So my wife & kids have been giving reports of seeing a raccoon family in various places in our backyard. My wife spotted them on the roof and has convinced herself that they are living in our attic. I've looked around and don't believe that they are although they are likely living in a detached garage that developed a hole in the roof over the winter.

Tonight at dinner I finally saw them for myself. There was a mama coon and five younger ones. They were observed heading into our large fig tree with the figs being about a week away from the peak season. Didn't stay long and headed over the fence into the neighbors yard.

My question is what (if anything) I can do to discourage this many coons from eating all my figs. I've dealt with birds, rats, & squirrels in the past but I haven't been aware of coons before now.

I have a trap but don't have time to get them all before the figs ripen.

Read on the internet that a radio tuned to a talk show will keep them away but that seems unlikely.

Do any of the sprays work? Also read that they hate cucumber smell but that seems unlikely to work as well.

This fig tree is like 30' in ht/diameter and cannot be covered with a net until I prune it back this winter.

I'm not opposed to spotlighting and shooting them but figure that will only work once or twice.

We don't have a dog and don't know of one to borrow for a few days.

Suggestions?


Edit to add - we live inside LBJ (the loop) in Dallas and of course have nearby neighbors, so there are rules. A shotgun is not an option...

[This message has been edited by agent-maroon (edited 7/15/2013 8:42p).]

Trap them. Then shoot them. Reset trap.

Repeat as long as necessary.

I bait my traps with cereal. Fruit loops seem to work best.

You'll probably catch one/night until they're gone.

Good Luck!

They don't like ammonia.

The radio works for critters that aren't habituated to people, and enclosed spaces (attics it works pretty well in). Figs are a powerful addiction once they are ripe.

On trapping, keep in mind there is no trapping and relocating of raccoons in Texas (well, for general purposes). They are officially under the rabies quarantine, however, rabies is not prevalent in coons in the DFW area. If you trap it, it will be euthanized in some capacity. Some cities will take them, Dallas usually will not.

Hide small mouse traps in bed under tree. Shouldn't hurt it, but will start scaring it.

Some people try cayenne pepper, but a small amount does nothing. You'll need a whole can, preferably a Sams club size can.

These methods work well for neighbor cats as well.

Set a trap with some stale Apple Cinnamon Apple Jacks. Hopefully they are OK with the cinnamon smell. If I should be lucky enough to trap one then it will be dealt with harshly early tomorrow morning. There will be no relocating involved unless were talking about to a dumpster (unless someone has a better suggestion regarding disposal)

We are also in the city limits. My husband throws the trap in the back of the truck, drives to the city limits, and eliminates the problem.

I've caught 6.

I hate those things.

Agent, whereabouts inside LBJ? I have a neighbor down the street from me with a huge fig tree. I'm at Coit and Campbell in Richardson/N Dallas.

One thing to keep in mind, they are territorial and they are density dependent breeders. IE you could set yourself up for a bigger problem. Just keep that in mind.

I had one in my garage eating dog food. I repeatedly shot him with an airsoft gun. He was very mad but he finally left.

Once you call it a 'family' instead of an infestation, they've already won.

It's time for snares at 5ft intervals all around your property.

Thanks for the replies. This may not be as difficult as I thought it would be...

I would go into the garage during the daytime when they're bedded up and pop them with subsonics. If the garage door is closed, no one will hear anything.

quote:

---

If the garage door is closed, no one will hear anything

---

are you talking about the shots or his screams of fear/terror when it starts raining down angry 'coons from the rafters?

EFE nailed it

quote:

---

are you talking about the shots or his screams of fear/terror when it starts raining down angry 'coons from the rafters?

---

Thanks for the very colorful visual, but I'm sticking to the trap/shoot/dispose/rinse/repeat suggestion...

Blue death.

Fly bait and any soda (purple drink seems to work best I've found). Mix both in a bowl and leave it out in a spot the raccoons can get to but cats/dogs cant. All the ones I've killed at the deer lease never made it further than 30 yards from the bowl before dying.

If you're worried about coons raining down from the rafters, stand in the open doorway and make sure to have a plastic soda bottle taped to the end of the barrel. No noise and you keep your dignity.

Codeno - we're 15 miles to the SE of you, east of White Rock Lake

The fig preserves and privacy from the tree are great and all, but the wildlife issues we've had have been kind of a PITA. We've had attic rat infestations after they were attracted by the food source. Squirrels & possums like them, too. We usually know when the figs are ripe when the flying drunks start hitting the windows after feasting on fermenting figs. We've witnessed at least two doves die from FUI related skull fractures with who knows how many others there were that the neighbors cats found before we did. A couple of years ago there was one particularly stupid mockingbird that would get liquored up and fight with his reflection to the point of exhaustion.

quote:

---

Thanks for the very colorful visual, but I'm sticking to the trap/shoot/dispose/rinse/repeat suggestion...

---

It's a little quieter and cleaner to dunk the trap in a 55 gal bucket filled with water for a couple of minutes.

Just make sure you put the trap door side down.

I got some subsonic ammo from Bullet Trap in Plano. We live in LH and I have killed 2 coons and a rat so far since moving in. It sounds like a pellet gun. The neighbor saw me doing it and gave me the thumbs up when he saw it rolling down the roof. No issues. I told him before I was going to try and get rid of them and he was happy that I was. His son had been pelting it with his red ryder and it only pissed it off.

PooDoo - I'm going to assume you meant either a 5 gallon bucket or a 55 gallon barrel. Considered this but the trap is to big to fit into a bucket, I don't have a barrel, and I don't want to have to fill my trash can full of water. I'm considering using an auto exhaust or CO2 (evaporating dry ice) euthanasia method after future trapping successes.

BTW - that's a sweet coonskin cap that you posted above.


[This message has been edited by agent-maroon (edited 7/16/2013 4:14p).]

agent - caught this guy in a trap under my fig trees this morning. Trap loaned by animal control in Grapevine - they came by and picked him up this afternoon and will relocate him. Trap is set again, word on the street says a raccoon family is roaming the hood.

Permanently relocated.

i found a pic of ursus in his coon catchin' gear

I AM THE LAW!

quote:

---

I got some subsonic ammo from Bullet Trap in Plano. We live in LH and I have killed 2 coons and a rat so far since moving in. It sounds like a pellet gun. The neighbor saw me doing it and gave me the thumbs up when he saw it rolling down the roof. No issues. I told him before I was going to try and get rid of them and he was happy that I was. His son had been pelting it with his red ryder and it only pissed it off.

---

I envision your neighbor watering the lawn, drinking beer with his gut hanging out.

Nah. He went to tech. Has a stomach. Doesn't drink beer. Always working on the yard though. Nice enough guy. Find out from him that the house next to his is abandoned and noone has lived in it for years cause the owner who is in an old folks home is holding onto it for his son who is in jail. He sees rodents going in and out of the backyard. Hooray...

quote:

---

Do any of the sprays work?

---

If by sprays, you mean fire, then yes.


Subsonic 22 works too..

My MIL had some in her attic some years ago. They were entering through rotted soffet vent screens. I made new covers with heavy mesh wire and started installing them but did not finish the same day. That night the coon tried to get out the usual way and it sounded like a wrestling match up there. He finally broke through one I hadn't fixed and after they were all covered there were no more problems.

Special thanks to Texfrog2. Stopped by Bullet Trap to pick up some subsonic .22 and look around as a first time customer. Found a Rock River LH AR15 for a better price than the RH cheapo Bushmaster I waited 4 months special order earlier this year.

So a successful trapping on first attempt. On the following two attempts the raccoon has somehow escaped leaving the trap half full of mulch, grass, dirt or whatever was on the ground beneath the trap.

While I don't have a camera I'm thinking that the escape technique must be something like this (skip to the 2:50 mark to see raccoon trapped, watch for another 10 seconds to see it escape):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avn--IrNy1w

How does one modify the trap to keep this from happening?

I would buy another trap but the ones I've looked at aren't nearly as well built as the older one I already have...

[This message has been edited by agent-maroon (edited 7/19/2013 5:14a).]

http://talk.newagtalk.com/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=3598&DisplayType=flat

[This message has been edited by duddleysdraw88 (edited 7/19/2013 10:54a).]