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 !

No....unfortunately they dont hybernate....and they LOVE getting into your attic, where they can snuggle down into the insulation and stay warm.....but I can tell you what they DON'T like....BB guns!

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...

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.

Yeah. Sounds like a great idea...as long as it isn't too noisey. Our bedroom windows are only feet from the tree and my husband is a very light sleeper.

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.

Have a gadget that has an electric eye that sprays water when it is triggered. I used it to keep the cats from using my new mulch as a litter box. Works great!

Yea, Me too its called my HOSE !


But that sounds like an interesting little gadget . .

I have a 12"x 36" Have-A-Heart Trap. Relocating them is really the best way. Here's a link to the ones they recommend for raccoons.
Humane Raccoon Traps| Havahart Live Cage Traps for a Coon

I have a 18"x 36" Have-A-Heart Trap. Relocating them is really the best way. Here's a link to the ones they recommend for raccoons.
Humane Raccoon Traps| Havahart Live Cage Traps for a Coon
(right side of page)

Wow...thanks for all the great ideas everyone. For sure Wallee is never allowed out in the yard before I go out and check for them. Thankfully he is pee pad trained as well which really limits our trips out back. The only thing he really wants out for is to poo so if they are out there we have been walking...but it is so dang cold out now I hate walking at night. ...lol..weird thing is that this tree is not that big..no more than a few inches higher than the house...I am sure they are there for the cherries...I was saying to my hubby tonight, who knows, maybe they come here ever year but we never notice cause we have only had Wallee just over a year and last year he would go on his pads after dark...uggh..either way... I will keep my eye on them and see what is going on...I dont think our animal control here will rehome them unless they are in your home or garage...they would just tell me to ignore them in my tree.

I basically live in a forest so we have all kinds of woodland creatures in the backyard. The Racoons don't hibernate but when it gets really cold they will burrow into a den and sleep a lot more. When it warms up they will go out and look for food.

I feed feral cats until I can capture them and get them spayed or neutered so we once had a feeding station on my patio. We had to stop the night feeding because we had skunks, opossums, raccoons and Porcupines on my patio pigging out at night. I remember seeing one of the feral cats being quite upset at the racoons and she would swat them from behind but the coons never as much as batted an eye. Turning on the outside light does nothing.

Usually Racoons will try to camp near a food supply so make sure your garbage is well secured against attack and your neighbors, too. Anything that they would consider a food supply or a burrow needs to be disposed of.

I would never let Gracie outside without a leash where I live and I never walk her at night. I made sure she kept her potty pads for indoor use during inclement weather as well as because of our wild animal population. We have foxes, bears and the occasional bobcat around here, not to mention the owls and hawks.

Yikes. We have coyotes in the forest accross the street from us so we never go near there unless it is sunny in the summer and then, ony on leash on the sidewalk near the forest. Wallee is "never" outside without adult supervision and until those guys are no longer in that tree, no backyard use after dark. No one here has any garbage outside thank goodness as everyone knows that living near the forest brings lots of wildlife. Our yard is fence but even mr skunk was visiting at night in the summer digging grubs from our back yard. ugggh.....

How close is that tree to your house ?


Im wondering how often they are there and if you hear any odd noises around your house?


Do you think that they could be living under your house and possibly getting on your roof ?


Its definitely something you might want to check out !!

Watch this one to the end.
Raccoon eating cats' food (Original) - YouTube

The tree branches reach our roof. I think the coons could possibly live under one our neighbors sheds. I know about them eating cats..disgusting. Another reason Wallee is not allowed out back by himself. Our yard is pretty small but we also have a large pine tree there as do many of the neighbors. We personally would chop both the trees down but we only rent the house so dont think our landlord would approve. We have cement basements here and there is a tennant in the basement apartment below us so they won't get into our house unless they manage to get in through the roof. the roof was just done a couple years ago so dont think there has been any evidence of them getting in as of yet. I think I am more scared of them than they are of me though..lol

They are hanging out in the tree.it isn't a very big tree.The trunk is only about 10 inches around. I am pretty sure they are coming to eat the cherries. The branches at the top are weak and can't support their weight.

Oh, well that makes sense. If the tree still has some fruit they are going to be trying to get it, especially at night time since they are nocturnal creatures.