The racoons on our place are getting enormous, no doubt thanks to the protein buffet they enjoy 24 hours a day. Some are so big that they cant fit in the traps we have. I heard a biologist one time talk about poisoning them. I am not ruling out any method and I would love to get rid of every one of them. Anyone know an ethical way to get rid of them besides trapping? Thanks.
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Bow and Arrow -
Shoot them
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Trust me...I would love to. BUT, I need something that will work for me even when I cant be at the ranch.Originally posted by Seemore View PostShoot themComment
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Build some bigger traps, that way you can catch 2-3 at a time!Comment
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Shocking will keep them off. That is a great video there. AmericanHunter makes a varmint zapper that is on their timer/spinner units. Works pretty good but you need a solar charger as it will run down your battery quicker. It will keep them off, but not get rid of them obviously.Comment
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A ******* wont work for me. The coons are hitting a free choice extended tube feeder. Where they sit and eat is within inches of where a deer would puts its head to eat out of the tube...I cant take that chance. I know a guy who baited them with canned cat food and put poison in the food. He built a little enclosure with cattle panel so only varmits could get in...he actually got a few coyotes too.Comment
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I assume you're talking about free choice feeders. If it's spin feeders, then electricity works very well. Also, if you use a cage, use one that's as big around as the barrel. The smaller cages just give them something to hang onto while they eat and sling the food out.
For free choice, we had MAJOR coon problems with the trough type feeders. They would poop in them, pee in them and just hang in and around them and keep the deer away. We trapped them, but unless you can set 6 or 8 traps at a time in the pen, you are only removing a coon or two per weekend.
Our coon problem is leveling out now. What we did was go from trough feeders to tube feeders. The tube feeders that we use are round instead of square. They also have a little downward taper. It seems the coons have a hard time getting onto the tubes and when they do, in order to get the protein out, they have to hang upside down. that leaves one leg to try and dig out protein. Waste to coons has gone way down. Also, we keep our tubes high enough that they can's stand there and dig it out. 40 to 42 inches.
The feeders that we use are the 1200 lb Boss Buck feeders.
Coon sign has gone way down. If you have coon problems, you know how they will pick a spot or two in your pen and use as a poop dump. Lots of coon piles. In our pens, those coon dumps are all but dried up. Very little new use. We have virtually no protein on the ground under the tubes. When we first put up the BB feeders, I was catching 6 to 8 coons per two nights with 4 traps in a pen. The traps that didn't have a coon would be tripped or the protein in the trap would be gone.
This past weekend, I set 4 traps in one of our most coon infested pens. Last month I caught two in one night and missed two. This month, I caught one big boar coon and none of the other traps were tripped and the protein cups hadn't been touched. We moved the 4 traps to another coon infested pen. Same thing. One big boar and no other sign of coons around the traps. The trails leading into the pen are showing virtually no use.
My theory, and you know I have one on everything, is that the coons had an easy and abundand source of food and bred themselves into it. With the new pens, there wasn't as much protein readily available and competition was high. this caused the 12 to 15 or more coons working a pen to disperse. Now, we can work our traps and maybe keep them to a more manageable level.
My theory will be tested within the next couple months. The fact that I only caught a couple boars could mean that the sows are out having more coons. When they get the young ones on the move, they'll be back and we'll see what kind of problem we have in June and July. Until then, we'll work the traps.
The one thing that I see that makes me think theory one is true is that I went on the other side of the highway with Dog to help him with his feeders. They still have trough type feeders. Each feeder that I saw has 5 or so sacks of protein on the ground, dug out by coons. So, they still have a major influx of the ring tailed nuisances.
My San Angelo feeders also seem to support theory one. I had a bunch of coons at my Hilltop feeders when I had my 85 gallon with the square tubes. I had hundreds of pics of coons on the spickets and coons under the feeder. Since I put up the BB, I haven't gotten a single pic of a coon on the tubes and the number of coon pics has gone to almost nil. Let's hope it continues that way. I also went from having hogs in my pen eating protein almost every night, to having only 2 hog pics on my camera with neither eating from the protein feeder. That's another story.Comment
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prestone weenies, soak some franks in some prestone and in a few days they will have a major tummyache and you will never see them again. it worked for us out at our place real well.Comment
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I was looking at some sites today to see if poisoning was an answer. This is what I found.... I have never heard of this and the article says that it is illegal!
RACCOON-POISON RECIPE: DANGEROUS AND ILLEGAL
A popular, and illegal, raccoon control method recently demonstrated its dark side in Buffalo County, when two pet dogs died after drinking a neighbor's mixture of fly bait and cola meant to kill marauding raccoons.
Setting out a bowl of cola mixed with methomyl fly-bait granules kills problem raccoons -- and also kills every other animal that happens to drink the poison.
Methomyl, in most formulations, is a restricted-use pesticide that's only sold to certified pesticide applicators. However, the fly-bait form is available over the counter.
The methomyl/cola coon-control method has spread by word of mouth, according to Carl Duley, Buffalo County extension ag agent. Duley suspects that the practice is widespread in Buffalo County, which has a large raccoon population, and probably in many other areas as well.
"These things get started out of desperation and frustration when people have serious problems with raccoons, moles, woodchucks or other pests that they can't resolve with standard approaches, such as fencing, trapping or repellents," says Scott Craven, chair of the Department of Wildlife Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
"When someone comes up with a quick, easy fix, people are tempted to try it. But they're not thinking about the implications.
"Anything that drinks that mix is going to die -- their pets, neighbors' pets, and all sorts of wildlife that they may not even know is around," Craven points out. "The bottom line is that this is not an appropriate response."
Raccoons are smart and persistent, and they can be extremely frustrating to deal with -- but that's not a reason to wage chemical warfare on every animal in the area, Craven says. "You can still control them if you take the time to learn how to effectively use legal control methods -- electric fencing, trapping and removal, or firearms where appropriate. For example, you'd pay about $30 or $40 for a wire live-trap, which works just fine when baited with fish-flavored cat food."
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rjc raccoon poison 7/01
SIDEBAR TO RACCOON-POISON RECIPE:
METHOMYL & COLA = HOMEBREWED NERVE GAS COCKTAIL
Methomyl is an organophosphate pesticide. Most forms of methomyl, and most organophosphates, are restricted-use pesticides -- for good reason, according to Phil Pellitteri, extension insect specialist at the UW-Madison. Organophosphates are closely related to nerve gas, and act by shutting down the nervous systems of insects and other animals.
Methomyl fly bait granules are less concentrated than most other organophosphates, according to Pellitteri, but mixing the granules with cola produces a highly poisonous liquid. The toxic cocktail will kill raccoons (and any other animal that drinks it), and at high doses may act as a secondary poison. This means that anything eating a poisoned animal could itself be poisoned.
By mixing methomyl with cola, you're creating a poisoned bait and violating federal law, Pellitteri points out. You're also using the pesticide off-label, which is also illegal.
Finally, consider that, to a 2-year-old, that dish of poison is going to look just like a bowl of cola -- and a thirsty toddler may not abstain just because the bowl is sitting on a pile of dirt in the gardenComment
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