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We've been ousted from our yard by 2 racoons Oh boy. I really hate this time of year when it is dark early and so cold. In the past 3 weeks we have had 2 racoons decide to invade our ornamental cherry tree which is right over our patio EVERY NIGHT! I first noticed them when I was doing the routine sweep of the yard with the flashlight before letting Wallee out. I shine the light on them and they just stare at me like "what?". Me being such a fraidy cat of any critters at all have to then bundle Wallee up and head up the street for a walk to get that last poo in. Tonight I tried taking Wallee out before it got dark but of course he wouldn't cooperate and go then...Nope. So I take him back in, eat my dinner and then check out the now dark backyard...Who is staring into my flashlight? ROCKY FREAKIN RACOON...so..needless to say, out into the biting wind we go again for our nighty walk...uggggh....do these guys hybernate for the winter at all????It's going to be a long one if they don't. :snowman4: |
I remember when racoons where in my moms neighborhood. She had cat food on her porch and of coarse they decided it looked tasty enough to come help themselves. ONe day when I was 9 months pregnant and I went to walk to the front door to leave and meet my mom in her car and one was standing on its hind legs straight up staring right into the house and right in at me. I swear it seemed at least 3 feet tall. I froze in my tracks. It casually walked away but I just stood there frozen and freaked out. |
Cindy are they always in the tree ? Try hanging empty cans or anything that rattles/clanks when the limbs shake from the tree to try and scare them off. Maybe wind chimes ! |
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Yes Dawn..they are aways in the same tree...I think they are eating the cherries out of the tree...I am going to try to hang something...will see if I have a wind chime I can put up there...They are big guys...bigger than Wallee for sure...ugggh... |
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We use to have a grape vine until the coons took over so we chopped it down. I would put up several noisy things, the better chance you have of scarring them off. |
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Wind chimes are very soothing to me so I wouldn't mind it at all. Good Luck ! :D |
What if you string fishing wire all up in there? It works for birds down the shore. Or, even better, maybe try shining a flood light up into the tree. They have flood lights on stakes for the ground. I don't think they would like it if it was lit up. Hopefully it wouldn't keep you up. Maybe you could put the lights on timers so once you go to bed they go off. You just don't want them there when you want to go out right? I agree the noise makers might help also. In addition, I saw trash bags with racoon repellant at Sam's club. Maybe try looking for racoon repellant if there is such a thing. |
poor wallee and you, be safe |
If none of the above work, you could live trap them and relocate them....although more might wander in. Poor Wallee...I can't blame him for not wanting to go out there. Coons could easily kill a yorkie. |
Hehehe..I don't think Wallee would be afraid...he thinks he is one tough guy..barking at everything including falling snowflakes. It's me...his mommy who is afraid of them. When I was a teen I was camping at my parents campsite and being a teenager I had my own tent. Well, someone in the site next to my tent through some corn cobs. The coons wanted the cobs and the guys dog was bothering them...I have never heard such growling as those coons did...scared the crap out of me...been nervous of them ever since..especially with a small dog..who knows what would happen if he started trying to go after them or started his barking...uggh..could get ugly.I have lived in this house 7 years and this is the first year they have been here eating the cherries from the tree...ugggh...at least this is the first I noticed them, but then hey wait...I didn't have a dog who needed to go outside for a poop after dark either..:rolleyes: |
I hope you can find a way to get rid of them from your yard. They can carry diseases that can be transmitted through their feces and urine to people or pets. Maybe live traps would be the answer. Here's a link about the diseases they carry... one is the roundworm they carry which is different than round worm in dogs. I sure hope you can figure a way to get them to leave. Here's a link: Diseases from raccoons |
Yes.. with coons you need to be sure that Wallee gets a lepto vac. Hopefully you can get them to leave, that would be horrible if Wallee took off after them. When I was a teenager we had a raccoon as a pet at the campgrounds we spent our summers at. Got him from a group of gypsy's who was in town for the fair, I named him Cootter. He would sit on my head or on my back when I was swimming in the lake. He was so sweet and ornery as heck. Got out of his cage one night and let our parakeet loose that was in its cage on the pic nic table. It was nice to have him for the short time we did and get to have that experience with him while we had the chance. When summer ended we ended up rehoming him with a friend who build him an enclosure around a huge tree in his yard. He lived with him until he was about 12 yrs old. |
You can call Animal Control to come catch them, but I doubt they will come at night. Our animal control rented us a humane trap to use on pesky feral cats that were in our yard. Yours might do the same for the 'coons. The rent/deposit was returned when we returned the trap. I like the idea of a spotlight shining on the tree. Racoons are very, very smart and could probably figure their way around wires or string in the tree. |
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