Help with pesky raccoons

They definitely don't hibernate, season on them opens here on Monday and runs through February. As Codger mentioned they will hole up on extreme cold weather, but will be out in numbers when it warms back up and they will be hungry...Your best option seems to be a live trap with marshmallows for bait so you don't get cats, skunks, etc. The diseased coons will likely die off in the winter so there is some good in that. Even if you trap and remove them, they will likely be back if they like the conditions in your area. Take a walk around and check for why they are there. They will den up in trees with hollow spots, holes in the ground, brush or concrete piles, old buildings etc. You can generally locate an active den by scat being nearby, they like to lay down a steamer right around the den. You might be able too make the dens less apealing to make them leave on their own, I have heard mothballs will work. I am chomping at the bit for coon season on Monday. I have a secret method of making them come charging at me, then dispatch with a .22. The hides are worth some money, and its pretty exciting to have a coon charge out of then den looking for a fight. Its all fun and games until one of them runs up my leg and bites me...
 
pitdog said:
An Airedale Terrier will get rid of Raccoons and will do so instinctively without the need for any training. A great family dog but they do like killing critters !!!
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I love Airedale Terriers too. I want to make that my first dog (for the family). I had a golden lab/mut growing up, and a rottie that did not live too long.

My folks had an Airedale when first married with kids. They had to give it away. It was too high energy/high maintenance. They kept having to repair doors, and the mail man swore he was going to stop delivering their mail.

They gave him to a couple of families, and no one would keep him. Then a rancher took him, and said he was the best dog ever. Natural on the ranch, and got all of his energy out.You don't want to take any high energy breed on lightly. They need work to be well behaved. Both physical exercise and the correct "training".
 
Well, you could call the Turtleman. :D Seriously, if you trap and release them take them at least 5 miles away or they just come back.
 
Raccoons have a large roaming area. I once live trapped a raccoon and put a dab of blue paint on his back to mark him. I released him 15 miles away, and he came back in 3 days. I think they have to be taken 50 miles to be successfuly relocated. There should be info on the google.
 
Codger_64 said:
Coons do not hibernate like bears. They keep on running year round. And I would want something more powerful and accurate than a slingshot to dispatch one, for sure.
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Truth. I can't count the times I've hunted raccoons in the middle of winter, with temperatures in the 20's. They certainly do not hibernate.
They are extremely tough animals. I have seen them take multiple .22s to the body and head, and that just pissed them off. Granted a good head shot usually kills them, but I wouldn't count on getting the the job done with a slingshot, unless you have a club nearby to finish the job.
 
cbwoods67 said:
Truth. I can't count the times I've hunted raccoons in the middle of winter, with temperatures in the 20's. They certainly do not hibernate.
They are extremely tough animals. I have seen them take multiple .22s to the body and head, and that just pissed them off. Granted a good head shot usually kills them, but I wouldn't count on getting the the job done with a slingshot, unless you have a club nearby to finish the job.
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I think the slingshot was recommended for a harrassment technique, not a "taking" technique. I am not and never have been a coon hunter, but I have had a few experiences with them. And I know well that they have a tremendous will to live. And a set of chompers that put a lot of cats and dogs to shame. Add to that their dexterity with their "hands" and above average intellegence and you have a serious critter to contend with in a "mano-y-coon" tangle. If you have ever had one on a twist, you know what a snarling ball of fury on a stick is.
 
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Get a live trap(box kind) And put tuna or something in it. Got one using this method with ham bone. They're wicked smart.
 
You know, the temp around these parts has been in the 40's during the day and upper 20's to low 30's at night and they're scarce. I rarely see them anymore.

Would a BB pistol with enough power scare them off? Not enough to penetrate their skin. Also, I would not have any idea what FPS this would be? I was thinking the kind w/the gas cartridges?

And something else I don't think has been mentioned but they have been known to carry rabies.
 
I would be cautious about using air rifles and pistols to scare them off. In many jurisdictions they are considered firearms with restrictions on discharging them in populated areas. Here, it would be considered hunting them with a firearm not legal for hunting furbearers. The DNR is fairly specific about seasons, limits and what firearms are allowed and when. "I was just trying to scare them" might not hold up in court. Live trapping sounds like the best solution. But then you are faced with the task of loading, transporting and releasing one very P.O.'d ball of fur and fury.
 
I had to live trap a raccoon down at the family camp, as the nephew brought the trap and caught one but let it go less than a mile away and it was back. I heard that they need to be relocated at least 50 miles away to be effective. Some bread is all it took and I had an angry growling hissing STINKING raccoon in the trap. He was not happy and looked at me with hate in his eyes. The smell from this animal was more than I could bear and any idea of putting it into the trunk for a car ride was out of the question.

I then put him in the boat and let him go on the other end of the lake and it would be about 20 mile walk around the shoreline for him to return. I marked him with some blue paint, and hoped he might find some place with more garbage like near the marina where he may want to stay. I opened the door on the trap and the raccoon made a beeline straight away from me and into the bush.

But it only took him 3 days to return. We decided to let it stay it wasn't harming anything, and perhaps they help with the mouse problem.
 
everybody(or most) keep saying live trap and relocate. you may want to check the regs where you are, in some states its not legal to live trap and relocate problem animals.

seems silly, but how would you feel if you lived in a nice out of the way place and next thing you know you got a half dozen coons ripping your trash bags apart and eating your cats or chickens because some guy from town didn't want to harm some poor little coon. he just didn't want it in his back yard.

i don't have any trouble with them,(coons) i just shoot them when they get in my trash or decide its a good idea to use my garage as a toilet.

if you can't shoot them, (gonna sound cruel) take the trap to a pond or lake and toss it in for a minute or 5.

ya, i know, sounds mean, but anybody on here thats actually trapped knows what i'm talking about, always seemed crueler to stand on their chest to me.

you aren't gonna effect the population by killing them, theres to dam many of them now.

good luck.
 
heresthedeal said:
everybody(or most) keep saying live trap and relocate. you may want to check the regs where you are, in some states its not legal to live trap and relocate problem animals.

seems silly, but how would you feel if you lived in a nice out of the way place and next thing you know you got a half dozen coons ripping your trash bags apart and eating your cats or chickens because some guy from town didn't want to harm some poor little coon. he just didn't want it in his back yard.

i don't have any trouble with them,(coons) i just shoot them when they get in my trash or decide its a good idea to use my garage as a toilet.

if you can't shoot them, (gonna sound cruel) take the trap to a pond or lake and toss it in for a minute or 5.

ya, i know, sounds mean, but anybody on here thats actually trapped knows what i'm talking about, always seemed crueler to stand on their chest to me.

you aren't gonna effect the population by killing them, theres to dam many of them now.

good luck.
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Good points, if it needs to go make it go away for good or else tolerate their normal way of thriving, eventually you will want a better solution. I have shot, drowned and poll axed them. Our garden and garbage cans were not made to be eaten out of by critters. My tolerance for it is very thin.
 
Shooting is probably the best way to go. Barring that, a paintball gun. Crank it up hot and use thick/cheap paint. Do NOT use pepper balls (not that they're readily available anyways) they're all fun and games until your gun chops on and you're on the recieving end of it.

I am against relocating. Not only do you make the problem someone else's but you might also unknowingly introduce a diseased animal into a healthy population.

As for a dog- our Mini Dachsunds harass the living hell out of anything that comes in the yard. I've seen two of them go after a coon and badger it like you wouldn't believe. This particular coon was ar least twice their size. One taunts it while the other attacks from the side or rear. They never got close enough for the coon to get at them, and it tried. As good as they are with the family (they LOVE kids) you'd never tell it to look at them but they are incredibly ferocious hunters. They can be quite vocal though and generally are best with another dog, they are real pack dogs. They'll clear out just about any critters you have.
 
I watched this documentary
Raccoon Nation
http://www.treehugger.com/culture/pbs-documentary-raccoon-nation-humans-making-raccoons-smarter.html

http://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/natureofthings/2011/raccoonnation/


They showed taht in Toronto, there were 100 to 150 coons per square mile.

they also showed that they were highly intelligent and able to adapt.



Trapping one and taking it for a car ride, just makes that one smarter and he will pass that trap knowledge along to all his friends.
Even if you kill it, that one won't affect the population at at all.


I trap mice in the house and pitch them out into the garden, I noticed in the winter, they always went missing overnight - coons ate them.


You have to eliminate the food source and the cover. Eggs and marshmallows are good bait that won't attract cats like sardines would.
 
around here, coon fear the name "Riot"....he has went up trees, fell 20ft and landed with the coon still in his mouth....hops up to his feet, shake-shake, a couple crunches and no more coon. in '08 i showed him at an ADBA show in Sedalia Missouri at the fairgrounds with the top of his head all tore up and he still took 3rd place in his class. the judge got a good laugh when i told him i had been coon hunting with Riot 2 nights before the show.

i know the APBT isnt the dog for everyone, but there is no critter around here that even stands a chance....including the badger.




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Get one of these traps, bait it and relocate them to a state game land far away from your house.

http://www.havahart.com/store/live-animal-traps

- Coon hunted since I was a kid.
 
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