They can be ornary varmits. Don't mess with them mano-a-mano.

They have this nasty habit of pooping on the top step of my pool, after they wash their food there.

 

I had a small garden pond for a few years and tried to stock it with cheap goldfish to control the mosquito population explosion... ended up just feeding the fish to the local "sewer bears" (the name we called raccoons when I was a kid). I'd put in 12 fish and count them every evening and again every morning... each morning the count would be down by 1 or 2... put in another 12 and watch them disappear over the next week or so. Fed 36 fish to the sewer bears before I gave up and filled in the pond.

I now have a surveillance camera that views my back yard and I see that they come in into the yard in pairs (or 3's) every couple of nights and will try to knock down the shepherd's hook that the bird feeder hangs on. They cannot grip the powder coated metal post so they cannot shinny up it, but they will stand against it and shove it back and forth, knocking seeds out of the feeder.

I agree, don't stick around if you corner one... you may be bigger than they are, but they gots sharper teeth and claws and the strength to use them... and they know it!

 

Last week at my parent's house in Nebraska, I saw a raccoon come out of the bushes, cross a lawn and go down into the storm drain. Then a second raccoon came along. He stopped and watched me watching him for a minute or two, then three "teenagers" came up from the bushes, passed their "dad" and joined "mom" in the storm drain. I guess it was a family outing.

Here I mostly have to deal with bunnies. Generally they're happy to eat the grass and stay off the layout, but today I saw one enjoying a snack on the weedy end (it's only about 1/3 landscaped). As long as they don't eat plants I paid money for, we can co-exist.

 

We get them here quite regularly along with possums and occasional coyotes.

The local cats tend to treat the raccoons and possums as 'ugly cats' and dont bother them, so they tend to eat all the cat food, I've gotten to the stage where I'll put less food out at night so the cats eat the food before the varmits cruise by.

 

Yeah, they can be really nasty when they want to be. I've seen large raccoons fighting, and it brought to mind grizzly bears or tasmanian devils!

Also, they tend to poop repeatedly in the same spot until a large mound accumulates. Their poop can be infected with the eggs of a parasite called "raccoon worms". These eggs persist in the soil for a year or more, and can only be killed with high heat such as fire or boiling water. If inhaled or ingested, the parasite can get into the central nervous system and cause severe damage/death.

 

Also, they tend to poop repeatedly in the same spot until a large mound accumulates. Their poop can be infected with the eggs of a parasite called "raccoon worms". These eggs persist in the soil for a year or more, and can only be killed with high heat such as fire or boiling water. If inhaled or ingested, the parasite can get into the central nervous system and cause severe damage/death.

Learned of the raccoon worm on an episode of "Monsters Inside Me"

Nasty stuff!!!!

 

Had a mother raccoon have babies under our breezeway porch, what a smell! When I know they are out of there will put screening up. Will also borrow Have-a-Heart traps. Peter

 

When we lived in Pinetop Arizona we had a three legged Raccoon that would visit with her children. We had the door open and heard some noise behind the couch and found that she had come in the house. We chased her out but she returned each night so we started feeding her marshmallows. She loved them. Never caused any problems, but I know they can be dangerous.

A friend had his dog put in the hospital after an encounter with a raccoon.

 

We have lived here over 30 years. For the first five years or so I never saw a raccoon. Then one day as we arrived home at night a pine tree lit up like a Christmas tree. There were 12 raccoons in it.

Back when I used to feed the deer the raccoons would come for their share of the corn.

The deer were afraid of the raccoons.

I put an ice cream bucket on a line with a pulley so that I could control the amount of corn the raccoons got and when they got it. A times I would lean out and talk to the critters - they just went on eating.

We can go for years without seeing a raccoon but we know they are out there. The raccoons and our cat destroyed the screen as they used it to climb up to the deck. My wife hears them outside on the deck from time to time.

For the most part we leave them alone and they leave us alone but they have caused some damage to the layout (probably knocking buildings over as they rush through).

For us, we consider the wildlife to be a benefit greater than the damage they cause but everything has its limits. I recently put out poison around the indoor layouts even though it might have been our squirrels that were getting into things. Fortunately the poison is being consumed and our squirrels remain healthy.

 

They can have rabies and have torn up one of our cats. My .22 takes care of them.

 

I had what seemed like a never ending stream of them when we lived in Monterey (TN). They love cat food, and I have an outside cat. I trapped one that I bet weighed 25 lbs. They may look cute, but they are very intelligent & ornery.

IF you decide to trap & relocate, be aware they'll do their best to tear up the trap. I've seen them squeeze out of tiny holes you wouldn't think it was possible to fit through. If they can't bust out of the trap, they'll throw up everything they've eaten. If it goes longer, they'll defecate. Not sure what the logic is behind that, but every one I ever caught followed the same pattern.

If worse comes to worse, and you have to off one, make sure there's no one watching with a weak stomach. And make sure he's in a spot where the mess is easy to clean up, because there will be one.

 

It must be the time of year. I always suspected that we had raccoons in the area (yes, those asphalt naps) but by chance I happened to see one in my backyard at dusk the other day. Digging in the dirt away from the RR. Then he walked across the yard, crossed the tracks at the actual access crossing (no, he or she didn't look both ways) and then exited the yard.
Just days before we heard an almighty commotion in the middle of the night. Didn't sound like cats but more like large 4 legged mammals having a serious disagreement. Now I know it was probably raccoons. Sure, they are cute, but I give them some serious space between them and me.

 

The noise you heard, might have a fox. They have a very loud strange howl/bark when they are mating.

I occasionally here it here in Virginia.

Chuck

 

Chuck, the sound was more like a gurgling sound and what sounded like two Sumo wrestlers rolling around in a crowded living room. Foxes are long gone from this area. Interestingly enough though fox hunting was practiced up until the 1960's in the exclusive estate areas 20 miles north of here on Long Island's "gold coast". Also long gone (but found further out east) are deer, skunks, snakes, etc. But hey, there have been coyotes sighted and caught in upper Manhattan, even I believe Central Park (and you thought you only had to worry about the muggers ). If they can cross those bridges from the mainland up north I suppose they could navigate the East River bridges and hitch a ride on the Long Island Expressway. Especially if they have Easy Pass .

 

It has been a few years ago, one was having a pretty serious fight with our 70 lb dog. It ended with a 357.

 

Speaking of ornery critters, if you trap an opossum, they can hiss and spit and spin and thrash like all get out. Think Tasmanian Devil, but gray and smaller. At least that's my experience.

 

Raccoons can be really mean critters but if you become their buddy, they can be quite friendly. It started out for me 15 or more years ago when I had cats that ate outdoors and the ***** would sneak up to eat and they became bolder and bolder so I tried feeding them cookies by hand and they soon were my buddies. I have had as many as 14 ***** at a time eating cookies. Winter before last, they were infected with distemper and many died. So this year I have 2 mommies and 5 kids. The kids are the terrors, being like puppies or kittens, all curious and destructive, and are worse because they have those little hands and can climb to destroy stuff. But they are so cute sitting in my lap getting scratched. The mommies keep the babies over the winter and run them off in the spring to make room for the new recruits (that I have to socialize and domesticate). And I know about the worms and am careful not to let their noses get too close to mine and have seen some cough up worms, not good. I sure can't keep goldfish and the ***** do love a cool dip in different water features. They also tend to get me all wet after dips and climbing on me. I now just use mosquito fish and figure they are more to G type scale anyway. ***** also seem very interested in playing with one's toes and get in through my sandal holes to mess with mine. They do tend to have "toilet" spots that are usually up high and I had to cut everything back from my roof to stop having piles of poop in my roof valleys. They are trouble but they are also cute and interesting to watch and play with. I never have to worry about forgetting to feed them because they come and get me. So perhaps you would enjoy getting to know your local **** population. For some cheap dog food and some animal crackers you will have your own troop of what I call ring tailed kitty cats.

Doug

 

Only had one raccoon issue here....solved it with a 22. They are nasty suckers....

 

Mike, they are not nasty, you just have to get to know them and then you will see how interesting they are. Feed them and you will become friends.

I see in live in CA with all the terrible, stupid gun restrictions. Maybe 22 is all you can play with. In a few weeks I'll be just down the road at Knob Creek Range for the MG shoot playing with the real toys.

Doug

 

We live in the Verdugo Mountains in the foothills above the city of Burbank. We have mountain lions, bobcats, gray squirrels and possum in our yard all the time. We don't bother them and they don't bother us. After all, we live in "their" neighborhood. I walk every morning early and I am always escorted by a couple of mangy coyotes returning from their nightly hunting trips. We don't bother each other and that's fine with me. Live and let live.

 

Do NOT feed the raccoons! They might seem like they are friendly (especially when they're young), but if you ever stop feeding them once you've started, you're going to have a disaster on your hands. They will rip and tear whatever they can get a hold of...so you're not doing yourself or them any favours by feeding them.
Just ask the Japanese about raccoons. They thought they were cute because of a TV show, started importing them as pets, and they quickly got out of control as people released them (realizing they are wild animals) and they have destroyed many of their ancient temples. There's a TV documentary on them somewhere...once you've watched that you'll change your tune about them. Trap them or do what you have to do to get rid of them, but between the rabies, the fecies and all the other issues they are not something you want in the city or near your house & layout.

Keith

 

Keith, any introduced non-native species would have an impact on the ecosystem. Racoon statues are omnipresent in Japan, you see them everywhere - it almost became one of the Japanese most popular cute animals after panda bear and domestic cat. Best wishes from Tokyo, Zubi

 

http://nautil.us/blog/how-a-kids-cartoon-created-an-real_life-invasive-army

 

My sister's neighbor used to feed squirrels a lot. Then he got sick and had to spend a couple of months in a hospital and nursing home to recover, thus the squirrel's food supply was cut off while he was incapacitated. When he was finally able to come home he found his redwood picnic table had been chewed nearly in half by the squirrels looking for the corn he was no longer putting out. The table was so damaged it had to be thrown away.

I have been feeding the birds all spring and summer and early on the squirrels found the feeder and worked really hard at getting to it. I had to resort to moving it further from the deck railing so they had a harder time leaping to it. I also had to smear Vaseline on the pole. Funny to watch them leap to the pole and land but be unable to get a grip and just slowly spiral down the pole to the ground! They continued to leap from the deck railing anyway (10 ft away) but instead of trying to land and hang on, they were just bouncing off of it. I thought it funny at first, but then realized it was a deliberate move to attempt to knock the shepherd's hook pole over (it is in concrete, so fat chance of that happening, but they don't understand that). They just keep banging away at the top of the pole and caroming off to land on the ground and then climb up on the deck railing to do it again.

I felt sorry for them and began to put some seeds out just for them... but of course the birds don't know that, but since those seeds are easier for many birds to get to them at once (the feeder has only 4 perches) they eat those first before going to the feeder on the pole! So the squirrels are still not getting their "fair share".

It was fairly easy to squirrel proof the hanging feeder (since I moved and greased the pole they have not been able to get food from it), but trying to bird proof a squirrel feeder is proving much more difficult. I was working on a design for doing that when my sister told me about her neighbor's experience and I have been putting less and less bird seed out in the open for the squirrel to get to. I do worry a bit about the squirrels chewing up the wood railing on the deck, but I would love to see them try to eat my STEEL picnic table!

One of the squirrels did sort of "get back at me"... I have a vial type rain gauge that is on the top of a short post that I stuck into a section of chain-link fence near the deck so I can read and empty it. The post it is on has an LED light in the center of the pole that changes colors for a few hours after the sun goes down, the battery having been charged by the solar cell at the base of the pole. Well... I should say that it USED to light up and change colors at dusk...

One of the squirrels tried to use the solar panel as a launching platform for a leap at the pole feeder and broke it off. This left the small oval panel dangling by the wire up to the LED. This was not bad because it positioned the solar cell to catch more of the evening's sun since it was then hanging down instead of sticking out horizontal. But a month later I watched as one of the squirrels climbed up the fence and began to wrestle with the solar cell. It crawled all over it and curled its body around it and flopped around for a couple of minutes while biting at it. I then noticed something fall to the ground and bounce and the squirrel sort of froze and looked astonished at what had happened. Then it climbed down the fence and picked up the solar panel and, holding it way up high in its mouth, it scampered off to my neighbor's yard where I lost track of where it went.

And I caught it all on one of my surveillance cameras! I doubt if anyone but me could figure out what was happening since it is too far from the camera to make out much detail, but since I know what was on the fence and what is missing now I can see it well enough to know that is what happened.

Kleptomaniac squirrel!

 

I have been feeding raccoons for say like 18 years and I know what problems they can cause. But like most animals, they don't do it to be mean, they don't know what is good or bad. I also have raised 7 squirrels with bottle feeding and one I kept as a pet for a couple of years as it came up to me one day and I picked it up (being a little one at the time) and took it in and put it in a cage and it was old enough already for nuts and stuff.

The squirrels and the raccoons and possums get into the bird feeder. Some birds get into the raccoon food. I have seen bird feeders meant to keep squirrels out but never a squirrel feeder to keep birds out. Spect going to the farm store and buying corn on the cob would make it harder on most birds.

You guys that don't like *****, you might feel different if you had a cute little young raccoon come up and grab onto your leg and look up at you and you know they want some food and also some of your attention. Also kind of humorous when the mommies come out with the kids and then leave you with the kids to baby sit while they go take a break.

Doug

 

Semper Vaporo, quite a bunch of hilarious stories, thank you for telling them! Best wishes from Tokyo, Zubi