Raccoon War

[4570Man]

The problem with the bucket trap is that it isn't very forgiving; how would you feel if your dog accidently got into it? At least you can release nontarget animals from a foothold trap.

.

Not really. Anything caught in my foothold trap gets shot.

 

[goeduck]

We have coyotes, therefore no rabbits, coons, fox, and hardly any pheasants.
I would rather NOT feed the d*#m coyotes anything but lead.
And Gators??? I think I'd prefer the coons!

From what I read I would MUCH prefer coons over gators as the lesser of two evils. Glad not to be in gator country.

Wolverines have moved into our state, now there is an animal to worry about. Anything that a grizzly has to respect is something to think twice about. They are not in in the area of any of my properties but it would not surprise me that they get introduced.

 

[/pine]

From what I read I would MUCH prefer coons over gators as the lesser of two evils. Glad not to be in gator country.

since it's not a life or death thread (except for unfortunate coons...!)...I will relate a personal, true experience...

My property in FL is in one of the most densely populated in the state...and even though it is within a quarter mile from the Gulf of Mexico...it is in an out of the mainstream traffic location ( no through traffic lanes within over half a mile) it is within a couple hundred feet of a natural spring that has historical significance for native tribes that used the same area over many centuries...

At any rate...one summer while I was developing the property in GA...I got a letter from the power company stating that they could/would not read my meter because there was a gator living under the corner of the house and it was threatening to the meter reader...
I called my neighbor and he had the state guys come in and capture and remove a 5' gator...
Later that fall when I was back down there and investigating...there was a huge wallow pit under that corner of the house and there where dozens and dozens of cat, possum, coon etc. skulls scattered around the pit...investigating, I learned that alligators regurgitate skulls of larger prey...

 

[CajunRider]

From what I read I would MUCH prefer coons over gators as the lesser of two evils. Glad not to be in gator country.

Wolverines have moved into our state, now there is an animal to worry about. Anything that a grizzly has to respect is something to think twice about. They are not in in the area of any of my properties but it would not surprise me that they get introduced.

The gators stay in my pond but are generally shy and scared of people until they get to be around 8 ft or so. That's when they will be taken care of legally. Other than that, they stay out of the way and are harmless to me. Now when I have grandchildren, I will be more aggressive in controlling the gators. The coons are nasty. They leave scats on my deck and porch and tore apart my trash bags.

 

[NoTrespassing]

Our 100 lb. Lab died a year ago. He kept the wild animal situation under control. But since then the critters have learned he's gone and they are doing a happy dance. Have seriously thought about getting a German Shepherd but neighbor has chickens.

Our neighbor has chickens too. Several years ago we put in an invisible fence and both dogs have collars. It's worked great for us. Burying it in the woods was the hardest part but it was well worth it. I'd like to expand it someday. Sorry for going a little off topic but that's how we keep the critters at bay.

Kevin

 

[rekees4300]

I never said tbat you did; yet do you really think tbat it was OK to dump your problems on someone else? Several others agreed with me, and I was not the only one who made that comment.

Sorry for the flippant comment re Maine. No it's not OK to dump my problems on someone else. Agree with you and the others so decided to stop relocating. :thumbsup:

 

[dmccarty]

The gators stay in my pond but are generally shy and scared of people until they get to be around 8 ft or so. That's when they will be taken care of legally. Other than that, they stay out of the way and are harmless to me. Now when I have grandchildren, I will be more aggressive in controlling the gators. The coons are nasty. They leave scats on my deck and porch and tore apart my trash bags.

Yep, much rather have gators than coons. Never had to clean up a pool full of gator scat. As a kid, I used to swim in a lake that had large gators but we never had a problem. The only time I got a bit nervous was one evening a thunderstorm came in and blew our boat off the beach so we had to go swimming to get the boat back. Twas getting a bit dark so not a time to be swimming.

Later,
Dan

 

[PhysAssist]

Quote Originally Posted by CajunRider
The gators stay in my pond but are generally shy and scared of people until they get to be around 8 ft or so. That's when they will be taken care of legally. Other than that, they stay out of the way and are harmless to me. Now when I have grandchildren, I will be more aggressive in controlling the gators. The coons are nasty. They leave scats on my deck and porch and tore apart my trash bags.

Yep, much rather have gators than coons. Never had to clean up a pool full of gator scat. As a kid, I used to swim in a lake that had large gators but we never had a problem. The only time I got a bit nervous was one evening a thunderstorm came in and blew our boat off the beach so we had to go swimming to get the boat back. Twas getting a bit dark so not a time to be swimming.

Later,
Dan

I would tend to agree- I'd love some gators in my pond to keep the heron and kingfisher at bay a little.

Never had any [living in NYS], but my understanding is that as long as you don't feed them, they're pretty much good neighbors- until [as CR said] they get mature- then they're more terror-torial and protective of their young too...

 

[CajunRider]

Quote Originally Posted by CajunRider
The gators stay in my pond but are generally shy and scared of people until they get to be around 8 ft or so. That's when they will be taken care of legally. Other than that, they stay out of the way and are harmless to me. Now when I have grandchildren, I will be more aggressive in controlling the gators. The coons are nasty. They leave scats on my deck and porch and tore apart my trash bags.



I would tend to agree- I'd love some gators in my pond to keep the heron and kingfisher at bay a little.

Never had any [living in NYS], but my understanding is that as long as you don't feed them, they're pretty much good neighbors- until [as CR said] they get mature- then they're more terror-torial and protective of their young too...

Down here, I'm most appreciative of them keeping the cormorants, nutrias, and turtles away from my pond. Watching a gator eating a turtle is quite something.

 

[PhysAssist]

Down here, I'm most appreciative of them keeping the cormorants, nutrias, and turtles away from my pond. Watching a gator eating a turtle is quite something.

Crunch, crunch, crunch- I'm sure.

That would save me from having to relocate the occasional snapping turtles that show up from our pond to to the Erie Canal.

...and our 2 dogs are 60-70# mixed breed rescues, so it'd have to be a pretty big gator to want to eat them.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I'd have used rocks if necessary.

That's a funny image in my mind. :thumbsup:

Like John Candy in Great Outdoors.

 

[PhysAssist]

That's a funny image in my mind. :thumbsup:

Like John Candy in Great Outdoors.

It should be funny- It would have been hilarious because I grew up left-handed at a time when you couldn't find a baseball glove for a lefty hardly anywhere- so I was always using right-handed gloves, and spent almost as much time throwing righty as lefty- as a result, I'm not a [very good] great shot with either arm- but I can throw a little with both.

If it had come down to that, I guess I'd have grabbed a raccoon-sized rock to throw down at it using both hands from overhead...

 

[CADplans]

The problem with the bucket trap is that it isn't very forgiving; how would you feel if your dog accidently got into it? t.

Not really. Anything caught in my foothold trap gets shot.

A dog or cat can not get caught in this trap,, but,, a coon can not resist it,,

Amazon.com: Duke DP Coon Trap: DUKE PECAN: Sports & Outdoors

I have been protecting my chickens with this type trap for close to a decade,,
Dry cat food will get most,, some ornery ones need tuna in oil,,

Load the trap, put a tomato soup can over it,, the trap is even rainproof,,

 

[Fuddy1952]

Hoping folks will enjoy this story.
About 20 years ago my in-laws had a Tom cat named "Meece". A solid gray cat, about medium sized...not real friendly. I would pet him, he was muscular, long fangs...he didn't like to be held for long.
He controlled everything on their property including raccoons! No small feat for a housecat. It was amazing to see him in action. He disposed of several, including opossums, snakes, ground hogs, etc.
One day he was eating dinner on their back porch and along comes a neighbors Pit Bull. This I had to see...I went around the house in time to see the Pit going for Meece's food. Meece was like seeing fan blades on high...the dog fell back...nose and face bleeding.
Dog limps home...then phone rings...wife answers..."your cat just tore up my dog!"
Wife says, "your dog was on our porch eating our cats food!". Neighbor hangs up. If I was the neighbor I would have been too embarrassed to call!

 

[goeduck]

Now there is a cat worth having.

 

[nickmags]

AMEN. Lost too many ears of sweet corn and too many laying' hens to the peckerwoods to even consider letting' them carry on their mischief on some poor unsuspecting neighbor by relocating.

The FIRST thing EVERYONE should learn about a "Raccoon War" is,

YOU DO NOT TAKE PRISIONEERS!!!

SR

 

[Fuddy1952]

We had a cat here "Reggie". Gray striped Tom. He was almost like Meece in temperament , lived to be 21. All our neighbors are great friends...but couldn't attend Reggie's burial...too upsetting. He kept everything in order...he just didn't know what not to kill! We always knew where he was by the birds squawking.
In Fall when mice started coming in house he kept them out.
A good cat is worth a lot.