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Need advice on what to do with captured raccoons. (who caused $2000+ damage to yard)

7K views 29 replies 25 participants last post by  BCR 
#1 ·
There are a gang of raccons roaming my property at night. I've seen as many as five together at a time. (proabably a whole family?)

Anyway.... they haven't done anything for years and I thought there were "cute" animals to have around.

Boy, was I wrong... this summer, I spent hours of sweat and thousands of $$$ to spruce up my yard.. new lawn, trees, brushes, walkway... etc...

last week, the raccoons started digging up the lawn and nearly 60 percent of the lawn is now bare soil.

I got one of those Havahart live traps and caught one large **** the same night.

Now here's the question.... what do I do with those evil bastards? I do not want to release it at some random place and have it destroy someone else's plants or animals. The local animal control and state game dept don't and won't offer any help.(since the ***** are exclusively within my own property)

Any suggestion appreciated.

Thanks!

:)
 
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#3 ·
I dislike raccoons. Like you I have had experience with the damage they cause. But, unlike you I disposed of them after capture with a bullet to their heads. I killed about eight in a week this way before they stopped coming down into my barn and laying waste of all my grain.

A friend of mine eats them. She said to skin them being careful to remove the scent glands around their knees and elbows. Gut and clean out the insides and bring them to her! I never did this but, she swears they are good eating.

Ernest
 
#4 ·
.............As an intermediate step between a 12 gauge enmema(s) and Not doing anything , You might get some "Birdshot" for a 410 shotgun if you have a caliber that small and pelt their grits from a safe distance . In Taxes\texas we have an old adage that says (about *****)...."What they don't F---up , they , S--t on" , .....fordy.... :eek: :)
 
#5 ·
I personally appreciate your attitude of not being kind to the animal and releasing him in someone elses "yard." I have seen raccoons rip a basketball sized hole right in the middle of a roof. They can kill your dog.

You can fill a large trashcan with water and dunk the whole trap. Or you could take a shower curtain and drape it over the cage and the tail pipe of your running vehicle.

They make good eating if you learn how remove the scent glands. Ask for recipes. I bet some people here know how to cook them.
 
#7 ·
I personally hate *****, killled too many of my chics and quail. They have gotten to my quail in ways I wouldn't think possible. I have one **** in my freezer but my wife still isn't ready to "try" it yet. I have hauled them off a few miles over the river into a corn field. So I've killed some and hauled some off.
 
#9 ·
I'd opt for a .22 but you might not be able to discharge a weapon in a neighborhood... so fall back position is drowning. Not nice, but effective. Just weight the trap so it goes down fast.

Remember, ***** can carry rabies, so handle the animal as little as possible and with gloves, just to be on the safe side.
 
#10 ·
Around here, we kill the ***** since we have such a rabies problem. :( Even if we have no reason to suspect a **** is rabid, we still handle the carcass with gloves and assume that it is rabid.

We've dunked the traps in large garbage cans filled with water. Fair warning, though--really leave them in there for a long time. At first, I thought this sounded cruel, but a veternarian said that they animal very quickly goes into shock and doesn't feel a thing after less than a minute. In my mind, a bullet is the most humane way to go, but we don't do it for fear of splattering gore if the **** is rabid.
 
#11 ·
My mom made a **** pizza for supper one night. We had no idea what we were eating until I bit down on the bullett and asked "What in the world are we eating?!" She simply said "**** pizza." All us kids sat there for a second, then grabbed our 3rd piece of pizza. It was really good!
Heather
 
#15 ·
First thing you should do is buy a Fur Coat,bring Fur Prices up.Then long as these critters look healthy eat them.

big rockpile
 
#17 ·
giantpanda said:
I got one of those Havahart live traps and caught one large **** the same night.

Now here's the question.... what do I do with those evil bastards?
:)
We also caught ONE with the havahart trap,after that none of them go near it.
Took ours for a ride up to the lake and set it loose.They are VERY destructive,and yes,a well known source for rabies.In fact for years after we had a rabies outbreak we didnt see em for years,now they have recovered the population.I dont like shooting animals that arent used for food,but to protect property abd livestock,you have to do what you have to do..
BooBoo
 
#18 ·
shoot it, and burn it, or drown it and burn it, either way , burn it, dont let the animals eat it !
rabies !
ugh ,
raccoons are opportunists .
they will take a free meal where they find it, definately kill it, and try to keep trapping, generally, your best bet is to RENT the traps from animal control
just say , umm i saw a **** acting "funny" in the day time, i dont know if it was sick or what, but i dont want my kids ,dogs goats, etc, to be hurt by some sick animal ... make sure you say it seemed "sick"

generally they will bring the traps out, and pick up the full ones, but not always, its worth a try though :D
 
#20 ·
Use a bullet. If you're not going to eat it, dispose of the carcass where it won't disturb anyone or where your dogs won't drag it home. Bury it, burn it ...

We've always enjoyed animals, we live in the woods, we love to look at them but when they become destructive &/or dangerous.....

DH has had to dispose of a few pests over the years and it's never done lightly, just out of necessity.

H'bird
 
#21 ·
I'd like to thank everyone who replied with great advice. :)

It is my sad duty to report back that as of this morning,
11 raccoons have gone on PERMANENT vacation. Thanks
to the Havahart traps I used. Yes, I said ELEVEN.
(in only 4 days) The smallest one was about 8 to 10
pounds, while the biggest one was at least 20.
I didn't actually weigh them, but my dog is 22 pounds,
so it was easy to gues the weight of *****.

I orignally thought my raccoon problem was limited to
half a dozen or so... but I was wrong. In fact, I expect
to see others, as all the 11 are females, as far as I can
tell.

These raccoons on my property apparently belong in the
stupid tribe. I obseverd a few running out from behind
the trees, following a straight line into the traps filled
with peanut butter and apples. When the trap doors
closed, they continued eating the bait without turning
around to see that they have been caught! :)
 
#23 ·
My dogs are trained to at least tree the **** if they cannot corner it and kill it themselves. They usually give it one shake and leave it for me. They wait fro my go-ahead to kill it and then think they are giving it to me for my dinner. :rolleyes: This all happens in the dark of night. Sheesh.

If it is treed it gets shot by my neighbor who is a great shot and it is part of our informal exchange. Sometimes he gets a few homebrews in exchange. As he arrives home from work in the early AM, he does the deed before hitting the sack. The dogs keep it treed until morning. I have found that if we are not diligent in ridding ourselves of them we have bigger problems.

From a website:

Breeding seasons for raccoons are usually in January in southern states, and February in the middle and northern states. Young males are evicted from the dens at this time and mature male raccoons search out all available females .

Female raccoons are capable of breeding at 10 months of age, but males do not breed until their second year of life. Gestation is usually 63 days, and 2-4 young are common in southern states. Litters of 4-6 are more common in northern states.

The young raccoons are cared for solely by the mothers and mother raccoons are aggressive in the protection of their young. Ten years of age is considered old for a wild raccoon.

Year around activity and are nocturnal emerging from there dens at dusk and return by dawn. Contrary to common beliefs raccoons do not hibernate, however during extreme weather they may stay in dens for weeks at a time using up stored body fats.
 
#25 ·
bethlaf said:
hmmm, survival of the smartest ....
my dad always claimed that when he came back empty handed from hunting ...
some one already shot the dumb ones, nowi got to fight the smart ones ....


wait a week or so , then trap again !
youll get more ...
sad but true !
that's exactly what I'm afraid of right now...

the 11 female ***** I bagged in the last few days
may indeed be the dumb ones, which explains
why it was so easy to catch them with a trap

so far, I have not caught any male ***** yet...

the smarter male ***** are still out there... :)
 
#26 ·
here's a few trapping tricks

Run a piece of wire or clothes hanger through the trap no more than an inch in front of the trigger. Position it about halfway up so the **** will have to step over the wire to get to the bait. This will stop the clever **** from stepping over the trigger.

Firmly fix the trap to the ground so it cannot be tipped or tilted. A smart **** will figure out that he can get the food by rolling the trap.

You may need to cover the trap with a finer mesh hardware cloth so the smarter ***** cannot reach in through the openings.

Throw some trash into the trap. Things like empty tuna cans, chicken bones, egg shells and maybe a wad of foil. The clever **** will learn the bait you use.

Early this spring I was called to trap a skunk at a mountain elementary school as well as to deodorize. As soon as I arrived, I set the trap by the hole under the building edge and used a small can of fish flavored cat food for bait. I went to my van and got the deodorizing equipment and got it set up in the classroom. I looked out the door to check on the trap and had already caught a ****. So, I picked up the trap and took it to the side of my van. I have never trapped a **** that wasn't really angry that it was caught except for this one. As I was carrying the trap, instead of growling and thrashing about, it was reaching out, like it was trying to touch my hand. I told him I thought he was unusual and I wouldn't kill him, I'd just take him for a long drive. When I set him down, I let him touch my finger. He didn't try to scratch, grab, or pull away. He just touched me. So I went in the building and did the deodorizing. When I returned in 10 minutes he was gone!! He figured out how to open that trap from the inside. It takes two hands to do this. First time that ever happened to me. I knew then I wouldn't ever get that **** inside the trap again. But, I set it anyway. I got a call at 6 the next morning that I had a skunk in the trap. When I showed up it stunk 10 times as bad. The hole under the building, right next to the trap, which I believe was the racoons door, was all covered up with trash and leaves. I guess he didn't like that skunk right at his door. Anyway, he moved on.
 
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