Racoons in my backyard at 3am!!! (property, driver, time)

[512ATX]

Originally Posted by opalminor

HHmmm.. I always thought seeing a racoon once in a while was all part of living in Texas, not living in the city, and living on planet earth.... and especially now that it just stopped raining altogether in Texas, the wildlife is starving and dying of thirst. I've seen plenty of them ('Possums & dillos too) in my backyard and they come and go and I never understood why it's a problem....

true. again, that pic above is cute one btw...but the two that came in my yard were HUGE, gray and OLD...the oldest one actually looked sick, but they moved rather quickly..lol

[chuck_steak]

We have them too. Those, armadillos, squirrels and deer. They all dig in my yard and trashcans. We're next to a creek in West Austin so there's not much we can do because even if we trapped them more would come.

I don't let my chihuahuas out but for brief periods when I'm watching them.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by opalminor

HHmmm.. I always thought seeing a racoon once in a while was all part of living in Texas, not living in the city, and living on planet earth.... and especially now that it just stopped raining altogether in Texas, the wildlife is starving and dying of thirst. I've seen plenty of them ('Possums & dillos too) in my backyard and they come and go and I never understood why it's a problem....

I understand, and do have some compassion for the wild animals. My next door neighbor saw a pair of fox exploring our front yeards last Friday morning. Most of this summer I have been keeping a pan full of water on the ground next to the bird bath so that all of the critters have a place where they can get water.

The problems we had that prompted us to try and discourage the racoons were that they were destroying the bird feeders, which can get expensive. They also ripped the trash bags open and pulled trash out onto the ground making a mess. Flies got into the ripped trash bags and laid so many eggs that in addition to smelling disgusting the trash can was crawling with squirming maggots every time I opened it. The coons also spent so much time in our yard that we were afraid to let our ancient cat outside. They can be a problem.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

It is illegal for you to fire a firearm in the city and most populated areas. You could accidentally kill or maim a kid. It is possible to use a live trap to capture and then relocate the coons to a new location. Legally I believe you are supposed to hire a licensed pest control company to do that for you.

However there could be a lot more then just the two you saw visiting your yard. I relocated two from my yard just to have more show up later. As long as there is food available in your yard, you will continue to have visitors.

But as others have said, your best bet is to stop making food available to them.

Those may have been the same raccoons, CptnRn. We relocated raccoons for quite some time out here in the country (because they find free range chickens just as tasty as we do), only to have remarkably similar-looking (little distinctive quirk in the tail) raccoons fill in the vacant spot left in the ecosystem. Then I found out that the range of raccoons is 20 miles. Once we started relocating farther away AND on the other side of I35 (being careful to make sure there were trees, brush, and water available, but no houses), we didn't see that kinky tail any longer.

Back when we lived in Barton Hills, the City of Austin came out with those new blue trash cans. All the literature said they were "critter proof". Living right by the green belt as we did, we were dubious. But for a week, it worked.

Then, one night, our neighbor heard a racket and looked out his window to see three raccoons, one on top of the other, boosting one of them up to the lid of the can, where it quite handily unlatched it, climbed in, and threw stuff out to its buddies. (Yes, when we destroy our species, raccoons and cockroaches ARE going to rule the planet!)

This was five minutes from downtown Austin, by the way.

[BentBow]

Put the bowl of dog food in the middle of a shallow pan of water.
No ants in the food, unless the bowl hits the side and the ants find it.

It is the dog food the coons are after.
Once the word gets out, you will have more than 2 in short time.
When I lived on Mairo St. in South Austin, my next door neighbor, Jene, fed the coons with dog food in her backyard. There must have been 50 fat coons every night in her backyard. My dog would go nuts!

[BentBow]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Those may have been the same raccoons, CptnRn. We relocated raccoons for quite some time out here in the country (because they find free range chickens just as tasty as we do), only to have remarkably similar-looking (little distinctive quirk in the tail) raccoons fill in the vacant spot left in the ecosystem. Then I found out that the range of raccoons is 20 miles. Once we started relocating farther away AND on the other side of I35 (being careful to make sure there were trees, brush, and water available, but no houses), we didn't see that kinky tail any longer.

Back when we lived in Barton Hills, the City of Austin came out with those new blue trash cans. All the literature said they were "critter proof". Living right by the green belt as we did, we were dubious. But for a week, it worked.

Then, one night, our neighbor heard a racket and looked out his window to see three raccoons, one on top of the other, boosting one of them up to the lid of the can, where it quite handily unlatched it, climbed in, and threw stuff out to its buddies. (Yes, when we destroy our species, raccoons and cockroaches ARE going to rule the planet!)

This was five minutes from downtown Austin, by the way.

Every coon carries a crescent wrench and a screw driver. Ask my deer feeder!

[512ATX]

Originally Posted by BentBow

Put the bowl of dog food in the middle of a shallow pan of water.
No ants in the food, unless the bowl hits the side and the ants find it.

It is the dog food the coons are after.
Once the word gets out, you will have more than 2 in short time.
When I lived on Mairo St. in South Austin, my next door neighbor, Jene, fed the coons with dog food in her backyard. There must have been 50 fat coons every night in her backyard. My dog would go nuts!

This is what I don't want. I've since started dumping the wasted dog food in the trashcan inside the house and just dump it all on trash day.

[Tim_Barton]

Ever consider trapping them and call animal control to take them away?

Link http://www.amazon.com/Havahart-1085-.../dp/B000H6JJEA

[eichlerfan]

I had the same raccoon problems when we lived in the middle of a big city in CA, and that was during rain or shine. They came if I left dog food out at night, but as soon as I brought it in they went away, or at least didn't hang around long enough to cause any problems. You could always put the old dog food with ants in the garbage disposal.

[512ATX]

I guess the dog food is a delicacy. It's made with horse meat so it makes sense.