OT Racoons 2 - Groff 0

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 20:33:12 GMT, with neither quill nor qualm, Errol Groff quickly quoth:

Put collars beneath the discs, then cut the discs free to tilt and spin. That should solve the problem.

And be glad your wife didn't have $25k worth of prized KOI in a pond accessible to the little masked bandits. ;)

Perhaps isolate and electrify the discs so the critters get a hotfoot when they stand on the drums and touch the discs? Take pics, please.

-- It's a shallow life that doesn't give a person a few scars. -- Garrison Keillor

This sounds like the most fun.

My pole for a bird feeder started as just rebar stuck in the ground. But the racoons managed to tip it over. So I welded some angle iron to the rebar that is in the ground to give it more lateral stability. Don't have any problems with the racoons now. They still come eat the seed that has fallen on the ground, but don't even try to climb or tip now.

Maybe you could just drive some stakes thru the holes in the brake drums to anchor then to the ground. Say some 1/2 inch rebar a couple of feet long bent at the top to form an L.

Dan

Another optionn to consider is getting a "hav-a-hart" type live trap and catching a live squirrel. The other squirrels will likely stay away until the trapped squirrel dies ;)

I caught what must have been a large one, I didn't check the trap like I previously did. The cage was siting about 8 inches from a garage door. Razzle Frazzle durn r'coon got it's arm out through the hardware cloth (I'm guessing 16 gauge wire true galvanized cloth, 5/8" square openings on the edge of the where the rascal could reach out and grab at the door gasket, and tear it to 3/8" strips of foam rubber. The sharp edge from the galvanized wire scrapped the raccoons arm as blood was left deposited on the concrete all along the 16" edge of the door gasket. It did break the trigger rod mechanism (a previous male last year bent the 3/16" rod into a ? question mark shape). So this time it just bent it enough to disconnect from the trip plate. Very minor break. This trap has a one end only 12" square entrance. The door drops down and a gusset spring loaded "locks" into place. This is the first time anyone escaped as it was strong enough to reach it's arm out, (and deflecting the cage) I believe it reached back and grabbed the gusset latch, and freed it's self. It has not been back since, as there seems to be no evidence of it's existence for over 2 months. Possums are a problem, anyone know what the best bait is?

Also I don't or would not think of trying capture/release of a raccoon. There numbers are excessive, at least here, along with deer. I don't know what they do when introduced into a existing group, that have territories, seems this could cause other unintended consequences. I use a pump-up air rifle (piece of shit daisy) full 10 pumps, one sharp point pellet. Shoot straight into the eye, and aligned with the brain cavity. Very quick. There probably are more humane ways, but a fire arm is out of the question (given residential zoning). Ignator

You know, that's a pretty high mechanical aptitude for a raccoon.

Psooible budding engineer?

CB caps can be almost silent ;)

"cavelamb himself" wrote in message news:VMeii.3243$ snipped-for-privacy@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...

yeah, no, really, me too. i built a "havahart" copy (because i didn't want to spend $75 to buy one) and caught a fox... 4 times. the fourth time i finally CAUGHT him. he kept figuring out ways to get out. (i know he got in, and then got out because he ate the bait (duck eggs) ) he'd put his paws through and play around with the latch mechanism till he got it to open. i caught numerous woodchucks who bent my trigger rod mechanism ALL TOO HELL also. me too, 12" square, door drops down. the thing with the fox was that it had enough balls to keep coming back and keep going in the trap! (i assumed he was pretty confident of his ability to escape) i put the trap in the (ex-)duck house because he went in there and killed ALL the ducks (6). just bit the backs of their heads, looked like he licked their blood, that was all. we didn't realize there was even any way for a fox to get in but he figured out a way. was very upsetting to open the door to give 'em food and water and to see them ALL dead. my mother and i both wanted to kill the bastard fox but after i caught him the fourth time i drove him far away and let him (or her) go. i don't know what the best possum bait is but i think i'd try peanut butter (works good for squirrels) or tuna fish (i'd think it would be very odoriferous). peanut butter works good for skunks too, several times i forgot to spring the trap at night (to keep out skunks) and next day had a skunk in the trap. i just let them go. most people are afraid of catching a skunk but i found it's no big deal, they don't seem to be able to spray from within the trap and when i open the door all they want to do is to LEAVE.

i just clicked on Errol's photos link. jesus Errol! are you sure that's raccoons?! any chance that's a bear? i heard bears like bird food too.

We do have the occassional bear here in eastern CT but I am pretty sure that the problem is raccoons. At night we can flip on the porch light and see the masked bandits milling around the feeders.

Current ploy is to take the feeders in at night (into the back of the wife's van) and put them back out in the morning.

Errol Groff

According to Errol Groff :

:-)

So -- you will then find out whether the raccoons can figure out how to hot-wire a van.

Be planning on how you will report the theft. :-)

Good Luck, DoN.

Go over to your friendly local farm supply and pick up an electric fence charger (probably about 20 bucks...). Set the bases on a plastic sheet or maybe in a plastic dishpan for insulation and wire them up. The squalling you will hear is the 'coon departing for the next county... (Also works good on dogs marking their territory...)

Jerry

Add a baby bottle nipple to the end of the barrel, and Shorts are almost silent.

Tape a 2 liter soda bottle to the end of the barrel..and you can use Long Rifles.

And it IS nearly the 4th of July..where such pops are common.

Might be a good time for Coon Jihad!!

Gunner

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects. Lazarus Long

You should have killed that fox. You just made a BIG problem for someone else. Post your address so I can drop my problem animals in your yard ;)

....but inadequate for an adult coon

I'm thinking about all the places that can't seem to find manual lathe operators. Illegal aliens can't do it, but this raccoon may be a possibility