This year has been a real headache with raccoons eating my suet and getting into my stationary bird feeder. One was so bold as to come back 3 times after I shot warning shots over it's head. I tried small gage wire over my feeder at night. No good. Those buggers pulled it out and got in anyway. So then I thought I would try Tangle foot up and down the post of the feeder. Not good. It just gave them sticky paws for the seed to cling to and messed up the perches the birds sat on. I then decided to clean out my feeders ever night so they had nothing to eat. Ya, right. They still came. A friend of ours brother who has a farm said that the raccoons have been tearing open the bags of silage. He had shot over 15 so far. I didn't want to shoot them. Then I had a great idea. I went down to our pole barn and got the electric fencer, and some wire. Wrapped the wooden posts the holds the feeder and plugged it in. No More raccoons. I would have loved to see the first time they tried to climb up the post. Now I just need to remember to turn it on before we go to bed.
Ingenious solution to the raccoon problem! We don't have raccoons, or if we do, it is for a very short while because we have coyotes. One year a raccoon tore down and then tore apart a suet feeder, but that is the only time we've had 'coon damage.
Tooty, if you wish to 'record' what happens what happens while you sleep, perhaps not all the raccoons have received the word, you need a recording medium.....sand or dirt will do nicely. Interested? Jerry
I live in town and see the neighborhood racoon almost daily if I'm out in the garden early (just as he/she climbs the fence from the neighbor to one of its daytime bed trees). Drives the dog crazy. Imagine mine hitting the electric fence in the fish pond. They learn quick. Electric fence is the only thing I found to keep the raccoons and heron out of my large fish pond. They have several small ponds to drink out of, but seem much more respectful even though those are not wrap with a wire. They don't pull out all the lily pads and muck them up like they used to. There aren't any fish left though in the small ponds. The big pond before electricity would have the raccoons in there swimming and shoving the cement planters from one end to the other. Darn strong critters.
I don't see them much around here, but I think they were the ones helping themselves to my cantaloupes.
Marlin I have to get my suet in every night or it would be gone. Jerry great idea. Will have to get some sand and will let you know what turns up. Jewell sounds like you have those rascals fixed. One reason I do not like them around our house also is that they are one of the animals that carry rabies more than others. Also our little dog would go after them and they would probably kill her. Cherylad that could very well be. For the last couple of years we have had voles eating our melons. You would go out in the garden and see a beautiful melon. I would pick it up and find the whole inside eaten out of it. Very frustrating. :-x
I have kept bear away from my feeders with an electric fence. Worked for years. At night if you caught them you could see the blue spark on their wet nose when they hit the wire. Then they slid down the tree faster than lightening. Now that use electric around the chickens. I must get my trail cams out there to see what happens. What a video that would make. LOL. I have found the wire bent and a very very large poop near the bend. I know who did that...
WT that would make an excellent video. Those electric fencers are great for keeping those critters away or keeping your critters in. SOOOOO glad we do not have bear near us. Up north yes, but not here so far.
I think it's racoons getting into my cat food container in the garage :-? I bought the coolest "coon-proof" bungee cord thing that snaps over the lid and that seems to have stopped them. Something left the funniest looking poop on the garage floor, I'm thinking it was the masked bandit
Stratsmom you are probably right on both accounts. I didn't know that they made a raccoon proof bungee cord. One learns something new everyday. The poop on your floor was probably left by the raccoon as a "lock me out of the free food" poop on you. Raccoon poop carries some kind of really bad worm so be careful.
