# Massive Raccoon Problems



## knittingmomma

My parents have been struggling with raccoons since last summer. They have torn open the soffits of their home in several places (initially it was one location now as the evictions fail they are tearing open more) and getting into the atic. Between a pest control person and my father they have trapped 10 raccoons, 1 opossom and a skunk (that was messy).

My father is wanting to put pans of amonia soaked rags up in the atic - this screams bad idea to me. They are also trying music and bright lights.

I worry he is going to get bitten and I hate seeing all these animals destroyed and clearly it's not working.

Any thoughts out there. This has become a very expensive proccess in animal life, property disctruction, and mental anguish. Any help would be appreciated. They live in the suburbs of Chicago if that is any help.


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## 4just1don

I am not aware of "ONE" redeeming value of a raccoon. You have very little choice than to 'eliminate' all of them and keep after them because they repopulate quickly. Go outside just after its good and dark with a BIG flashlight/spotlight. and see how many eyes are looking back at you,look thru the trees, the grass, the buildings,everywhere. friend said he did that last week and was greeted by a "sea" of eyes looking back at him. You CAN live trap them in time, using honey or marshmellows as bait. Hunting them at night is faster. A small sweet corn patch in summer will attact them,,,then I 'heard' of a solution, but never tried it. Coke a cola in a shallow pan,,,and mixed with golden maldrin fly bait,,maybe a cupful. IF they get more than 10 feet from pan before all four are in the air,,,mix a bit more fly bait. The ONLY good one is a dead one,,,thats a fact!!(they carry a HOST of diseases,children have been known to DIE from that!!)(if in doubt,google it)

When they rip siding and enter homes and sheds,its time they go,they can do ALOT of damage,,,ever see insulation after those fat hogs waller thru it?? And there droppings are DEADLY,,,have I mentioned that yet??


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## knittingmomma

He (my father) is exterminating them. It's illegal to relocate them. It's probably illegal to kill them and it is surely illegal to be out in the suburbs hunting them in the backyard.

He's looking for more ideas - b/c he keeps killing them and is not seeing an end.


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## Leah Frances

I love nature and I go out of my way to preserve and protect it until it crosses certain lines. Spiders in the house - AOK! Spiders in the shower at the same time as me - going to get washed down the drain. Mosquitos are fine with me until they land on my skin. Rabbits cute and fuzzy until they eat all my vegetables. 

Sure, raccoon genocide seems wrong at a gut level. But, it is also inhumane to fight a long slow war of attrition that will inflict misery and terror on both sides.

Raccoons are smart. Unless ALL of the multiple cohorts are destroyed - they will continue to try and get back into your parents house.

Since the VALUE of your parents home is being threatened I would suggest bringing in an expert to deal with the problem once and for all.


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## Scuba_Dave

I couldn't find anything stating its illegal to kill a raccoon (except Canada)
Canada (some areas?) you can't trap them (jaw trap that will kill)
In many (most?) places it is illegal to trap them & then release them anywhere but on the same property where they were trapped

You need to seal every entrance with wire
One thought is to electrify this wire -not recommended
An electrican friend did this around his birdfeeder w/switch
Raccoon stepped on the metal matt & started to shovel food into his mouth. He flipped the switch - raccoon froze. He cursed - it wasn't working...shut the switch off......and the raccoon keeled over

Raccoons have never bothered our house or garbage
Possibly due to cat litter in the trash & now diapers
The only time I hade 4 raccoons (3 babies) on the back patio is when I was cooking lobster outside. They smelled it & knocked the top off the pot - empty.
I left the empty shells down by the stream well away from the house. Not a shred of shell was left the next day - rocks were overturned as they looked for more
One died trapped in the fence, I see the others foorprints - but have not seen them


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## 47_47

My wife likes to hang bird feeders on a rail under our back proch. The raccoons would get to, empty and destroy the feeders. I stripped back 10' of 14-2 romex and stapled the wires 5" apart. At night plug it in. After 2 zaps, no more raccoons.


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## Gary in WA

Had a mother with three babies in attic, for over two weeks before I found out. My neighbor thought they were cute, something for her and her family to watch. Left a radio on 24/7, on a talk station. Music is soothing, they don't like talk. They left after two weeks. G


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## BillyB44

I have heard that the ammonia-soaked rags work REALLY well on skunks, so it is worth a try on Raccoons. Once they associate that harsh smell with a specific location, they will avoid it for a long time...if not their whole lives.


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## Chemist1961

I heard an exterminator on a talk show say he had seen a house repair done where the babies were trapped in the attic by mistake. The mother came back and clawed and chewed through brick to get them. This is a fomidable opponant.
We have them in our neighbourhood but have noticed since we separate and seal all wet kitchen waste in a locked recycle bin, they haven't touched our garbage once. One day last year I watched two scale our neighbour's 8 foot chimney and hop inside. Funny to watch but scarey to think where they can get to. 
I have seen and heard that a mechanical motion sensing owl is a great cure. Never tried one but the device is a natural predator. You need to beat nature with nature and elimainate the hospitable envoronment. Play some AC/DC as well
Also saw a guy on Detroit news last month, who is layed off, who traps and skins and sells them. $15 each. "good eatin!!!!!!" He had about 6 in his freezer ......skinned like turkeys. You may want to look him up and have him drop by.....


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## ocoee

This is what I do for a living

Deterrents only work as deterrents not as evictions
Once they have established a home site putting ammonia, that only smells like urine same as their next anyway, will not force them out

All you can do is trap the offenders
Just because you are trapping several ***** in the area does not mean that these are the ***** that are causing the problems

You have to trap the animals that are actually coming in, that means proper trap placement 

You also have to identify and harden not only the current entry ways but all secondaries
They have nothing to do all nigt but look for a way in, you have to think like they do
.Eave gaps are the most common way that they get into a non crawl house
Harden all of them at once

There are also attic treatments that eliminate the odors and pheromones that they leaves behind that will attract others in after they are gone


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## ettevyva

*Possible solution to raccoons?*

Today I saturated my bird feeders hanging from the roof of the front porch with ground Cayenne Pepper throughout the seed to hopefully keep the squirrels away from them. The birds don't mind it, but I was told the squirrels usually don't like it. Tonight there was a raccoon on my feeders. He started eating some of the mixture of sunflower seed and peanut butter but kept licking his mouth. Then he went away and came back for a short time....and apparently realized that when he tried to eat the seed, it burned his mouth. He didn't come back a third time. Hopefully this will help deter the raccoons away from the feeder. It might be a solution. (No guarantees, though).


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## gma2rjc

Cool idea! How much did you mix into the bird seed?


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## ettevyva

*Reply on Raccoons*

I had more Cayenne Pepper than seed throughout the seed feeder and suet feeder. After I'd written I had a larger Raccoon come to the feeder and climb up the wooden polls and eat more of the seed. He wasn't as intimidated as the younger Raccoon was that didn't like the burning of his mouth with the Cayenne Pepper. I ended up taking down the feeders for the night. I'm still trying to come up with more solutions meanwhile.

My daughter tells me Fox Urine or Wolf Urine can be bought at various Feed and Seed Stores to deter Raccoons; but is quite expensive when you can find it -she said. (She owns a landscaping business).

I'm continuing to research how to resolve this.
Thank You and Take Care 
Ettevyva


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## Scuba_Dave

I knew someone in NH who was fed up with *****
He connected up wires & breaker & switch
Metal matt - one wire on the ground that they would have to stand on 
Heavy duty Metal birdfeeder - 2nd wire

Raccoon stood up & grabbed the birdfeeder, he threw the switch
Raccon just stood there, didn't move
He shut it off & went out to chase the raccoon away
...and the raccoon tumbled over...dead :laughing:

He only used it that once...he only wanted to shock them & scare them away


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## nap

Scuba_Dave said:


> I knew someone in NH who was fed up with *****
> He connected up wires & breaker & switch
> Metal matt - one wire on the ground that they would have to stand on
> Heavy duty Metal birdfeeder - 2nd wire
> 
> Raccoon stood up & grabbed the birdfeeder, he threw the switch
> Raccon just stood there, didn't move
> He shut it off & went out to chase the raccoon away
> ...and the raccoon tumbled over...dead :laughing:
> 
> He only used it that once...he only wanted to shock them & scare them away



He didn't notice the **** was all of a sudden smoking?

an electrified fence charger, like in a horse fence would have done it.

Hey, has anybody tried that? string the electrified wired under the eave where they would have to go to get in? You would have to run 2 wires since an electric fence usually uses the ground as one conductor so you would have to engineer a placement that would cause the ***** to be touching one conductor as they reached and touched the other. Wouldn't be that hard to do and not very expensive either.

I know my Akita/shepherd mix dogs really shy away from the fence for a _long _time once they get zapped just once.



> Scuba_Dave I couldn't find anything stating its illegal to kill a raccoon (except Canada)


I think the fact he is in the suburbs of Chicago might be why it is illegal to hunt them although, if he goes into the city, I am sure he could find a lot of guys with enough guns to eradicate all the ***** he has:whistling2:

my dad had a **** chew through his roof. Kind of right in the middle of the roof. No rhyme no reason for that spot that we could tell. Just started chewing through the shingles and kept on going through the roof timber and into the attic.


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## expresshost

*You could try*

My neighbor had a problem with ***** and armidilos last fall. He was told to try a scent called danger zone. It worked great and we have not seen any more animals around since......:thumbup:

Worth a look; 

here is a link.


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## rusty baker

Almost anywhere you can trap an animal that is damaging property. Here you can sell the pelts and it is legal to trap them. The city will set traps and dispose of the animals. I have my own live trap. I have disposed of *****, possums and feral house cats. The cats did more damage than the ***** or possums. Last summer I caught 4 ground hogs.


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## kathyann

Raccoons are so destructive! If its possible in your area, your dad might try a live trap like: http://www.thehardwarecity.com/?sku=2431047 Where I live animal control will come and pick up the raccoon from the trap.


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## Cattman

*Trapping*

We had this problem with my grandmothers 2 story farmhouse several years ago. Predator specialist live trapped 26 under the tree they were going in and out on. They were coming down an old unused chimney and pushing out thimble covers in the attic. Fabricated a cover for the chimney and they climbed up the siding and tore a hole thru a gable vent. After the specialist ran up a high enough bill, we purchased 2 live traps one outside and one in the attic and took out 15 more. All perisihed from lead posioning prior to emptying the traps. Sealed all openings with hard chicken wire nailed to studs or ceiling joists. It took 8 monthes to finally empty the attic and space between the first & second floors of them.:wallbash:

The coke and marlin fly bait is a very good mix and they normally will not go more than 10'. Another is to mix antifreeze and marlin (keep up out of pet reach).


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## oh'mike

*Best trap bait--*

Marshmallows -peanut butter-and-pancake syrup

Old pest control guy gave me this mix--Worked great for my **** problem last summer,skunks like it too.:laughing:


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## Snav

GBR in WA said:


> Had a mother with three babies in attic, for over two weeks before I found out. My neighbor thought they were cute, something for her and her family to watch. Left a radio on 24/7, on a talk station. Music is soothing, they don't like talk. They left after two weeks. G


:laughing:

My Mom had a Mom and babies in the attic - they boarded up the entrance and thought htey blocked the Racoon OUT - but they blocked her IN and she ultimately died, and her babies did too.

My Mom then threw an entire box of mothballs around in the attic to get rid of the dead-baby smell - just tossed them everywhere - and fully regretted it when, for over a month, they had to stay at my sister's house so the toxic fumes could dissipate.

My advice is to detract them FROM the house by actually making another place that's more appealing - yep - build yourself a racoon hut and have them routinely exterminated.

In my area, at least, a racoon is classified as a nuisance and I can kill at will.

See: legally dead:









Killed a few, left one out to rot and they never came back.


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## rusty baker

If you trap a skunk live, how do you remove it from the trap without getting sprayed?


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## oh'mike

I did this three times without a stink-----

I approached the trap from the solid door side and flipped a sheet of plastic over the trap.--

I then gently but quickly dumped the skunk out of the trap- into a large plastic garbage can---

Next I shook the skunk out of the can into a large old plastic tool box.

They really are a gentile little beast,if you rock the cage and can a bit (to keep them off balance a bit)

they don't seem to get upset and spray.

I took them to an old country cemetery not to far away--never did spray any thing.---Mike--


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## fireguy

www.critter-Repellent.com

Dr James Evans was a local school superentendent. He grew up dirt poor. He and his brother ran a trap line, and skunks were an animal they trapped. They used a trap similar to an upside down box. The bait was tied to a string, the skunk took the bait and pulled the string, the box slammed shut. The boys latched the box to the upside down lid, poked stickes throught he holes in the box and headed to the creek. They lowered the skunk and trap into the water. The skunk had no reason to squirt, and the skunk drowned.


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## Pewkster

ettevyva said:


> Today I saturated my bird feeders hanging from the roof of the front porch with ground Cayenne Pepper throughout the seed to hopefully keep the squirrels away from them. The birds don't mind it, but I was told the squirrels usually don't like it. Tonight there was a raccoon on my feeders. He started eating some of the mixture of sunflower seed and peanut butter but kept licking his mouth. Then he went away and came back for a short time....and apparently realized that when he tried to eat the seed, it burned his mouth. He didn't come back a third time. Hopefully this will help deter the raccoons away from the feeder. It might be a solution. (No guarantees, though).


Actually, most birds like peppers. Chili powder, crushed red pepper, riasta peppers etc, so this will probably keep raccoons out of your bird feeders...not likely to remove them from you house if they have taken up residence, but maybe if the chow is not to their liking they will not take up residence in the first place.



oh'mike said:


> Marshmallows -peanut butter-and-pancake syrup
> 
> Old pest control guy gave me this mix--Worked great for my **** problem last summer,skunks like it too.:laughing:


Hmmm, how about we add some whiskey? A lot of whiskey! (Course Gin might be cheaper). That might work. If they dont drink themselves to death you can sneak up on them in the morning and shoot them. I have read that Komodo dragons are trapped using rum. Get em drunk then have your way with them!:laughing:


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## 4just1don

i agree with huge numbers of them in same locale. friend had a dog that would tree them and not quit barking till he came out and shot it. one fall he shot 46 of them.

another story heard was these guys were hunting them for pelts,,,chased one into hayloft with straw bales.after moving a few hundred bales they found about 85 *****.

like i said they populate quickly


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## Bushman

Fly bait and coca cola. Or in my case pepsi-cola. They wouldn't drink coke.???????????
They cleaned out my whole sweet corn patch in one evening. It was days from harvest as well. I was upset. I killed three in three days. One died with his face in the bowl. My garden is fenced so the dogs can't get in. The cats are on their own. Not to mention the next year I found **** scat in the barn. My sweet corn was only a foot tall at the time but I killed them all anyways. My neighbor traps them and then throws them in the pond and drowns them. I don't like that way. Fly bait works fast!


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## Otis Gudlyfe

nap said:


> an electrified fence charger, like in a horse fence would have done it.


Don't bet on that. I had a friend whose veggie garden was being eaten by '*****. He put a welded wire fence around the garden (w/ stand-off insulators on each pole) and hooked it to a fence charger. The raids stopped for a while and then started again. On a late-night stakeout, he observed while the offenders would walk up to the fence and take the shock while they climbed up onto the fence (the shock, of course, stopped when they broke the ground) and just climb up and over. They had figured out that while uncomfortable, the shock was not harmful and was worth the treasure waiting on the other side of the fence.


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## ChrisDIY

I'd get an air rifle, as anything with gunpowder may or may not be legal, especially in Cook County. Apply for F.O.I.D. No one is going to check your trash...:whistling2:


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## sandal82

*just an idea*

this is just an idea and sorry to animal lovers, but when they truly are pests, you wont get rid of them by trapping them, if you do, it will cost ALOT of money.. pretty sure its illegal to trap on your own, maybe not if your relocating.. but if you love them that much to drive miles away everyday when you get 1 **** (to have them possibly come back), well that's kind of crazy. high power pellet guns are very quiet, powerful, quick clean kill (with a good shot) and you KNOW they wont be back, they wont be breeding, they wont be in your wall!!  you dont have to pay anybody to do this job, if you dont have neighbors close, firearms are quite effective too. c'mon people, do you want them gone? or do you want to keep on dealing with them? a little thing i say alot.. to alot of people "dont talk about it, BE about it"!! quit whining and wasting time and do something about it

oh.... crossman stormxt 1200fps break barrel .177cal pellet only air rifle scope (not good at night)


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## sandal82

rusty baker said:


> If you trap a skunk live, how do you remove it from the trap without getting sprayed?



another good way.. before you set your trap up, take an old tarp cut it.. fit it.. let the handle of the trap be able to be used, set it up nice.. duct tape it..? wire tie it? however you feel like attaching it to the cage, bait it, set it.. check for the closed door the next day, pick it up if you got one, if he cant see you he'll feel less threatened.. or.. ya know you could really get rid of him for good..... :thumbup:.... something around 1000fps works really good


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## noquacks

many good tips here......

I had a trapline as a kid.....trapped muskrats/***** then graduated to red fox. I am now a chemist (I had to really graduate for that...LOL)

A poster above who is a professional advised that ammonia will not work as ***** smell the same thing in their urine. Well, the famous Alexander Pope said "a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing". Ammonia is not ammonia. Typical ammonia levels in urine of carnivores is about 0.2-0.4%, which increases some during decomposition. This is nothing compared to grocery store ammonia 5-10% (which is actually ammonium hydroxide). 

But I would not use grocery store grade but industrial 28% strength. This is so strong any animal in its midst will not be able to breath. I had ***** in my attic and found their entry in the overhang. Before boarding up the hole, I knew I could not chance trapping them inside to DIE. So I took home conc ammonium hydroxide, opened up the caps to 2 bottles, one at each end of the attic, and held my breath of course, and then left it up there for 3 days during which time I heard no more noise from them. 

That way I was sure they were gone. THEN i boarded up the hole.


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## noquacks

If you could trap them though, during December/january, their skins are worth some $$.........if too soon, they have blue skins, if too late like February, they get urine stains and what is called "rubbing"........Not saying to wait and bear the pain of ***** in the attic til Prime fur season, just if its a coincidence, get em then!!

remember: you can use 1X2 welded wire, do not use cheap 18 gauge, but minimum of 14 gauge, to seal up holes/etc......

If fastened correctly, they will NOT get through (I also had a fur farm years ago, and understand about wire/cages).....


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