Are you smarter than the average racoon?

Uncle Doug · Mar 25, 2009

I must not be.

For several years it has been an on going battle with coons getting in the garbage. Being in a rural area we have used 55 gal drums for garbage cans for years. First it was the dogs turning over the cans. We got one of those metal wire crates and put the cans inside. The dogs could not turn them over but the coons and opossems would get in them ripping the bags up which the garbage man then would not pick up. I then cut a 3/4" piece of plywood to custom fit over the cans but the coons could lift the board. I then got new cans with fitted lids and place a center block weighing 5 # on top. The still was able to move the lid. I then bought a couple of 2x2's and slid over the top through the wire slots of the crate plus the center block. Still no luck, I am at my wits end. I am not opposed to killing the SOB's but do not intend to sit up all night waiting for them. Nor do I want to resort to poisen. Currently I have the 2x2's with a wedge between the lid in with the center block on top.

I guess my next step will be to try and trap them, of course we sold our trap in a yard sale after getting rid of our rabbits. We had thinned them out years ago but I guess they have made a come back.

Negligence · Mar 25, 2009

Don't have a problem with coons around here but a fully-enclosed box (no gaps anywhere or they will rip at the bags) with a locking lid will do the trick. Can be easily done with plywood, and plus it keeps the smell locked in.

waynokakid · Mar 25, 2009

Have you tried soaking a rag with ammonia and hanging it on your trash can? Works real good on raccoons. And some dogs and skunks.

Highbeam · Mar 25, 2009

You don't have to wait all night. They are pretty predictable in my experience and will likely come to feed early in the night each night.

If you are rural then just shoot them with a 22 like any rodent. Get them soon before they have more babies that depend on your food source.

Scooby074 · Mar 25, 2009

Rubbermaid makes a animal proof garbage can. You can see it here Amazon.com: RUBBERMAID 5F8200OLVST "ANIMAL STOPPER" REFUSE CONTAINER 32 GAL: Kitchen & Dining

I have 3 similar ones, mine are the same basic can, but i added separate locks because my cans predate the factory ones. It works well, Id post a link to the add on locks, but i cant remember their name.

Chuck52 · Mar 25, 2009

I've got a similar Rubbermaid can...same handles, but no cord to hold the locking handles in place. I have so many coons I'm sure they would get into it if they could, but they never have. Last year I trapped over 15 coons in an attempt to limit damage to my peaches...no luck. Maybe I just have better stuff than my garbage? Anyway, most coons are easy to trap. Cat food gets them for me every time. They are used to cleaning up after the cat, so cat food is a regular part of their diet. Coons are much easier to shoot in a trap! Plus you get to keep your own hours!

Chuck

Bird · Mar 25, 2009

waynokakid said:
Have you tried soaking a rag with ammonia and hanging it on your trash can? Works real good on raccoons. And some dogs and skunks.

We've never used garbage cans to set out for pickup. Instead, we've always set paper, or plastic, bags out for the garbage men. Some years ago, we had a number of stray dogs, and even cats, that would tear the bags up. Instead of soaking a rag, my wife got a little spray bottle, filled it with ammonia, and just a light squirt on each bag, and none were ever torn again.

Scooby074 · Mar 25, 2009

Chuck52 said:
I have so many coons I'm sure they would get into it if they could, but they never have.

Chuck

Maybe our coons are smarter than the average bear

They could lower the black handles on the rubbermaid cans and knock off the top before i put on the straps. Nothing like going out in the morning and seeing yourcans laying on their side with garbage spread over the deck to start your day.

Chuck52 · Mar 26, 2009

Scooby074 said:
Maybe our coons are smarter than the average bear They could lower the black handles on the rubbermaid cans and knock off the top before i put on the straps. Nothing like going out in the morning and seeing yourcans laying on their side with garbage spread over the deck to start your day.

The Canadian graduate students I've dealt with have been pretty sharp....maybe Canadian coons are too!

Chuck

daBear · Mar 26, 2009

I fixed my raccoon problem with an electric fence charger, some plastic pipe, and some copper wire. Haven't seen a coon since. I did put out a motion sprinkler before I tried the charger and woke up one night and the whole family of raccoons was taking a shower. They love water, but not electricity. Hee, hee, Me-1, raccoon-0

Tig · Mar 26, 2009

Chain the lids to the wire crate. Put the clip or lock on the wire crate down low. Hopefully it will be away from their focus.
I've watched raccoons in action. They know their way around. You have to give them a new puzzle to figure out. It's a game, think of it like the Olympics and right now you are getting the silver medal.

Tim Stuart · Mar 26, 2009

Doug, I had the same issue at my place down in Dayton on FM1409. I final built a nice dumpster out of plywood and vinal siding trimmed it to match my house. I set the dumpster just on my side of the ditch and when the garbage man came he would flip the lid up and get the garbage out. The only thing about it he would leave the lid up when he was done. The dumpster was 4'x6'

two_bit_score · Mar 26, 2009

You just need a good trap. Trap 'em and 'dispose' of them.

Thumper & Buttercup · Mar 26, 2009

The year we declared war on the Raccoons here, we cheated a bit. We took a pile of sunflower seeds, put them at a base of a tree. The took one of those lights with the sensors, but no light bulbs, this light had a inside sensor that would turn on anything that was plugged into it.

So we had a light that told us that anything was there, come running around the house with a flashlight and a shotgun, the first think the raccoon does is run up the tree. We killed 67 of them that month. They had come in and destroyed our corn crop (150'x300') in one night, now we know why.

One night we got about 11 up the tree at once.

Highbeam · Mar 26, 2009

That poor tree was full of lead after 67 kills. The neighbors must have loved you. Even distant neighbors can hear that.

Great thinking!

Thumper & Buttercup · Mar 26, 2009

Out here on our farm it's every farmer for each other, all nasty things are a target, the more we get the better for all

. One night I think I had the whole family up there, hollered for the wife to get another light, it took about 30 min to get them all.

I had a real smart one, took a couple weeks to get him, he would run, one night I go to the north and start running not turning on the light until I was about 15' from the tree, I hear something and swing the light behind me, saw the raggedest skunk going the other way, we had run right by each other in the dark, I let him get about 40' from the house then let him have it. Wife was laughing when I told her how close I came to getting it.

Redbug · Mar 26, 2009

I had a coon for a pet at one time. He was smarter, (different kind of intelligence), than the dog or cat, and with those hands could get into just about anything. His favorite game was to run inside a grocery bag. I would crumple it up and throw it on the bed. He would come blasting out, (squealing all the time), run around, go back into the bag to be tossed again, and again. He grew up and started getting mean, so I turned him loose out on a farm...errrr...the woods.

We hunt them down here, and they are pretty good eating, too. I try not to think of Rocky when I pull the trigger.

Scooby074 · Mar 26, 2009

For those that may be interested in the straps i put on my cans to keep out the raccoons heres a link

Home Hardware Product Details

Im sure you could make a similar one using a belt or a replacement luggage strap from the dollar store instead of paying $8.00 for one. They do work though.