Raccoons on my deck

[Audie]

 

[Quagmire]

View attachment 65158

I hate to be a spoil sport, but . . .

[Reposted from here: Survival Tips] Cute as they are, raccoons are some of the most vicious fighters in the forest. They're incredibly quick, and they have opposable thumbs, four of them as a matter of fact.

A raccoon can take down a dog many times it's on size. What they do is they latch on to the face with all four paws and wreak havoc with their sharp little teeth.

I talked to a paramedic once up in northern California who said that the worst thing he'd seen in his whole career was when a pet raccoon turned on its owner (I'll spare you the details). bear in mind this is a paramedic who spent most of his career scraping motorcyclist off of the winding country highway that ran through his jurisdiction, so he'd seen a thing or two.

The fact that raccoons are generally curious and unafraid of people is one of the things that makes them dangerous.

On top of all that, raccoons are one of the primary carriers of rabies, but are unaffected by it themselves, so there's no way to tell if one has it.

if all that weren't enough, there's a parasite in raccoon's stool that if you accidentally ingest it or get it in your eyes it can cause you to go blind, crazy, or just kill you outright.
CDC - Baylisascaris

All in all raccoons are about the last critter you want hanging out at your place.

Edit: forgot to mention they can open doors, latches, and even zippers

 

[Subduction Zone]

I hate to be a spoil sport, but . . .

[Reposted from here: Survival Tips] Cute as they are, raccoons are some of the most vicious fighters in the forest. They're incredibly quick, and they have opposable thumbs, four of them as a matter of fact.

A raccoon can take down a dog many times it's on size. What they do is they latch on to the face with all four paws and wreak havoc with their sharp little teeth.

I talked to a paramedic once up in northern California who said that the worst thing he'd seen in his whole career was when a pet raccoon turned on its owner (I'll spare you the details). bear in mind this is a paramedic who spent most of his career scraping motorcyclist off of the winding country highway that ran through his jurisdiction, so he'd seen a thing or two.

The fact that raccoons are generally curious and unafraid of people is one of the things that makes them dangerous.

On top of all that, raccoons are one of the primary carriers of rabies, but are unaffected by it themselves, so there's no way to tell if one has it.

if all that weren't enough, there's a parasite in raccoon's stool that if you accidentally ingest it or get it in your eyes it can cause you to go blind, crazy, or just kill you outright.
CDC - Baylisascaris

All in all raccoons are about the last critter you want hanging out at your place.

Edit: forgot to mention they can open doors, latches, and even zippers

But on the plus side if the end that Preppers are getting ready for, she has a ready source of meat:

raccoon recipes - Google Search

 

[Quagmire]

Are bears sort of related to raccoons.. They kind of seem similar in habit, and sort of look like little bears

Yes they are:
"Raccoons are in the family Procyonidae along with ring-tails and coatis. The bear family and raccoon family are closely related. Red pandas (often called lesser pandas) are now put in the raccoon family"
Alexa, Are raccoons related to bears? | Alexa Answers

 

[Trailblazer]

Yea, in our case, they woke us up at night, otherwise I wouldn't mind either.

They are not normally scampering overhead where I sleep, normally they are scamp

I hate to be a spoil sport, but . . .

[Reposted from here: Survival Tips] Cute as they are, raccoons are some of the most vicious fighters in the forest. They're incredibly quick, and they have opposable thumbs, four of them as a matter of fact.

A raccoon can take down a dog many times it's on size. What they do is they latch on to the face with all four paws and wreak havoc with their sharp little teeth.

I talked to a paramedic once up in northern California who said that the worst thing he'd seen in his whole career was when a pet raccoon turned on its owner (I'll spare you the details). bear in mind this is a paramedic who spent most of his career scraping motorcyclist off of the winding country highway that ran through his jurisdiction, so he'd seen a thing or two.

The fact that raccoons are generally curious and unafraid of people is one of the things that makes them dangerous.

On top of all that, raccoons are one of the primary carriers of rabies, but are unaffected by it themselves, so there's no way to tell if one has it.

if all that weren't enough, there's a parasite in raccoon's stool that if you accidentally ingest it or get it in your eyes it can cause you to go blind, crazy, or just kill you outright.
CDC - Baylisascaris

All in all raccoons are about the last critter you want hanging out at your place.

Edit: forgot to mention they can open doors, latches, and even zippers

I know that about raccoons which is why I started to feed them years ago, since when I did not feed them they dug underneath the cat fence and went through the pet door and got in the house and ate cat food and drank water. At the time there were about six cats living in that area, but no cats were harmed.

I can no longer let the cats out in the fenced areas because trees have grown up and I have see the raccoons climb the trees and get into the fenced areas. We have a feral cat who has now become tame and lives outdoors and whenever she sees a raccoon she runs. I now have to feed her on the property next door because the raccoons chase her off in order to get the cat food.

 

[Trailblazer]

I waited to feed them till much later than usual and then they all showed up at once!

 

[Subduction Zone]

And the other night the raccoons attacked and killed another duck from my neighbor's place.

 

[Trailblazer]

And the other night the raccoons attacked and killed another duck from my neighbor's place.

That's terrible... Luckily there are no ducks around here, but when the racks try to chase the squirrels or the feral cat, they outrun them...

I had to start feeding and watering the feral cat on my next door neighbor's property so she could have the food and water to herself.... So far the racks have not figured out that she is eating next door.

 

[Jainarayan]

t's not a good idea. Especially if you don't want them tearing up your attic and such.

Tell me about it. $2500 to "evict" them from my attic. I had three incursions over a few years. I trapped a few of them w/ a Hav-a-Hart trap and relocated them. It's actually illegal in NJ to do that unless you are licensed. So hey, call the cops. It got so bad I had to call a wildlife removal contractor. He trapped and released at a remote location. He had a contract with someone who owned a huge remote tract of land. One of my dumb-*** neighbors saw him load the trap in his truck and said "Oh, you can release them in my yard. I love animals". He said lady, these raccoons will be back in this man's attic by evening if I do that.

When he went into the attic he said I didn't want to see what was up there. The females (it was a denning location) ripped my heating/ac ducts, ripped the wood sheathing, climbed up and down the internal plumbing wall. The utility room, bathrooms and kitchen all shared a central wooden column the plumbing was attached to and run through. They climbed down and dug and ripped under the bathtub. Sitting on the toilet was a real experience listening to them ripping the wood, thinking they were going to come through the wall.

They ripped the roofing singles and sheathing open. He removed one dead baby but couldn't get the one at the bottom of the plumbing wall. He had to put down one of them that was trapped in the attic and too sick to try to get out. He used CO2 cartridges to deliver a lethal shot. He repaired the roofing damage and put wire mesh in the most "popular" areas of entry and exit. He said it was the scent of previous invasions. The previous homeowners never did anything about the invasions they had. The only way to eliminate the scent was by ripping out the entire attic.

We have since moved, It was like being in the house in the movie Signs with the aliens on the roof, in the attic and basement trying to get in.

 

[Jainarayan]

But in the deck is probably OK.

Not necessarily. Raccoons are highly intelligent. They will associate that house with food, and during mating and denning season will determine it's a safe place to give birth and hide the babies. Male raccoons, like cats, will kill babies fathered by other males to bring the females into estrus again and mate with them.

 

[Jainarayan]

Well it's better than bears.

Bears are big raccoons. Bears, raccoons and dogs are (relatively) closely related. They share a fairly recent common ancestor.

 

[Jainarayan]

I do not think the raccoons are in my attic but they climb the trees and walk across the roof to get from the back deck to the front deck.

There are critters in my attic though, and I suspect they are squirrels. I don't care because I have too many more important things to worry about. A house is just a house.

The raccoons will hunt the squirrels. That's how my invasions probably started. The previous homeowners didn't do anything about the squirrels who chewed holes in the roof, got in, created nests and attracted the raccoons. Trust me. I dreaded Spring and early Summer, birthing and denning season, for several years.

 

[Jainarayan]

Are bears sort of related to raccoons.. They kind of seem similar in habit, and sort of look like little bears

Yes, they are. And to dogs. The scientific name for raccoons is Procyon lotor ... "before (proto) dog that washes".

 

[Trailblazer]

It's actually illegal in NJ to do that unless you are licensed. So hey, call the cops. It got so bad I had to call a wildlife removal contractor. He trapped and released at a remote location. He had a contract with someone who owned a huge remote tract of land.

I would have done that a long time ago, but it is illegal for wildlife removal contractors to trap and relocate them in WA state. They are required to euthanize them, and I was not going to have that done to them so I was in between a rock and a hard place.

 

[Jainarayan]

I would have done that a long time ago, but it is illegal for wildlife removal contractors to trap and relocate them in WA state. They are required to euthanize them, and I was not going to have that done to them so I was in between a rock and a hard place.

I made it clear I didn’t want any animal harmed. He assured me he wouldn’t. Even the squirrels were relocated. But yeah, you have a tough nut to crack [pun totally intended ]. The next best thing would be to try evicting them with a repellent then block their entrances with wire mesh. I would look online, since I don’t think home improvement stores would carry something so specific. Mice are repelled by used cat litter and snake scat. Being rodents and prey animals that may work for squirrels too. If you don’t own a cat or a snake those may be hard to come by. Squirrels may also be invading in their birthing season. If you can do the repair work when they vacate for the season you might have a chance to keep them out.

 

[Valjean]

The raccoons will hunt the squirrels. That's how my invasions probably started. The previous homeowners didn't do anything about the squirrels who chewed holes in the roof, got in, created nests and attracted the raccoons. Trust me. I dreaded Spring and early Summer, birthing and denning season, for several years.

Never heard of raccoons hunting anything but frogs and crayfish along streams. 'Coons and squirrels keep different hours, and usually ignore each other. Cats and raccoons aren't usually freindly, but often share the same feeding sites without conflict.
As for sleeping and denning sites, they're always on the lookout. As long as an attic or garage is accessible, it's useful.

The key is accessible. If they've moved in, it's usually easy to trap them. Then just figure out how they got in and block it.