What animal is pooping on my stuff???

[Bob_Skurka]

Something is pooping all over my property!!!

The lovely Mrs_Bob suspects coyote, I suspect either wild cats or some of the racoons that roam the area.

But we are finding piles of poop everywhere this summer. The poop has a lot of berries in it, and is generally black. About the amount a small dog might produce. But we find it everywhere. Around the pool. On the cement stairs by the pool house. On the limestone steps that go down the hill. On my daughter's play fort.

I dismiss the entire concept of the coyotes as the culprit becasue the play fort is 2 stories tall and there is poop on both levels of the fort. I don't see or smell any skunks. There are feral cats and lots of racoons. The piles are the size of a chipmonk, so I think it is safe to say they are not the culprits. I'm not sure there are other native creatures around that could get onto and into the place where we find this stuff that are large enough to produce it. But we never had a problem until this summer. And this summer it is everywhere!!!

Of course, it might be just the reason I need to justify a night scope?

 

[daedong]

Bob,
Sit up all night and get them with a pea shooter or sling shoot.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Vin, if I knew what animal it was, I would stay up all night to get them.

But I need help with identifying the offending creature first! I'm sure down there in upsidedown land, it would be a roo or a woloby or some other creature with a pouch that poops on your deck. But up here, where it is open season on crapping culprits, the first order of business is to figure out what it is. Once I know, the gun safety will be clicked "off" for sure.

 

[DannyD]

You have raccoons, none of the other animals you mentioned eat berries, and wild cats would be a predator to the coons.

We used to have a couple that were caught behind some bushes at my brothers. Sounds like what they left also.

 

[daedong]

Bob,
Why a shoot gun fixs all, Just can't eat it /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[Bob_Skurka]

Danny . . . I've never had this problem before. But then again my Akitas used to kill 2 or 3 each year. We have a new Akita and she's not allowed to play with the wildlife. Do you think we are having a population explosion that is causing them to drop their berry laden crap all over my stuff?

I've been here nearly 10 years and this is the first year we are having a problem. It has been 2 years that we are without a pair of agressive dogs that hunted the masked critters. Could there be a connection to the lack of my predator pets and the growth of the poop problem?

 

[DannyD]

May not be in your immediate area. What kind of building/housing projects are going on in the area? Coons travel miles, believe me, I have chased coon dogs all night, in a very large circle, on one coon. My guess is that their habitat has been destoryed, and they have moved to the next best thing, your place. Call animal control, they will trap them, and put them out in an area more suited to them and better for you also. They will also check them for disease before doing this. I would not recommend an untrained person doing this, if they are sick, and bite you, it could be worse for you than them.

They also may have young around, so if you can, look for trails. Besides being trouble with the feces, they are not going to hurt you unless you go at them.

If it were at my place, I would feed them and be glad to have them around. We used to have deer all the time, till someone tore up the woods to put in a house. I am going to put out salt again this winter in hopes of getting them back around here. My chestnuts are about to come in, and that usually helps too.

I dont want sick animals around, but I also see no need to kill them if there are other means to rid myself of them, and there are.

 

[thcri]

Racoons. Get your self a live trap. My dad had a live trap at his lake property. It worked great. Then dad would try to teach them to swim. To this date not one has learned how to swim in a live trap.

murph

 

[DannyD]

/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

takes a big guy to post such a big bad post like this.

 

[PineRidge]

Bob if it is raccoons and you are going to live trap them be extremely careful. Raccoons can and do carry rabies.