22 replies to this topic

[Dollsnstuff2]

Just wanted to give everyone in the Elkins/Hopfield Drives area a heads up. I had a rather large raccoon in my yard last week--twice. First night it annihilated half my quail. Second night he was up one of our trees and I pegged him with a lime--sent him scrambling. We have since tried trapping it, but it didn't come back.

However, if you have outside birds, chickens, rabbits, small dogs or cats that are outside at night, they are at risk. Raccoons will kill stuff for the fun of it, drag some off for food and leave puddles of fur or feathers behind, then come back for more fun the next night if they think they can get away with it. My husband and I saw one the previous week on Elkins coming from someone's backyard, so it is ranging over the neighborhood.

[Abandka]

They also love dry cat or dog food! We used to live in a neighborhood near a creek, and they would wander up, come through our door to feed on the dry food left for our pets in the kitchen. Came home one night to THREE of them in our family room!

[The Average Joe]

Theoretically, you could get a medium to large humane trap, bait it with peanut butter covered apples, and quickly capture the culprit (make sure to cover the trap with something). Then you could drive to an area close to Folsom that had a creek ...say south of 50 off Prairie City... and release the culprit. Of course I would never do such as thing as it would violate several laws

[dimeracer]

I'm pretty sure we have had one in our garage recently trying to get into a bag of dog food. Not sure if it has come back since. I'm in Willow Springs. Joe, why near a creek? Just asking....

[camay2327]

The federal trapper will set a trap for you and collect the animals for a price. I think it was over $25.00 for the first one and a bit less for the next. The problem is that they will kill them on the spot (he gives them a shot of something and they die right away) and then dispose of the animal. He told me that if you let them go in the area that they will come right back. You would have to relocate them quite a distance from where you trapped them and like you said it would be illegal to do this with Raccoons.

[chris v]

We have a very large neighborhood raccoon that runs around eating cat and dog food all night. We too are in Natoma Station. Our solution has been to not leave any food out at night and the raccoon doesn't come around. The one in our neighborhood is so used to people you can pet it even though I would never recommend it because they can be vicious.

[supermom]

hmm, I didnt know it is illegal to relocate raccoons. Odd since they are considered a pest, and it is legal to kill them on your property

[Dollsnstuff2]

Already tried the trap thing. Out for almost a week with marshmallows, apple slices and plums--no score! If we do end up catching it, we'll take it out of 88 and let it loose in the wilds--not off Prairie City--that's too close and he'll come right back. I can't afford for it to take out my birds or rabbits, so I'll do whatever I can to keep it out of the yard again. We may have to bite the bullet and get another dog.
@ Chris-- not sure what part of Natoma Station you're in, but we're in the Hopfield / Elkins area. I have a green (well, brown, actually) belt behind the yard where deer have been spotted--right over my fence. Going to have to secure the animals better, and figure out how to keep the hairy bugger out. And I figure that it's all the cat and dog food that drew him here...he just stayed for the fun at my place.

[folsom500]

I thought it might be a Raccoon coming into our yard - we have no food out but do have 4 ponds so maybe it is coming in to drink. In our case, I am going to assume it has been around a while as we have some very dark poop in one location ( at least it only goes in one place) that I know is NOT from our dogs.
Our situation could also sometimes be the neighborhood cats.

Two of our dogs (Pekingese and Australian Terrier) rush off the bed out the door or doggy door barking and chase what ever it is up to the far corner of the yard where I am guessing it climbs over the fence.

Then one the dogs will sit on our upper patio and bark at the fence about once per minute (Karen - you might have heard this) until I finally get out of bed and go retrieve him. After the second time in a night, I have to put a leash on the dog to keep him in the house...

I would love someone to get rid of it... ( and maybe the cats from next door and across the street as well

[camay2327]

Already tried the trap thing. Out for almost a week with marshmallows, apple slices and plums--no score! If we do end up catching it, we'll take it out of 88 and let it loose in the wilds--not off Prairie City--that's too close and he'll come right back. I can't afford for it to take out my birds or rabbits, so I'll do whatever I can to keep it out of the yard again. We may have to bite the bullet and get another dog.
@ Chris-- not sure what part of Natoma Station you're in, but we're in the Hopfield / Elkins area. I have a green (well, brown, actually) belt behind the yard where deer have been spotted--right over my fence. Going to have to secure the animals better, and figure out how to keep the hairy bugger out. And I figure that it's all the cat and dog food that drew him here...he just stayed for the fun at my place.

The trapper that came to our house put a piece of silver Reynolds wrap and an egg in
the back of the trap and that got him to go in. Might try that. And like someone else
said earlier you might put a small cloth or dark colored bag over the trap, leaving
the entrance open.

[folsom500]

The trapper that came to our house put a piece of silver Reynolds wrap and an egg in
the back of the trap and that got him to go in. Might try that.

Aha -- I keep egg shells to crumble up and use them in planting for the calcium. I had noticed in the last few days the fresher ones were strewn all over the patio and my planting station... Guess maybe I just found the reason...

[The Average Joe]

I'm pretty sure we have had one in our garage recently trying to get into a bag of dog food. Not sure if it has come back since. I'm in Willow Springs. Joe, why near a creek? Just asking....

They like water, and lots for them to eat there as well. Seems the humane thing to do...at least give them the best chance at survival. After all, they were here long before we were.

[camay2327]

I don't like having them killed either. I would rather
they be relocated along with all the wild turkeys that
dig up the yards around the neighborhood.

[4thgenFolsomite]

I have racoons every night all year round and have for years. I've never seen one be vicious (usually they have to be cornered) and they do not kill things for the fun of it either. My cats could care less about them and they have never threatened my cats either (even though they are all hanging out on the back patio at the same time). This time of year there isn't much to eat along the river or in the wetlands areas and they are hungry, so they come in and dig up lawns to get the worms and grubs under the nicely irrigated lawns. We may think of them as pests, but they were here for hundreds of years or longer than we have and we're actually on their territory, not the other way around.

So I don't leave food outside, I press the upturned sod in the lawn back into place and I don't have much trouble with them.

[Dollsnstuff2]

I have racoons every night all year round and have for years. I've never seen one be vicious (usually they have to be cornered) and they do not kill things for the fun of it either. My cats could care less about them and they have never threatened my cats either (even though they are all hanging out on the back patio at the same time). This time of year there isn't much to eat along the river or in the wetlands areas and they are hungry, so they come in and dig up lawns to get the worms and grubs under the nicely irrigated lawns. We may think of them as pests, but they were here for hundreds of years or longer than we have and we're actually on their territory, not the other way around.

So I don't leave food outside, I press the upturned sod in the lawn back into place and I don't have much trouble with them.

The coon took the heads off of 4 birds, left one body torn up but uneaten, and a puddle of feathers...so it ate one bird. When I found it in the yard a couple nights later, it was unfazed by a large human and flashlights, and merely lumbered down the tree, across the yard and up the fence--until I pegged it with a piece a fruit and knocked it off the fence. They are not amusing critters, anymore than deer are Bambi... They are destructive predators, they can take on, injure and/or kill small pets, cornered or threatened or not, and they can wipe out a henhouse full of chickens if the whim takes them (I know people who keep larger numbers of chickens and have lost several at a time to a coon...)... and like ferrets (we had one as a pet) they can be frivolous in their attacks and they can and will kill for the fun of it.

Unfortunately, with the food-rich environment we have in the neighborhood (cat food, dog food, veggie gardens, fruit trees and other goodies) the raccoons can smell an invite a mile off. I would prefer to relocate the bugger. In the meantime, I have secured my surviving quail and other critters, and my cats stay indoors now after dark. @camay2327--I'd love to have a couple of those turkeys head over to my place. The holidays are coming!!