Possum or racoon

[Lovetodream88]

We have some kind of nightly visitor. Callie has been tracking something across the yard mostly at night and she is not a barker at all but I will occasionally hear her barking and sense she doesn't bark much I throw open the back door and run outside in my slippers ready to take on whatever it is and make sure its not messing with my baby but will see nothing and will hear nothing. Well when Callie went out this morning I was watching her and I noticed something on the hill in our back yard well my grandpa went and got it and brought it to the door and it was a plastic peanut butter jar we had put in the recycling bin next to the door and it had big pieces missing. I know Callie didnt do it because she cant reach into the recycling bin, theres no way she could have torn into that thing because we let her play with the 2 little bottles and she has never torn into them, plus I would think she would have peanut butter in her beard or some where on her face, and theres no way she could have gotten her mouth around that thing. I imagine we have a possum or a racoon and I was wondering if anyone knew of a way to keep these things from coming in the yard?

[concretegurl]

Either or be careful, possum may run away chances are a raccoon will not.

[dawn27]

You could bate trap them and release them in a wooded area away form your home. Call the game warden for more advise.

Be careful ...

[yorkieusa]

The recycling receptacle should be sealed. Then it won't be attracting wild animals.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by concretegurl

Either or be careful, possum may run away chances are a raccoon will not.

My mom says more then likely it is a possum because apparently there have been a few occasionally over the years and we saw one at the front of the neighborhood when we were driving home the other night.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by yorkieusa

The recycling receptacle should be sealed. Then it won't be attracting wild animals.

We use the blue bins the recycle people require us to use and I'm not sure how we would seal them sense there is no lid.

[chattiesmom]

Please be very careful with Callie. I would not let her outside at night unsupervised. I have had some very interesting experiences with a very special Raccoon named Annie. Although our Annie absolutely loved the Yorkies, I have no doubt that she could and would rip a strange dog to shreds if she felt threatened. They can be very aggressive and will fight.

And although a possum would probably try to escape, if cornered they may opt to fight rather than "play possum". They are mean nasty critters and a bite could cause a serious infection.

I don't have a lot of suggestions about how to get them to leave other than to remove food sources - both are opportunistic and very adaptable to living around humans. Good luck!

[concretegurl]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

We use the blue bins the recycle people require us to use and I'm not sure how we would seal them sense there is no lid.

We had the green bins like that here...our stacked but it was so senseless because the top one was the paper container. Thankfully so many people complained the following year we got 60 gallon double sided trash can looking bins with wheels! YAY us!

However in the mean time-you have to wash the heck out of everything-not just rinse because the scent won't be gone, and for plastic recycling consider even after it's been rinsed putting it in a bag or waiting until the morning of pick up to put it out doors.

Also get a can and put marbles in it-the cheapest way to scare the snot out of a night invading rodent-just be sure you don't get too close if you scare a skunk, if so:

How to get skunk smell off dog...
1 quart hydrogen peroxide ~3% solution
1 cup baking soda
3 tbs lemon juice (watch around eyes it will burn)

first run with is make a bath and add


1 good squirt of DAWN dish soap
once a day for three days

[schanls]

Whatever it is be careful with your baby. We had a possum (who everyone said would play dead or run away) that didn't - the possum cornered my mini schnauzer and I had to protect him with a broom. My schnauzer is about 18 pounds and now with Molly here (she is 7 pounds) I don't let either one of them go out at night without me.

[BabyGirl Rosie]

Oh that is scary! My thoughts are to be worried about rabies too. Right now in my area we are having a problem with rabies. I think it has only been skunks but who knows!!

[Maxman]

I have a family of 4 raccoons that always seem to want to come in my back yard and tear my garbage apart.I started putting bungee cords on the lids so they can't get in,so far,it has worked!But,let me just say,they are vicious and not afraid of anything,I have gone outside and yelled,and even threw things at them,but they just look at me and go back to eating the garbage!If I keep at it,they eventually leave,but not until they climb into the trees and make some really weird noises!Luckily,the bungee cord thing works,although,they never go into my recycling can,it's usually only the cans with the garbage in it.Raccoons are vicious and i have been told,very rabid,they will tear a yorkie to shreds,so be careful!I don't know much about possums,but,their probably not much better.I just saw an ad for this on tv,I was thinking about giving it a try....Save 20% Bell+Howell Solar Animal Repel

[chattiesmom]

One of the biggest problems in deterring raccoons is that they are so very intelligent. Lights, sounds, etc. may scare them off (well scatter them) for a while, but won't phase them once these things become a "normal" part of their environment. From sharing our home with Annie for almost 10 months what I have learned is that CHANGE unsettles them. In the home environment, moved furniture, new visitors, or a change in routine was distressful to Annie. Also, if you "piss one off" they get really mean and aggressive and won't hesitate to attack.

Although any mammal can be a carrier of rabies, skunks, possums, and raccoons seem to get the worst end of that deal. I would be much more afraid of the disease and infection from a simple bite.

To deter them, try doing different things or "attacking" them from different directions -- switch it up - try the water hose one day, a can of rocks lobbed in their direction another. Keep them unsettled and wondering what will happen next. Have some fun with it


I don't want to give the opinion that I consider myself a Raccoon expert or a know-it-all. My comments are based on first hand experience from having closely observed raccoons both in the wild and from having raised a little orphan, Annie, who shared our home for almost a year.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by Maxman

I have a family of 4 raccoons that always seem to want to come in my back yard and tear my garbage apart.I started putting bungee cords on the lids so they can't get in,so far,it has worked!But,let me just say,they are vicious and not afraid of anything,I have gone outside and yelled,and even threw things at them,but they just look at me and go back to eating the garbage!If I keep at it,they eventually leave,but not until they climb into the trees and make some really weird noises!Luckily,the bungee cord thing works,although,they never go into my recycling can,it's usually only the cans with the garbage in it.Raccoons are vicious and i have been told,very rabid,they will tear a yorkie to shreds,so be careful!I don't know much about possums,but,their probably not much better.I just saw an ad for this on tv,I was thinking about giving it a try....Save 20% Bell+Howell Solar Animal Repel

I saw this too but didnt know if it would hurt Callies ears

[yorkietalkjilly]

I think I would Animal Control or as the other poster said, the game warden, for advice on what to do. Wild animals can be dangerous to your dog and carry diseases, breed and bring the whole family back nightly and breed and so on.

[lisaly]

Originally Posted by chattiesmom

One of the biggest problems in deterring raccoons is that they are so very intelligent. Lights, sounds, etc. may scare them off (well scatter them) for a while, but won't phase them once these things become a "normal" part of their environment. From sharing our home with Annie for almost 10 months what I have learned is that CHANGE unsettles them. In the home environment, moved furniture, new visitors, or a change in routine was distressful to Annie. Also, if you "piss one off" they get really mean and aggressive and won't hesitate to attack.

Although any mammal can be a carrier of rabies, skunks, possums, and raccoons seem to get the worst end of that deal. I would be much more afraid of the disease and infection from a simple bite.

To deter them, try doing different things or "attacking" them from different directions -- switch it up - try the water hose one day, a can of rocks lobbed in their direction another. Keep them unsettled and wondering what will happen next. Have some fun with it


I don't want to give the opinion that I consider myself a Raccoon expert or a know-it-all. My comments are based on first hand experience from having closely observed raccoons both in the wild and from having raised a little orphan, Annie, who shared our home for almost a year.

I don't know that much about raccoons' behavior, but I have a little experience with a family of them living in my fireplace for at least a couple of months that I know of. A mother must have had her babies in my fireplace, and on one spring day when it was pouring out, I saw the mother and three babies looking out of my glass fireplace doors. They were probably getting wet on the ledge where they normally were. I never knew they were there before this day, and my girls had shown no indication that they knew about them, either. It terrified me to have them there, but I put a lock on the doors to make sure they couldn't get into my home. There were also metal screen doors on the fireplace. I have a photo of the four of them that I took the first day that I saw them. It's strange that my dogs didn't react to them, even as they got older and they ran around playing in the fireplace. I looked into trying to get them to leave, but everything involved humanely trapping the mother first. I was too afraid that something would happen to the babies without the mother, and couldn't do it. Obviously, I did everything to barricade them in with a lock and other barriers to make sure they couldn't get into our home or close to our babies, and I kept them away from that room. Still, it was scary and upsetting, although I also became a bit attached to the family. Mostly they came out at night and stayed on the ledge during the day. They ran whenever I came downstairs, but once they realized that nothing was going to happen to them, the babies played and ran around a lot inside the fireplace. I thought there was a way for them to get out, and I was leaving peanut butter on the outside of the fireplace for them, but it seemed untouched. I went to a garden center, and I bought male urine since they said a female wouldn't want to get pregnant again and it would make her leave. We discovered once they were gone that we had the area blocked where you sweep the ashes, and that's how we were expecting them to get out. The day before they left, I went outside to get the paper and saw one of the babies on the top of the chimney. Apparently, they were now big enough to now climb. The mom got her baby down, and I still had all four with me. The next day, my best friend came over, and she absolutely loved raccoons. She kept calling for them to come down from the ledge and kept looking at them on the ledge. As warm and loving as her voice sounded, I am sure they were afraid of her. I think she was the only person who had come into the house to go that close to them. I didn't realize it at the time, but it was only the next night after coming home from graduation of my high school students that I realized I didn't hear the raccoons. I'm sure they no longer felt secure in their home, and they must have all climbed out of the chimney. I didn't see them anywhere on our property, but there is enough wooded area that they could have stayed in. There were no tracks of them anywhere. I think chattiesmom is right about changing things for the raccoons, for I am sure that's what caused my family of raccoons to leave my home. I now have a cap on my chimney to prevent this from happening again.