way.

We actually had 2 full grown coons invade our chicken house a few years ago. David shot them both; however, he only was able to get one as the other ran off. (We found it later dead in the back pasture.) The one he killed, he prepared for the freezer (freezing the pelt for later use). I cooked up a delicious stew from the coon meat!

Since then we reinforced our chicken house by closing up the gaps between the rafters where the coons had entered; and we reinforced the wire pen by covering it with "utility wire" (1/2" holes) that I actually used thin strands of wire to "sew" onto the existing chicken wire fence. This also keeps the snakes out!

beowoulf90, will you explain how to make a coon skin cap please? We have a nice large coon skin/fur in the freezer. David wants to know how to cure the pelt to make it water proof "without" losing the fur on the skin. [We know how to use salt; however salt does not leave it water proof. Also, David is afraid to try the "brain tanning techniques" because he thinks the fur might fall out if this is used.]

bee · #75 09/04/10, 08:18 AM

I think that term "treading water" is where most of the outrage for drowning comes from..the mental image of that desperite struggle to keep ones nose above water. The Op can sure correct me but I think she used enough water that the entire cage and contents were submerged immediately. Personally I use a 22 with the barrel thru the mesh and one quick center of forehead shot. My feed is stored properly in a seperate closed doored shed. My Pens are protected by chick wire over field fence supported by cattle pannels. My war with raccons is because even if they can't get the poult/chick out of the pen they will pull wings thru the one inch holes and chew them off the living birds. Try finding that of a morning and see how forgiving you feel.

I don't kill all wildlife. I relocate snakes and one groundhog this year..said ground hog did no damage before I trapped him so he just got a ride. The next one wiped out my crop of cherry tomatos and got the lead pill. This is not a perfect world where the lion can lay down with the lamb..unless the lamb is inside the lion. I don't make the feeding rules for the wild critters; I just try to have some return from my gardening and animal raising investments in labor and money. Other wise I enjoy wildlife.

Ardie/WI · #76 09/04/10, 08:33 AM

I've been sick in my heart over the OP's delight in drowning baby raccoons.

The thought of watching some animal fight hopelessly to not drown goes beyond horrible.

I hate raccoons but, when I dispatch one, it is with a clean shot to the back of the head. If I lack that method, I'd find another humane way.

Street cred--yeah right! Sick, sick, sick!

SunsetSonata · #77 09/04/10, 11:03 AM

There are people, and there are animals, and there are things.

A mammal is an animal. Not a person. And just because it's not a person, doesn't mean it's just a THING either.

Isn't it basic science to know that mammals are far enough evolved to experience the basic survival mechanisms of terror and agony? Is it ok to slowly rip apart a mouse just because it's not human, or just because it's a tiny pest?

If the raccoons are sitting quietly in the trap as the water prevents them from breathing, then perhaps drowning is humane. Is this the case?

Or is their experience somewhat human-like when we are denied air? Do we drown even lower-level animals like chickens, or do we consider a humane end?

In the future I'd take the advice about ether, or at the very least, secure the trap inside a garbage bag and hook it up to your car exhaust.

Indifference is the poison of our entire culture.

CountryWannabe · #78 09/04/10, 02:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SunsetSonata

In the future I'd take the advice about ether, or at the very least, secure the trap inside a garbage bag and hook it up to your car exhaust.

I was once the victim of severe carbon monoxide poisoning from the exhaust of an RV - take it from me, that is NOT a pleasant way to go.

Mary

RedneckPete · #79 09/04/10, 07:54 PM

This is how I deal with coons:

Racoons, this is WAR. - Homesteading Questions

chickenista · #80 09/04/10, 08:50 PM

Wow..
and as awful as that is, it beats slow drowning.