Raccoons

[GaryStPaul]

Hi, folks. So I'm out on my early morning tour of the garden and see a couple young raccoons scoping out the place. Later on I hear my schmoozy pitbull, Miss Jenny, barking furiously at a raccoon sitting up on a high fence, the raccoon hissing and spitting in reply. I remember having had raccoons years ago, especially one morning coming out onto a screened porch that had a cat port: I was staggered to see the destruction and all for the sake of the contents of a cat litter box. My question: Should I be concerned about impending danger to my 90 tomato plants, some of which are starting to set fruit? (I know I need to be careful about the dog). TIA, Gary.

[Crandrew]

ok so im in the same boat. I caught too raccoons making sexy time in my backyard last week. Im afraid they are going to come back and take my tomato booty. Anybody know what happened to the other thread? It just disappeared.
I know in my area animal control said I needed to lease the traps, trap the critters and then animal control would come pick them up.

[duderubble]

I'm thinking .22 caliber air rifle.

[barkeater]

I've never heard of racoons eating tomatoes. However, if you are growing sweet corn, nothing short of a 3 strand electric fence will keep them out. In some areas they will rip pumpkins apart to get the seeds, and also tear down sunflowers for the seeds.

[delltraveller]

Most years a raccoon mama raises a litter in the neighborhood. I've had her send the youngsters in the cat door to dine on bowls of cat food and wash their hands in the water dishes. The kids have come onto the front porch and looked in the open storm door to inquire about why there isn't any cat food in the outside dishes or food in the bird feeder yet. The cats and the raccoons, adults included, have sat two feet away from each other and ignored the other. The youngsters and the cats have sniffed each other, wondering what kind of ugly cat/raccoon is this. I've never had the raccoons show any interest in the tomatoes or beans or cole crops or peppers or greens....Like many humans, their taste runs to fast food---dog food, cat food, bird food, cereal, french fries, donuts, hot dogs....and acorns. Acorns seem to be the only naturally available food they seem to prefer to junk food. Now, squirrels, the little buggers, dig in my pots, dig in the beds, bury stashes, look for stashes, and did out or damage plants in the process....

[fortyonenorth]

I've had lots of problems with destructive raccoons. They've wreaked havoc with tomatoes, peppers and winter squash. They seem to like the squash as they will consume the entire fruit. The peppers and tomatoes are more often picked and gnawed and discarded. A family of three raccoons destroyed probably 30-40 tomatoes (not counting cherries) and easily that many peppers last year. They've already started on my immature squash this year. Time to get to work on a plan. I don't like the idea of killing them, so I may live trap them and re-locate. If you're not as thin-skinned as I am, you may try this trap - baited with donuts: https://sites.google.com/site/kellys...n/raccoon-trap

[livinonfaith]

They do like figs! I've caught them many a time in my parents fig tree.

I suspect they'll eat almost anything that we will.

[JamesL]

fortyone,

That is one evil trap!

delltraveler is spot on as is evidenced by your experience as well. They don't necessarily like tomatoes, but they are also curious, and tear up your plants "testing" them out.

They don't eat them but, damage done....

[barkeater]

41N,

I used that trap 20 years ago on woodchucks and it was illegal even then in NJ. I doubt you could buy one in most states nowadays.

[GaryStPaul]

Do you think a couple of those Havahart traps would work? I have a couple of fairly large ones, back from the days when I thought I could "reduce" the squirrel presence at my place (<-- joke, haha).

[fortyonenorth]

Oh, they work alright. Bait them with a cob of sweet corn and you'll have a raccoon. Problem is, where to re-locate? It's illegal in many areas.

[darwinslair]

Originally Posted by fortyonenorth

Oh, they work alright. Bait them with a cob of sweet corn and you'll have a raccoon. Problem is, where to re-locate? It's illegal in many areas.

relocate?

I use the trap, and then lead poisoning.

Have to admit, the buggers taste really really good. Every time I do a pot roast in the slow cooker my wife looks at me suspiciously, and asks me if it is raccoon. <laughing> Not that she can tell the difference anyway.

Cut the fat out of them though, or it will be one greasy pot roast.

Tom

[carolyn137]

The raccoons never bothered with my tomatoes when I was growing so many tomato plants at the old family farm, but sweet corn, for sure, along with the skunks who also loved the sweet corn.

Here at my new place there are also raccoons but again, they have never bothered my tomato plants in the backyard. I had to ask Freda to quit putting bird seed in the one feeder on the deck railing b/c this year big momma would clean it out. All the other bird feeders are hanging high up from the metal strip that runs along the inside edge of the 2 ft overhang. And hanging high not just for the raccoons but for the Black Bears as well and only ONE such visit this year.

What's been doing death to my tomato plants this year, but not before, are the woodchucks, groundhogs to some of you.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood, etc, that childhood ditty, and try replacing woodchuck with the word groundhog and it just doesn't make it.

When I moved here I had the young lad up the road from me trapping the raccoons and relocating them and he did way up the road which dead ends at the base of Egg Mt in VT. They came back.

The folks who built this home told me that they had a major oppossum problem but I've been here since 1999 and haven't seen even one.

There is raccoon rabies here, one case confirmed at a place several miles away and up the road from me the sherriff's dept had to shoot one but the report came back negative for rabies.

So two nights ago, I'm sitting in my recliner chair, the sliding door in front of me that fronts onto the deck was open to the screen and all of a sudden I hear this sqeaking squealing noise and sure enough, momma had brought her latest kids to see what was in the feeder on the deck railing. Finding nothing the three little raccettes departed.

I'd know that noise of the wee ones anywhere.

Finally, I do wish the woodchucks would eat more of the taller grass in my backyard since Freda hasn't been able to mow/trim lately, and they do eat the grass and some of the various colored mosses that are also there, actually put there, as well as some decorative low growing Thyme.

No gun here, my brother took all of my father's guns, but then I'm more friendly to critters than my father was who would shoot anything that flew or had four feet, in season of course, but mom wouldn't cook most of it.

A herd of deer here as well, but while they will eat roses and daylilies they haven't eaten any tomatoes here, although they did at two other places where I was growing tomatoes when I moved here.

Thus the story of how Perry's Teasum became Neves Azorean Red.

[peppero]

Originally Posted by GaryStPaul

Do you think a couple of those Havahart traps would work? I have a couple of fairly large ones, back from the days when I thought I could "reduce" the squirrel presence at my place (<-- joke, haha).

those traps work very well. vanilla wafers and crackers will work as bait and i have even used sardine cans AFTER i ate the sardines. jon

[Solanum315]

Legality, ethics and morality don't always line up.