Trap and release Raccoons

[RalphVa]

I've had a raccoon arrive "uninvited". I caught it drove it a few miles away. It came back in in 2 days. Turned out the 3 mile drive was only 6000 ft as the crow flies. Today I caught it again and drove it 3.5 miles, "as the crow flies". I hear 5 miles is the minimum but can't think of a place where it's away from homes. I don't want to gift my problem to someone else.

Not getting approval to give it swimming lesson in a 55 gal barrow. Now she is just after my bird feeder. but we have 6 peach/cheery trees planted last spring and I know when the peaches are on, all her friends will come out.

I read if your strategy is the kill raccoons, you will still loose the battle. Too many of them out in the forest. We have 6 ft dia fences around each tree and plan to place a hot wire at the top of each.

Any other tricks to keep raccoons out?

Against the law here in Virginia to trap and transport.

I used to trap all kinds of animals in a Hav-a-hart trap in NJ. I'd just dump them out except for the groundhogs. They got a strange case of lead poisoning. One got drowned by the wife in the bath tub.

Ralph

 

[Erik M]

There are skunks and coons all over here and just not worth trying to kill them all. Best solution is to make the place unattractive and they find a better place to go. The storage barn on my property had some gaps under the sill at the corners that allowed coons inside and I discovered that on cold spring days they would sleep up on top of the soffits as the metal roof kept things nice and warm. Only problem was they would use the same area as a litter box. I wired up the soffits with 1/2” hardware cloth and they lost interest in the polebarn but I filled in the corners and nothing larger than a squirrel can get in there now.

I see signs that the skunks have been digging about but they don’t bother me so I don’t bother them. The foxes are regular visitors but I don’t leave anything out for them so they are welcome to eat all the mice they can catch on my property.

The highway seems to keep the population under control too as there is a regular harvest all spring and summer.

 

[ovrszd]

They are vermin where I live and are dealt with as such. I guess I could get a good load of em up and haul em up to your place and you could give them a nice, safe home and plenty to eat I知 sure...take it easy on the ethics and morality lessons.

That was my first thought. Then I rethought. What Moss is saying is you are baiting them to invade you. Then you are killing them. Again, we have to understand a wild animal is only doing what it is genetically designed to do.

 

[CADplans]

I have had great luck with a Dukes Trap, available on Amazon,,,

Usually, dry cat food is the bait, but, sardines, or tuna work with elusive raccoons,,,

I put a tuna can on the trap to keep out the rain.

 

[FM504]

That was my first thought. Then I rethought. What Moss is saying is you are baiting them to invade you. Then you are killing them. Again, we have to understand a wild animal is only doing what it is genetically designed to do.

Yes I get that...I’m not “baiting” them, I’m feeding deer, the coon is a non targeted by-product of my deer feeding. It is what it is, they make a good living off of the feed and prosper and I shoot em when I can. Trust me, they are out breeding any efforts I make to dim their population. Anyone who doesn’t like or approve of my methods is of no concern to me. My feeding program benefits a lot of species including whitetail deer, axis deer, rio grande turkey, bobwhite quail, several species of dove, and so on. I’m glad for everyone to have and share their own opinion but I don’t think talk of “morals and ethics” have any place in this thread. I wouldn’t ever tell anyone that what they are doing is morally or ethically wrong, I may have an opinion but realize I’m in no position to judge another’s actions...

 

[rekees4300]

Better read this, Indiana residents....

Thanks for the post ... isn't the DNR suppose to protect animals not kill them? :confused2:

 

[Sawyer Rob]

SO, to make my place unattractive to coons, I no longer can plant a garden?? NO MORE sweet corn??

You guys must be smoking what YOU are growing!!

SR

ooooooh, and I ALSO will have to bury my ponds and streams too!!

 

[MossRoad]

Thanks for the post ... isn't the DNR suppose to protect animals not kill them? :confused2:

No. Not at all. DNR manages wildlife. Sometimes management means hunting, fishing, trapping, nuisance animals, etc...

 

[MossRoad]

Yes I get that...I’m not “baiting” them, I’m feeding deer, the coon is a non targeted by-product of my deer feeding. It is what it is, they make a good living off of the feed and prosper and I shoot em when I can. Trust me, they are out breeding any efforts I make to dim their population. Anyone who doesn’t like or approve of my methods is of no concern to me. My feeding program benefits a lot of species including whitetail deer, axis deer, rio grande turkey, bobwhite quail, several species of dove, and so on. I’m glad for everyone to have and share their own opinion but I don’t think talk of “morals and ethics” have any place in this thread. I wouldn’t ever tell anyone that what they are doing is morally or ethically wrong, I may have an opinion but realize I’m in no position to judge another’s actions...

From your own state....
http://texnat.tamu.edu/files/2017/02/EWF-032-Supplemental-Feeding-of-White-Tailed-Deer.pdf

"Feeding nontarget species
ose who choose to supplement white-tailed deer often nd they are also feeding wildlife species other than deer. While some of these nontarget animals, such as quail or turkey may be equally desirable, others may be nuisances or even predators.
e most common nuisance animals at deer feeding stations are wild pigs, raccoons and opossums—they consume large quantities of feed. In addition to increasing the cost of feeding, these species can spread disease to other wildlife. Other nuisance animals include small mammals, such
as mice and rats, that consume and scatter feed rations and damage feeders, and may also transmit diseases or host parasites that a ect both white- tailed deer and humans."

You'd be better off planting crops for the deer to eat than feeding them at feeders. By concentrating them at feeders, you attract so-called vermin, predators, diseases, etc.... you are creating and enhancing the problem by putting out feeders for deer. It's a bad practice. There's better alternatives to getting healthy deer on your place, and lessening the raccoon problem at the same time.

I'm not anti-hunting. I let my neighbor hunt my property for the past 29 years. He plants crops on his property specifically for deer, turkey, etc... I fish as often as I can. But we don't put out food for specific animals and then shoot anything else that shows up to eat it. That's just wrong.

 

[MossRoad]

SO, to make my place unattractive to coons, I no longer can plant a garden?? NO MORE sweet corn??

You guys must be smoking what YOU are growing!!

SR

ooooooh, and I ALSO will have to bury my ponds and streams too!!

Crop predation is a completely different issue from targeted supplemental animal feeding.