Raccoon infestation

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dbtothayard
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Raccoon infestation

Post by dbtothayard » September 12th, 2018, 2:39 am

Well, it started with one big fat raccoon, maybe a year ago. Soon enough, I would come to discover that it wasn't the biggest, baddest raccoon around, it was just full of little raccoons about to hatch. Couple months ago, I hear the backyard camera alert and go to check out the video...SIX raccoons, a mother and 5 little ones sauntering across my deck. So every few nights I get another alert and I decide the best course of action is to harass them. Works great. For that night. Next, I doused the fenceposts and rails in cayenne pepper. Douse the hole under the deck where they go in sometimes. Douse the lantana where they drink water from its pan. That night, camera alert, they're out there drinking that pepper water like it was iced water. These are some hard raccoons, y'all. Los Angeles street raccoons raised in the wash of the LA River and ready to rumble. Tonight, I look out there, and I think now they've started to get scared of my voice, knowing that brooms and bottles are about to come out. I shined the flashlight and they all scattered. FIVE now medium sized raccoons fighting each other for space on the tree they're trying to escape up, like some kind of outdoor clown car. We now have a flea infestation in the back yard. I'm not naming any names, but I think we all know where that started. Bug man coming tomorrow. So the question I gotta ask is, how the heck do I handle this? I'm not paying $150+/head to have these things trapped. And I'm in the city, so there won't be any shooting (although I did read about a clear paintball/gun designed for critters that sounds tempting). Any tips? Critter Ridder? Exorcism? Any advice appreciated, this is completely out of hand.

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andy10917
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Re: Raccoon infestation

Post by andy10917 » September 12th, 2018, 8:03 am

I have a similar problem with deer - they are so accustomed to humans that they arrive a dozen at a time and stare at me when I pull the car in after dark. I have a low-power air rifle and shoot them in the rear-end (no injury, but certainly gets their attention) and if I do it for a few nights they'll move to another yard for a while.

You have to figure out what is in your yard that draws them to it. Are they digging for grubs? Kill the grubs. Are they in the garbage? Deal with the garbage. There is something that's the draw for them - find it.

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turf_toes
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Re: Raccoon infestation

Post by turf_toes » September 12th, 2018, 8:40 am

andy10917 wrote:
September 12th, 2018, 8:03 am
I have a similar problem with deer - they are so accustomed to humans that they arrive a dozen at a time and stare at me when I pull the car in after dark. I have a low-power air rifle and shoot them in the rear-end (no injury, but certainly gets their attention) and if I do it for a few nights they'll move to another yard for a while.

You have to figure out what is in your yard that draws them to it. Are they digging for grubs? Kill the grubs. Are they in the garbage? Deal with the garbage. There is something that's the draw for them - find it.
Yeah. You can’t use an air rifle/B.B. gun in NJ. The law here makes no distinction between discharging a B.B. gun in a residential area and an actual rifle or handgun.

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andy10917
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Re: Raccoon infestation

Post by andy10917 » September 12th, 2018, 9:58 am

I get it. Here where things get more spread-out for homes, even the DEC guys cut us some slack. A neighbor had young children and a small dog and had coyotes walking right up to the back door. They called the DEC, and got a guy that said "you know how to take care of this, don't you?".

ENVY23
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Re: Raccoon infestation

Post by ENVY23 » September 12th, 2018, 10:38 am

I agree with Andy, you have to identify and eliminate the reason they want to hang out at your house. I have a skunk that doesn't really hang around my house in particular, he browses around all the houses in the neighborhood. I've had good luck with Liquid Fence, you just have to make sure to re-apply after it rains. I bought a dedicated 2gal pump sprayer so I could keep some mixed up and on hand.


dbtothayard
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Re: Raccoon infestation

Post by dbtothayard » September 12th, 2018, 2:10 pm

As far as I can tell, the draw to our yard is that they like playing in it haha. Trash isn't accessible, there's no fruit, no real water source. I couldn't tell you if there's grubs but I doubt it. On most days, the soil is very dry and hard unless it's freshly sprinklered. The fence is lined with trees on one side, I don't know what type of tree it is but the brush provides concealment while still being easy to climb through, kind of like bamboo. Maybe they just like having that place to hide/rest while going through all the neighbor's yards.

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