# Raccoon Problem



## Kenzie63 (Jul 25, 2012)

I've been having raccoon problems for about a year now. They get into the feed room and eat the bird food, but a couple months ago they started to eat the baby birds that I keep out there. I bought a coyote sized cage trap to try and capture them and every morning when I go out to check it the door is completely ripped off the cage. I've tried just about everything that I can think of to catch them but poison... And I don't want to put that in the barn. They've out smarted every trap I have, even my foot trap. I want to get more babies this spring but I'm scared to because of them. I call these two raccoons the Bearccoons because they're the biggest raccoons that I've ever seen.


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## rob (Jun 20, 2012)

cool pics.


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## KenimokPoultry (Oct 31, 2012)

There exists some pretty good raccoon poison recipes. Just put out the poison at night and take it out bright and early so no other animals can get it. I don't understand how the can get out of your live trap? They are reliable traps.... An almost fool proof way of using a leg hold trap is to make a tunnel or funnel. Block off an end put your bait then the trap. On each side put down boards or logs and something on top so they have to crawl in. Sardines are a great bait btw.... Hope this helps. Those ***** are sure being a bother.


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## earlyt89 (Aug 2, 2012)

We spotlight them and shoot them. Sugar cubes are good bait. And peanut butter. We take them to a specific neighborhood around here. They eat tgem


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## patlet (Oct 4, 2012)

We had Raccoonie issues until we got a dog. Is this an option for you? Also, they seem to favor easy food. How are they getting in? After a year, they are pretty much your neighbors, if not your tenants. Lock up everything and take away their food supply...they will leave.


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## BigECart (Jul 12, 2012)

I have been using Niteguard to keep the raccoons out of my garbage and bird feeder. So far, so good.


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## Riverdale (Jun 23, 2012)

Marshmellows for bait.

We'll ocassionally eat the younger ones. Usually we cut and boil the meat. Then give it to the chickens 

We have not had an issue this year (so far), maybe the 'Raccoon Times and Piciuyane' reported that it is very bad to show up at Riverdale's place.


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## Kat (Nov 23, 2012)

I'm sorry to say if the live trap doesn't work you need to get some heavy duty leg traps-otherwise you will have more then 2 raccoons around-don't like using them but that seems to be the only trap they can't or don't get out of.


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## Kat (Nov 23, 2012)

I agree with kenimokPoultry with the leg traps


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## TerriO (Nov 24, 2012)

If you use a coyote trap they are not as strong as the smaller size for raccoons. Try the right trap...or the poison... works great but only if you can target JUST what you want to kill cause it kills everything that eats it! T


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## Toni (Jun 27, 2012)

My neighbor caught 20 raccoons this summer using the live traps. (one weighed about 30 #) He used cat food for bait. Sometimes he'd hear the trap go off 15 min. after he'd set it. He'd then shoot and bury them. The racoons were very brazen... I'd be feeding my barn cats and they would come out from nowhere and take the dish...I'd throw firewood at them or whatever else I could find...They'd climb a tree and just wait for me to walk away and they'd come right down....We had a neighbor feeding them dog food on his porch...so he could watch them....They are not pets...they are dangerous. Our coop is predator proof, but I have to make sure I close the door early enough that the racoons don't get in to get the chickens...


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## meandetta (Nov 24, 2012)

Put a post on coondawgs.com and see if there are any coonhunters close to you. They would love to catch a live **** to train dogs with. That would be better than poisoning them.


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## kaax (Nov 21, 2012)

I coexisted with raccoons for several years without problems, but last year I had "stranger" raccoons move into the territory. They wiped out all my 3 adult hens. (Fortunately my new pullets weren't out with them.) I went after them with a vengence, and only limited success. I finally realized that more were coming around, and I might as well face facts. (That things were irrevocably changed) This year I tripled the size of my run, got more birds, and only let them out to free range when I am at home. I'm back to coexisting, albeit uneasily with them. I hope you find a solution.

Kaax


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## mcginnishobbyfarm (Nov 24, 2012)

im battling the racoons right now..ive trapped 6 allready.
checked my game camera i have set up and i have a bigger problem than i thought. there were atleast 6 more racoons that i could count ..i use the small racoon size trap. gives them less space to cause damage.


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## BugoutBob (Nov 24, 2012)

some horse tranquilizer in an egg works wonders. Then you can dispose of your sleeping furry friend.


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## choudashell (Nov 24, 2012)

I had the same problems also with raccoons and foxes . We also own a heard of pygmy goats so we got an Anatolian heard dog she keeps all the stray critters out of the yard haven't lost a chicken since. Good luck


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## Riverdale (Jun 23, 2012)

Personally, I dislike using *anything* poisonous (other than lead  ).

Firstly, it seems a waste of protien (as stated above, we parboil and feed the '***** we trap to the chooks.

Secondly, I really don't want those toxins either in my land or in my water table.

And no, I am not some hippy happy longhaired treehugging anti-people person.

I am a steward of my land, and it is in my care.


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## Riverdale (Jun 23, 2012)

BugoutBob said:


> some horse tranquilizer in an egg works wonders. Then you can dispose of your sleeping furry friend.


Bob, at least in Michigan, it is illegal, to transport an animal from private to other than public land. It is also (IMnshO) deeply immoral to 'drop' a problem **** off to be someone else's problem.

Just sayin'


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## patlet (Oct 4, 2012)

Riverdale said:


> Personally, I dislike using anything poisonous (other than lead  ).
> 
> Firstly, it seems a waste of protien (as stated above, we parboil and feed the '***** we trap to the chooks.
> 
> ...


I hear ya regarding the poison. Poison is too non-discriminatory and can affect the water. Interesting solution regarding **** disposal but that is not my bag. As a hippy happy long haired tree hugging anti-people person, I would vote for less lethal means. We have an egg farm. We had a female **** live with us, raise two litters, co-exist with the chickens ( she only ate eggs) before, after three years, she took her last batch of kids out into the swamp. That was last year and we haven't seen her, or her babies, since. I also feel that we are stewards, not "owners" and to me, that means working with the land, and it's inhabitants, to a mutual lifestyle. The ***** live here too. I prefer to let them live as long as the other critters who live here, including our chickens, geese, horses, dogs and us simple humans, are not attacked. And just so you don't think I'm a total peacenik, I shot a mink, who's skin currently decorates my feed barn's door, point blank in the face, who had killed nearly half of my girls in less than twenty minutes.


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## BugoutBob (Nov 24, 2012)

When I speak of disposing of your furry friend I wasn't thinking about dropping him off someplace, I was thinking more of dispatching him to raccoon heaven using whatever means is palatable to you and expedient. Just so we are clear I was using "dispose of" as a euphemism for kill, knock off, slaughter, whatever term you want to use. A rap on the head with an axe handle, or a small say .22 lead pill behind the ear ... its just that the tranquilizer knocks them down so you can attend to them.


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## lbcoats (Jul 25, 2012)

I fight with raccoons every year starting in march, i use a smaller type live trap, if you attach your "bait" to the inside of the cage they will be less likely to escape, for example i use a cat food can wired (with heavy gage wire) to the farthest back of the trap and smash a slice of bread smeared with peanut butter on it and crack an egg over it, i usually trap & shoot over 30 **** per summer. I have even caught 2 adult ***** so large they couldnt turn around in the trap. Please let me know if this helps. BTW sometimes the larger the trap the more room they have to manufacture an escape! My brother is a trapper and has lots of great ideas, we live in southern Michigan.


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## Kat (Nov 23, 2012)

I don't like doing any of theses things but you have to do what you have to do


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## choudashell (Nov 24, 2012)

It is so much easier to get a good watch dog


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## WES (Jan 24, 2013)

I built a pen out of hardware cloth (1/2-inch mesh), including burying it a least a foot deep in the ground. I built the coop out of 1/2-inch plywood. We have plenty of racoons, coyotes and foxes in the area and even a mountain lion family. It's like building a fortress but so far we have not lost a single chicken.


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## Riverdale (Jun 23, 2012)

Kat said:


> I don't like doing any of theses things but you have to do what you have to do


I don't particularly care for it myself. However, having lost several hundred dollars worth of birds over the years (55 chicks in 2006 alone, and 6 Muscovy ducks last year as examples), I have little pity for the masked troublemakers.


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## odellfarms (Jan 25, 2013)

Kenzie63 said:


> I've been having raccoon problems for about a year now. They get into the feed room and eat the bird food, but a couple months ago they started to eat the baby birds that I keep out there. I bought a coyote sized cage trap to try and capture them and every morning when I go out to check it the door is completely ripped off the cage. I've tried just about everything that I can think of to catch them but poison... And I don't want to put that in the barn. They've out smarted every trap I have, even my foot trap. I want to get more babies this spring but I'm scared to because of them. I call these two raccoons the Bearccoons because they're the biggest raccoons that I've ever seen.


Your coil spring traps aren't set correctly. They need to be buried (chain and all), and placed in front of a dirt hole or PVC set. The best trap for your **** problem is a "dog proof" trap. There are several brands out there (I prefer Duke or Z-Traps). So, take several DPs, stake them to the ground far enough apart that the ***** won't set off more than one trap. Stuff some peanut butter and marshmallows into the DP, set the trigger, push the stake rod on the rear of the DP into the ground so the DP is standing up with the opening on top, and check in the morning. The **** will actually pick up the trap and play around with it. ***** have thumbs so they will grab the trigger and give it a pull thinking it is bait. When the trap fires, Mr. **** won't be going anywhere (secure the trap chain with a rebar stake or cable stake).

DPs are target specific. Coil springs and poison are not! I use coil springs for canine (yotes/fox). ***** get trap wise real quick, so live traps can be difficult. Dispatch the **** by a blow to the back of the head or a .22 to the head.


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## Righteousrich (Feb 18, 2013)

Been catching mine in raccoon size box traps. Matter of fact just caught number 14 since the fall. He's now taking a dirt nap. ***** are smart, so be stealthy with any trap. They learn quick.


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## KeyMan (Jun 26, 2012)

To easy... 12 Ga, Double 00 Buck


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## AlexTS113 (Feb 17, 2013)

Kenzie63 said:


> I've been having raccoon problems for about a year now. They get into the feed room and eat the bird food, but a couple months ago they started to eat the baby birds that I keep out there. I bought a coyote sized cage trap to try and capture them and every morning when I go out to check it the door is completely ripped off the cage. I've tried just about everything that I can think of to catch them but poison... And I don't want to put that in the barn. They've out smarted every trap I have, even my foot trap. I want to get more babies this spring but I'm scared to because of them. I call these two raccoons the Bearccoons because they're the biggest raccoons that I've ever seen.


A raccoon war..... Hmmm. Show them no mercy! Do what you have to do to save your chickens!!!!!!!


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## Wendy2shoes (Apr 5, 2013)

I just had a mother raccoon have babies in my attic. I was absolutely frantic to get them out. We used a strobe light, ammonia, etc. to try to evict them, but what seemed to finally send her packing was a high pitched sound. My husband downloaded an "audio frequency generator" app. He played it on his iphone, set at between 6,000 and 8,000 khz. As soon as the pups heard it, they started chirping. We plugged it into our boom box set in the attic, and let it play, loudly. Mom and her babies were gone by dawn. We covered her entrance hole with newspaper, and left it for 48 hours to make sure she was gone. Heavy ply screwed over the hole in our soffit now, but all is quiet on the western front. I'm not sure whether your chuks would be bothered by sounds, but I can speak from experience that what we did worked to get rid of the raccoons.


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## Energyvet (Jul 25, 2012)

Great solution!


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## Pathfindersfarm (Sep 6, 2012)

We are especially vigilant about opossums, as we have horses, and they carry the EPM virus. We lost our oldest horse last fall to EPM. He was 32, and so we knew were were lucky he had lived that long as it was, but it didn't make it any easier having to put him down. I miss him still. He was our youngest daughter's horse, and he was the best damn horse you'd ever meet. I hate 'possums...

Here's "Buddy" Heza Rosebud, 1980 - 2012:


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## kaufranc (Oct 3, 2012)

What a handsome horse!


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## Pathfindersfarm (Sep 6, 2012)

Thank you. He really was the best horse in the world. He did it all: English, Western, Dressage, you name it, he did it. 

((sigh))


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## PA_Farmer24 (Dec 20, 2012)

Is kiling these animals done legally?


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## kaufranc (Oct 3, 2012)

Around here if you have them attacking or killing your life stock / pets , you can shoot them.


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## PA_Farmer24 (Dec 20, 2012)

Have you asked your state wild life officers this first hand? Just asking a question.


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## InnKeeper (Feb 17, 2013)

Don't know NH laws, but where I live the DNR rules allow trapping (on your own property) of nuisance animals. The animal must then be destroyed within a reasonable timeframe or released. However, releasing anywhere other than on your own property is unlawful.


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## JudyLandauer (Apr 1, 2013)

This is our first year of having chickens but a few years ago we had ***** in our corn whic ruined a lot of good ears. Our solution was to set out an mp3 player and let the music play all night. It wasn't even set to play loudly. It kept them away from the corn and we haven't had any loss for the last four years.


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