Raccoon control….I don’t want to hurt ’em. What do I do?

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  • #587753

    glocson
    Member

    I have posted borderline “rude” comments on here before. However I have a tiny tiny soft spot in my heart for these guys. Can I put out something they hate like vinegar or ammonia or something to get them out from under my eaves? I don’t want to use a BB gun but there waste/excrement on my roof is just nasty! Plus they scare me when I’m watering late and they come out of the bushes. Please let me know. THANK’S!

    #633981

    JenV
    Member

    moth balls. wont hurt ’em, they don’t like ’em.

    #633982

    JenV – I actually tried the mothballs and they didn’t work a whiff. They kept ME off of the back porch, but didn’t phase the raccoons at ALL. I had another raccoon break-in last week. Yes, in my HOUSE – and this time, there were TWO of them! They’re getting really nasty in this neighborhood. I hate to say it, but I think it’s time for some humane trapping.

    #633983

    glocson
    Member

    I just can’t get myself to shoot them. I fired at them with an unloaded BB gun and they just stood there. And this was almost point blank….

    #633984

    JoB
    Participant

    use a water gun with ammonia and water. they really don’t like it.

    #633985

    flowerpetal
    Member

    Many years ago, before moving to Seattle; we had a remedy for at least one raccoon a year. We had a roasted raccoon on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. But that would only take care of one.

    #633986

    Zenguy
    Participant

    Let me know what works. I have one living under my deck and would prefer he find a nice tree somewhere. He wakes up pretty early and wakes me up in Summer time.

    #633987

    Anonymous
    Inactive

    How does “I don’t want to hurt them” translate into roasting them?

    #633988

    guidosmom
    Member

    Has anyone ever tried bitter apple spray (the kind for dogs?) Someone told me a while back that worked. I’ve also heard people have had luck with motion activated sprinklers, like these:

    http://www.safepetproducts.com/pilot.asp?pg=scarecrow_main

    #633989

    MissK
    Member

    Some things to check in your yard….

    Are there any open water or food sources available to them?

    Are your garbage cans secure?

    If these questions are no’s I found these website for a natural deterent.

    http://www.deerout.com/critter/index.htm

    http://www.critter-repellent.com/raccoon/how-to-get-rid-of-raccoons.php

    #633990

    JanS
    Participant

    JT….(I know this is an assumption on my part)….flowerpetal


    > joking :)

    #633991

    Anonymous
    Inactive

    I didn’t find it funny.

    #633992

    Franci
    Participant

    Please don’t put out mothballs – it will just keep you and/or your neighbors in your respective houses – with no windows or door open to prevent the smell from coming in.

    #633993

    Patrick
    Keymaster

    We had one in the attic around the 4th of July. Over at Big 5 you can buy an boater’s air horn for about $10 that puts out a 120 db screaming whistle. I put on some ear plugs and blew a few blasts over two days and that was that.

    #633994

    Patrick – how much did your neighbors love you after that??? :-)

    #633995

    glocson
    Member

    I was thinking of putting some LSD or peyote into a water bowl for them……

    #633996

    glocson – one of the two raccoons that got into my house was literally ricocheting off of the furniture in panic. I’m not sure introducing hallucinogenics into your situation is a great idea… :-)

    #633997

    JayDee
    Participant

    Despite their reputation, racoons are a bad combination of stupid and strong. A college room-mate had one as a family pet (not that smart an idea) and it was amazing how much that one ‘coon could tear up, especially if he thought there was something edible nearby. I encourage you to give all of the non-lethal methods a try before they smell food they want behind something fragile like a door.

    #633998

    flowerpetal
    Member

    Well I really wasn’t joking, raccoon is good eating. But those days are in the past and I would never have eaten a City ‘coon.

    My sister had her palm pilot (before Blackberries) snatched away from a picnic on a boardwalk. And I used to have a cat named Sparkle who was raised in a household with a pet raccoon. Sparkle too learned how to turn on the bathroom faucet; but for amusement, not for food washing. It would have been alright had she learned to turn it off after her play time.

    #633999

    JanS
    Participant

    flowerpetal…I stand corrected :) Davy Crockett had a ‘coon skin cap…guess they had to do something with the rest of the body, huh. Now, I’m being tongue in cheek, and not saying that to be insensitive to anyone. How does one prepare raccoon, and ..OK..I know I shouldn’t ask this..but…does it taste like chicken? (Oh, please forgive me, everyone)

    #634000

    UrbanFabulous
    Participant

    Go buy some coyote urine and spray it around your yard.

    #634001

    Dunno
    Participant

    Try a motion detector sprinkler. They won’t like it when it comes on. Check hardware stores for more info. Works for most larger than a mouse animals. Also pepper spray area’s where area’s desired.

    #634002

    Zenguy
    Participant

    I bought a Sears crock pot at a garage sale years ago and it came with a cook book. No kidding it had recipes for possum and racoon in the cookbook.

    #634003

    JoB
    Participant

    I’ve had possum. but not raccoon.. and flowerpetal is right.. never city raccoon.

    i know, West Seattle garbage is gourmet garbage… sort of like having them pre-stuffed for you, but….

    the sprinklers didn’t work for us.. nor did a water pistol until we added ammonia…

    i would have loved to try the air horn. had they been in the house, i am pretty sure i would have warned neighbors and done so.

    they are destructive critters.

    #634004

    JeffSavoie
    Member

    Alright, I’ve been holding back, because I don’t want to end up the target of rude comments…

    But, I’m a licensed Nuisance Wildlife Control Operator (NWCO), “the critter guy”, and raccoons are pretty much my specialty.

    Glocson, you say you don’t want to hurt them, but consider using powerful drugs? Oh well, you’re not the first person I’ve talked to that was cracking under the stress of living with wild animals. ;)

    Jen, Mothballs are not something I’d want around my house or my family, and as stated often times don’t repel raccoons.

    Bulldog, if I can be of any assistance, let me know.

    Jo, Read the cautions on a bottle of ammonia… would you squirt it at your dog?

    It’s not right to do so to a wild animal either, wildlife solutions need to be as painless and as unlikely to cause harm as possible, up to and including humane euthanization standards.

    My experience has been that city critters, are no more likely to be “inedible” than their country cousins. I mean we eat chickens, and even a city raccoon ain’t that nasty… I was practically raised on chickens, that were raised on table scraps, and dirt scratch.

    If an animal shows no signs of sickness, outward or inward, and is dressed out clean and proper, it should be okay.

    Flowerpetal, growin’ up, we took care of more than just one a year. :)

    Jan, think pork, a little redder and a lot greasier, excellent BBQ fare.

    The modern market for healthy, made in America, pet food, uses much of the by products of the fur and nuisance control industries, like raccoon meat (but the sale of (raw) nuisance caught products, is strictly prohibited in Washington State).

    UrbanFabulous, coyote urine, isn’t all that effective in this environment. The raccoon needs to fear the coyote, and in the city they have a very amicable relationship.

    It’s too much work to kill a raccoon, when there’s easier pickin’s. City coyotes, truth be known, are highly herbiforous (sic), with much of their diet, like the raccoons, made up of fruits and cats. I mean fruits and vegetables.

    More often a boar raccoon’s urine is used for “eviction fluid”, mother raccoons will quickly evacuated kits, and only the big bruiser of the neighborhood won’t be afraid… he’ll come out lookin’ for a fight (and my day gets exciting!).

    Animals have many “triggers” and they don’t all work, every time, in every place.

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