Silly Pesky Racoon Dug Up almost Every Transplant

[greenthumbomaha]

The huge raccoon returned the night before last. It started to climb up the short 2 foot wire fence with melon and a few other seedlings recently planted. Since I was at a safe distance, I opened the patio slider to take a better picture, and the racoon sprinted down the edge of the garden, climbed the wooden 6 foot privacy fence, and walked across and down to the next neighbor.


Last night just before dusk I went outside to pin down some weed fabric ahead of the storm. I was scared in my own backyard. Maybe I'll invest in a cheap panic whistle. Thoughts?


- Lisa

[dirtdigging101]

I have lived in suburban and rural areas and lots of furry creatures causing trouble, squirles to coonsso years ago i invested in 4 live traps and a .22 usually since then little damage.

[ContainerTed]

Give all wild animals wide berth when you are outside. Around here, if a raccoon, fox, skunk, opossum, rabbit, squirrel, etc break your skin, you're gonna get the series of rabies exposure shots. It's just a fact of life.

I'm not a fan of live trapping and moving the animal. Once their visit to your house is a good experience for them, you're gonna have them forever. I choose not to feel limited is how I live at my house. I do like to be outside after dark, but I cannot tolerate the thought of that being limited or of me and my family being intimidated. So I choose a 20 guage solution to those concerns.

[TomNJ]

Of course there is an alternate solution!

[ContainerTed]

I JUST LUV, LUV, LUV, LUV IT !!!!

I see you also have a deer problem. Great solution. I really like venison cooked with Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum and multicolors of sweet peppers in a stir-fry.

[TomNJ]

I thought deer would be an issue, hence the Stalag 17 set up, but my real problem turned out to be groundhogs, and at my new house it's groundhogs, crows, raccoons, and bears. I now have a wire fence but it is not very effective against these critters. A groundhog ate all 24 of my broccoli and cauliflower plants last month (and he paid for it). Last year crows dug up most of my corn seeds in three successive plantings, and either a raccoon or a bear devoured the few remaining stalks. I got five ears out of 144 stalks!

This year I covered my corn patch with a row cover and will leave it in place for three weeks to make sure the corn gets a good start. I also covered my eggplant, which was destroyed by flea beetles last year. Ah, the wilds of Appalachia!

Today I'll plant the rest of my warm crops and mow a couple of acres to finish the mulch in the whole garden. Then I am off to Scotland on Tuesday while the garden is in grow mode!

[wildcat62]

Great set up Tom. I installed solar/electric fence this year finally. Hoping the raccoon & deer issues we fight each year will subside.

[jtjmartin]

Originally Posted by TomNJ

Of course there is an alternate solution!

Haha!

I had a case in Tazewell a couple weeks ago and thought of you as I passed the sign for Floyd turnoff. I'll be sure not to get off on your exit . . . avoid the stalag and the shotgun!!!

Looks like a great setup in a beautiful area of the state.

Jeff

[greenthumbomaha]

I was given an electric fence box by someone that was moving and giving up the big backyard garden. It would probably make mowing and moving around difficult in my small yard, but I can see the value of it in a garden as large (and beautiful) as Tom has.


In winter after a snow fall I look at the tracks to see where rabbits have been. They leave a lot of fertilizer piles that I find in spring. They are easily excluded from my vegetable garden with a cheap fence that has lasted for years. I think they're interesting to watch when they come out at dusk and munch on the weeds.

If I felt the need to shoot an animal for destructive behavior, it would surely be a large dog that knocks things over and rolls around in my flower beds and also leaves large piles of fertilizer in the lawn. Of course I would never do that, but I wanted to respond with my version of the suggestions offered here.


A raccoon that can turn on me is another story.



- Lisa

[Worth1]

I wish I had level ground to put up a fence.
Shooting deer here is not an option where live.
The police wont bother me but the game warden will maybe.
I wont ask because I dont want to be on their radar.
They could take my guns and truck and lord knows what all.