'Coons in the corn

[MarkF48]

Squirrels decimated my corn last year. I've been busy this year with the pellet rifle trying to reduce the numbers which likely is a futile effort.

 

[Bird]

One of my Dad's childhood buddies worked Guernsey dairies all his life, and raised and trained coon dogs. So when I was a teenager, I've gone on a few coon hunts with him, although I didn't find it something I cared for much. But this thread reminds me that around corn fields was a popular place to hunt coons at night. Of course the coons would take off for the trees, and the dogs would track and tree them.

 

[fried1765]

I've never won any war with coons, their numbers and determination has always gets them the win. Since nobody around here traps them for fur anymore, there must be thousands hiding in the woods.

Electric fence - I set up a game camera and you could see them taking the electrical shock, but they kept going in.
AM radio on high volume - The next morning I saw 6 corncobs laying next to the radio - guess they like to listen to talk radio while they're eating.
The "red eye" predator lights - Coons aren't scared of them.
Adopted a dog and set him up next to the garden - Guess he was a lazy dog, coons still bypassed him and came through the electric fence.
Set up welded wire fence with electric fence midway up - they would find a place to dig under and I'm not about to dig a trench around the garden to bury it.

I just buy fresh corn now that I've admitted defeat.

In the past I have tried the radio plus a strobe light.
I think the strobe light was the most effective.
I drove one with her kits out of my basement in 20 minutes with that combination.

 

[Ford850]

Electric fence works best for me. You have to have good, deep, ground rods and use a very strong model. I've used the average models and have watched them take the shock and keep going too. The HD models will knock them off their feet and back on their @55.

 

[rekees4300]

Just a heads up.

These are effective, bait with dry dog food.

 

[Sigarms]

Oh heck - deleted...

Was way to easy...

 

[oosik]

The VERY LAST year we planted corn I was rudely awoken about 2AM. Grabbed the Makita and out I went. There was a gigantic fight going on in the corn patch. Coons, deer, squirrels & skunks. For some reasons the badgers weren't invited.

I gave up. Now I buy corn at a local fresh foods market.

 

[snymat68]

I planted a bunch of pumpkins around mine this year. I read the perimeter of prickly vines deters the critters. We'll see.

 

[Ford850]

I planted a bunch of pumpkins around mine this year. I read the perimeter of prickly vines deters the critters. We'll see.

I don't know about that. This year they dug out many of my melon plants, stomping down the vines too. They also tore down a lot of raspberry canes stripping them bare of fruit.

 

[oosik]

Apples. Different food group - same idea. We always figured half the crop goes to the wildlife & hornets/wasps - half for us. However - the coons had different ideas. The adults could not climb onto the most outer branches where the choice apples hung. They sat on the ground, under the tree, encouraged the young to go the distance.

Nothing funnier than a tiny coon - upside down - way out a small limb - trying to pull apples off so they could fall to the ground.