racoons

[Planning]

i have been trapping racoons for almost 18 months now.
they first tore the siding off my house to get into the downstairs attic. where they got in there was duct work for the A/C and they tore it all up. so i got a trap and caught 26 of them (it took me 14 months to trap them). i thought i had them all so i had new siding put on ( went back with hardyboard this time) and all the duct work replaced. then in about 2 weeks after i had all this fixed they tore the metal plates with screen in it off the front of the house next to the facer board. they got back in the attic and tore the duct work out so they could get into the upper attic. i have been chasing them again for 4 months and caught 3 of them. there is a mother and 2 babies in there now and 1 very large male. i have been up all night chasing racoons. it 1:30 in the morning. one of the babies fell thru the sheetrock in the garage and the mother went after it ( tearing out more sheetrock) lots of crying from the baby racoon. she got him and they are back in the attic. it's gotten serious now. tomorrow i will be breaking out one of my 22 pistols and going for the male. ( the adults won't go near the trap anymore). i don't want to get the female until i can catch the 2 babies. i am going to put the trap in the attic tomorrow. i don't want to shoot them in the attic and i have to wait for them to go outside. outside i can get within 3-4 feet from them and have even hit them with my pole i use to clean the pool. they just stand up and wave there hands at me as i try to hit them with the pole.

the problem i have is i live in the middle of town at the end of a court. if i start shooting everyone is going to know where it came from. i am going to get me a box of the subsonic 22lr ammo tomorrow.

as a side note, my neighbors have thought this was funny until 2 of them now have racoons in there attic now.. i loaned them my trap for a few days, they didn't have any luck.

i tried the preditor sent (urine) trick, it did not work, these guys are not afraid of anything.

well it's almost 2:00a.m. now and they (racoons) have gone to sleep, so i guess i will also.........

[DAA1]

RIP poor little coons..... I normally like critters, but when they start coming inside and tearing stuff up then it's time for them to go to critter heaven. Good luck, hope you get some sleep.

[Big Steve]

Man what a PITA. We had them in the garbage cans when I was a kid but they didn't attack the house.
Steve

[tump]

sub sonics are not as quiet as cci-cb shorts these things sound like a pellet gun the neighbors will never know.

[Player]

what about those nifty .22 shotshells?

[k98k792]

I have shot them with CB longs. Out of a bolt or pump they make less noise then a pellet gun.Takes two or three to do the trick.

[rpmfly2]

When I grew up and lived in Texas all racoons were mean and just did what ever they intended to. Here in Iowa I think they are all wosses because they see you and run! It's the oppossums that are feisty and mean here! They smell awfull and are meaner than hell tearing everything up! I shoot them with my Bear Devastator Compound Crossbow with laser and scope:sterb126: :woohoo-1: :woohoo-1: !

[Planning]

When I grew up and lived in Texas all racoons were mean and just did what ever they intended to. Here in Iowa I think they are all wosses because they see you and run! It's the oppossums that are feisty and mean here! They smell awfull and are meaner than hell tearing everything up! I shoot them with my Bear Devastator Compound Crossbow with laser and scope:sterb126: :woohoo-1: :woohoo-1: !


we had 2 oppossums here, but the raccoons killed them last week. this male is very big and mean

[Player]

When I grew up and lived in Texas all racoons were mean and just did what ever they intended to. Here in Iowa I think they are all wosses because they see you and run! It's the oppossums that are feisty and mean here! They smell awfull and are meaner than hell tearing everything up! I shoot them with my Bear Devastator Compound Crossbow with laser and scope:sterb126: :woohoo-1: :woohoo-1: !

haha funny that you mention using crossbows...
i have this crappy crossbow pistol here in waco and i shot at one, 10ft off, the friggin bolt bounced off of the raccoon's head!!!
probably gave it a bad headache

[wonderwolf]

Out of a pistol those agulia .22's are loud but out of a rifle they dont make much noise.

At the farm I work at I turn into pro trapper over the summer. 2 summers ago I caught about 3 raccoons a week over summer break. I used a have-a-heart trap. Piled them in the tractor drove out on the trail for a bit. Opened up the trap let them run about 2 steps and got them behind the head with 230gr cast out of my 1911....One time one decided he didn't like what was happening so when I opened the trap he started going up a nearby tree. A glancing shot on the tree brought him down.

I did try to relocate them by spraying a neon yellow stripe down their back and letting them go on my drive home. But 2 days later I caught that same one again and thats when I just started to cap them out back.

[turbothis]

lol the movie caddy shack comes to mind. maybe get some jack russels up there. my buddies kills huge coons.they are very determined.

[Karl E. Hungus]

hey planning, i have the same type of problem with squirrels. and geat zombie jesus do i hate 'em. ill tell you this. trapping does nothing, they always come back. and if they dont others will because they smell the past homeowner's living area and know that its a safe place to live.

and dealing with traps and subsequent dangerous animal transport is usually a major hazard. and dont try to poisen them because if they become ill they will retire to their den(your walls) to die. your best bet is furry animal genocide.

i got myself a .17 break barrel pellet rifle with a scope that can hit 1000 fps. that deos the trick up to about 30-40 yds as long as you can hit them in the heart or lungs. im sure it would do the same to a coon considering squirrels are the toughest little bastards ever. also it keeps the neighbors unnassuming becuase i can still just tell them "its just a little pellet gun" if they get questiony.

also if you can see the babies outside then its safe to shoot the mother, the young ones will eventually leave on their own and then you can eliminate them as well.

once you've successfully neutralized your targets and before you fix the entrance holes, make sure you spray the den down with something that will break up or mask the musk so no other wanderers come by thinking your house is the local motel 6.

[Woodman in MO]

I used a have-a-heart trap. Piled them in the tractor drove out on the trail for a bit. Opened up the trap let them run about 2 steps and got them behind the head with 230gr cast out of my 1911.

Wow, how Soprano-ish...:lolgreen:

-Planning,
Y'all got some pretty mean coons down in Texas. I've never heard of them being that aggressive around here.

[wonderwolf]

Well I started using my .44 mag 4" S&W revolver cause I got tired of trying to find my precious 45 acp brass in the woods hehe :jam:

I use a RWS break open air rifle (scoped) that is my dads on chipmounks from my 2nd story window out to the garden its about a 75' shot if they are towards the front though I got lucky once and made a 50 yard kill shot on one towards the back of the garden. For some reason my dad calls that widow the book depository window :mallninja:

I have a leupold scope that isnt in use I have thought about putting on the air gun..Though I would like to get a good air rifle of my own someday. Maybe I should invest in that instead of 50bmg parts :boing:

[kevin]

i had to eliminate some pests in someones attic once, i used CCI short (subsonic) CB's in a long barreled .22 rifle. the click of the hammer falling was almost louder than the shot. They are really quiet. There is also those aguila colibri .22 rounds that dont have any gunpowder. It will penetrate less than half way into a 2x4 so you dont have to worry about shooting through the roof. It doesnt penetrate plywood very good at all. They are good enough to kill squirels and rabbits.

[okie shooter]

Planning, on shooting them, are you in a incorporated area, or an area with restrictions, This might be the thing as to what you shoot at them. If in a area with restrictions against firearms(and most places say air guns too though) you might look for a .22 cal air rifle over a firearm for the noise. The other thing if you are within a incorprated city, they might come out and get the racoons for you under animal control.

[jmikey]

My house backs up to the woods here and I get lots of racoons traveling through but they don't hang around. My problem is the @#$%^&* armadillos. Law here says no shooting within 300' of occupied dwelling and half the local law lives in here. I have trapped a dozen or so and they just keep coming and cratering my back yard. Looks like the damn dark side of the moon in spots.

[Darkwatch]

What about colibri rounds they are as load as a BB gun and I know they will pentrate a cookie tin top and about 2-3 inches of heavy sand (experiment in a garage...don't ask:icon_lol: ) I think at close range they would do the trick?? or you could do what i did when I had the squirrels trying to get in and use a paintball gun and crank it up all the way!! Good luck!!

[SteelCore]

"If in a area with restrictions against firearms(and most places say air guns too though) you might look for a .22 cal air rifle over a firearm for the noise"

I gotta suggest spear (hey, just put the bayo on a 91/30, close enuf) or bow/w broadhead. They're the quiet part of varmint killin. If you stake a Coon with a spear, or a 'possum, you'll have to hold it pinned for a bit...they's tough creatures.

THe wider pbladed the spear, the better. I prefer heavy cast meself, but even cold steel sells a spearhead that would do the trick, and you could mount it on and old shaft of your choice.

You may need to recruit an assitant to act as the 'finisher' who has an axe or big club to bludgeon the pinned coon.

I wasl always surprised at how many .22 LR rounds a treed coon can absorb...

[turbothis]

have you tryed an x-box and some dorito's? pepsi might help too. obisety might just do the trick. it seems to spread rapidly.

[jlpskydive]

Step one get a HIGH powered paintball gun, then crank it wide ass open. Place paint balls in freezer overnight. It may not kill it, but it sure did the trick on a local ferral cat that keept trying to whip my new puppys tail evertime I let her out. I havn't seen that cat since. That and they leave a HUGE/DEEP bruise on a human also. (Long story that invloved beer and the statement "hey ya'll watch this!!)

[k98k792]

We all ought to drive down to Plannings and open a big ol can of whoopass on those critters. Planning buys the beer!

[okie shooter]

Beeee very very quiet, we are hunting racoons, haaaaaaa, in the best elmer fudd voice.

[SteelCore]

"We all ought to drive down to Plannings and open a big ol can of whoopass on those critters. Planning buys the beer!"

Awesome idea!Roight! I'll grab me poleaxe and warspear!

http://hfg.ravenbanner.com/102-0268_IMG.JPG
Note: warspears never run outta ammo...


As for Frozen Paintballs....those do really hurt. Like from a Bud Orr Autococker fired by a ...Cock-er. Like the old rock in the snowball trick, and punished much the same...with on-field vengeance!:rockon:

[Rampager]

A few years ago I went through something similar like planning, only in my case the coons were digging up all my landscaping (looking for grubs in the wood mulch I think). I'd fix everything and next night they'd come back and dig it all back up, night after night. I tried repellents, leaving radios on outside, leaving lights on, you name it.

I didn't want to start shooting in the middle of the night cause of the neighbors so I ended up using crossbow to take them out (zip tied a flashlight to the scope).

[Planning]

update: well it seams that now 5 of my neighbors have raccoons in there attic and as a very good neighbor i gave each one of them a box of 22lr ammo.:machinegun:
i still have the momma and the 2 babies and 1 male to deal with. i am putting the trap in the attic tonight to try to get the 2 babbies and go from there. if i can get the two little ones the other 2 will be easy. i may take out the male later today or tonight.

[Darkwatch]

Good luck and good hunting!!:sniper:

[Jagman]

I had one so brazen it used to come in the house thru the cat flap and eat the food, even the dogs stayed away (Jack Russells - but they were young then) Finally caught in in the new style garbage cans they gave us - a big deep trash can with smooth sides - the critter went in and could not get out,
he must have been half baked by the time I got him out after broiling in the florida sun all day - dumped him a few miles away in a canal.
im more worried by the gators.:D
Jagman,

[SSwee]

Possums under the house and squirrels in the attic are the problems here. Several possums found their way into the house. Pellet gun and a trap fixed things up. The last 2 or 3 are always the most difficult to get rid of.
SS

[Planning]

when i went in the attic to put the trap in place, i was confronted with 2 large cat squirrels in the attic. they went out the roof vent. why me, but first the racoons............................
i like to eat squirrel...........:thumbup: and these are big ones......:wink:

[nalioth]

when i went in the attic to put the trap in place, i was confronted with 2 large cat squirrels in the attic. they went out the roof vent. why me, but first the racoons............................
i like to eat squirrel...........:thumbup: and these are big ones......:wink:
I know you have a .22 bolt gun. Get you some CB caps or colibris and go to town. Your neighbors'll understand (they're in the same boat).

[MicroPilot]

Put some nice ripe trash out in the middle of the back yard, and pop them when they sit down to dinner.

[cbear]

Good Luck. I had a skunk burrowed under my front porch, and a groundhog under the back. Both met Mr. 12 gauge. I think the neighbors thought better than to ask. I live in a subdivision, but not in an incorporated area. I just made sure I shot at an angle that wouldn't allow anything to leave my property.

Several months later one of my neighbors asked if I still had a skunk problem. Just told him the truth and he didn't say much more. I don't believe we have that 300' rule, but rifles are a no no.

[SteelCore]

Good hunting.
The coons used to gt stuck in th grease dumpsters outside restaurants in Lafayette, IN. Its like a roach motel for coons.

[wonderwolf]

I'll send my .458 win mag along with 60 rounds of factory 510gr soft points..You need to get the safari hat with animal teeth around it and not shave for a few days oh and carry a bowie on your belt. stay up till 2 reading capstick books. Start talking like crocodile Dundee and save your next door neighbor from a charging squirre.l


Hey it could be fun :party:

[MID]

umm a metal water bowl, a cookie sheet ( or piece of sheet metal) and an old extenstion cord.
You figure it out, and if you do it right, you can peal the skin off and eat it right away, because it will be cooked.

just dont burn the place down.

[kevin]

you might have an idea there, i might try hooking up a 220 to two sheets but have it insulated from the ground and put some good bait on top of it! (in the back yard)

the racoon would fry!

[Grasshopper]

I'll come down and do it for ya!

Seriously though, wrist rocket and a few 32 cal. steel balls. It'll do the trick!:cheers:

[MicroPilot]

I'll come down and do it for ya!

Seriously though, wrist rocket and a few 32 cal. steel balls. It'll do the trick!:cheers:

Is that your wrist rocket in the pic? :icon_lol:

[wonderwolf]

Has anybody heard from planning?? I think they took him hostage :062:

[kevin]

let me know and i can bring my bren too! mine still has the flash hider cone though

[SteelCore]

now I'm feeling inadequate at the range because I've beeen reminded I don't have aa Bren or a BAR...

[Planning]

Has anybody heard from planning?? I think they took him hostage :062:

i am here, just been up every night , all night trying to get the raccoon. ( real tired) i am trying to get them when they leave the attic and go out side. no luck yet.

they know i am after them now.........:airtight:

[wonderwolf]

Ok new plan....We need a dozen mouse traps, a case of tannerite, 3 dozen pairs of tube socks, a jar of peanut butter, Neon spray paint and a shot glass. :hide1:

[SteelCore]

some vikings!

http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/images/wedge.jpg
http://www.vikingsonline.org.uk/images/archery.jpg

Brigands vs. bandits...coons don't stand a chance vs. the svinfylka (boar snout) formation!

[Woodman in MO]

Ok new plan....We need a dozen mouse traps, a case of tannerite, 3 dozen pairs of tube socks, a jar of peanut butter, Neon spray paint and a shot glass. :hide1:

Smooth or Chunky peanut butter?:p

[okie shooter]

Ok new plan....We need a dozen mouse traps, a case of tannerite, 3 dozen pairs of tube socks, a jar of peanut butter, Neon spray paint and a shot glass. :hide1:

Wonderwolf, you ever shot tannerite, it does get the attention of everyone at the range, hmmm and most folks within about a half mile to a mile. :)

[okie shooter]

some vikings!
Brigands vs. bandits...coons don't stand a chance vs. the svinfylka (boar snout) formation!
He wants to be able to live in the house when they are done with it, not sure if there will be a house left never mind the entire neighborhood if the vikings get there.

[Woodman in MO]

To save that house....he must destroy it...

[okie shooter]

Well remember the irony of MAD, and total annilation of the human race that could happen, they always told us that the cockroaches would live thur it no matter what, heck in the end it might be the pile of embers, planning and the family of racoons looking back at him. :)

[bullseye]

How about you taser the little bastards???? :taser:

[RandyCOG3]

Best bait I found to use is a tin of sardines with the pull-ring cut off with tin snips, (so you can re-use it, once trapped, they'll still pull it open and eat if the ring is intact). Punch nail holes in the bottom so the oil can ooze out.
I disposed of mine by giving them to a guy I knew at the time, whose wife knew how to cook them. He said that, in his neighborhood, it was possible to *buy* fresh, skinned 'coon, but it was an unofficial requirement that one paw be left on, since, apparently, somebody had been passing off CAT as 'coon.

RandyCOG3

[SteelCore]

"not sure if there will be a house left never mind the entire neighborhood if the vikings get there."
-->Oh, good point, they did do a number on Lindisfarne.:flame: :flamed:

And the viking way to deal with vermin you can't get out of the house is to burn the vermin IN the house.
http://forums.handloads.com/smileys/viking.smiley.gifhttp://forums.handloads.com/smileys/viking.smiley.gifhttp://forums.handloads.com/smileys/viking.smiley.gifhttp://forums.handloads.com/smileys/viking.smiley.gif

Supposing you take their torches away, there is little resale value in a house with axe-marks in it.:jumping:

[mistersquiggles]

this may sound cruel, but it works like a charm.....

get a can of tuna, a banana, some flour, and about 6 oz of antifreeze... the old green kind.....

open the tuna, and drain it..... pour the tuna into a bowl, and add the banana and antifreeze and mix til its pasty like... if its still a little to liquidy, add flour till it isnt..... put this stuff where the racoons can get to it, but not your pets.....

its a painful way for the little rodents to go, but its a sure way to kill em........

[okie shooter]

Planning, another thought here, I dont think that racoons are anything but a nunance animal when in this situation, but they are a game and fur bearing animal I imagine even in tx, thus you might have other regs to deal with, I think they are moot when it transcends hunting them and its a destructive infistation but it would be cautious to make sure you are in the right here. A member a while back shot a domestic animal and got into some hot water as I remember it even though he was defending his domestic animal too. Just would hate to see any one in trouble for this sort of thing and I actually imagine you have investigated it as you have been trapping them.

[Rampager]

Coons are not domestic animals in my parts (PA). More like rodents.

[texlurch]

Time to set up the 1919 with one of those motion sensor lights hooked to an electric motor and crank.



Then again, that might wake the neighbors.....

[nightprowler311]

My uncle was a logger in west virginia and found a baby and raised it. The little devil couldnt resist soda and cheetoes chips. And was very fond of beer. Little drunk would steal a beer right in front of you. I have a break barrel 22 cal pellet rifle and it shoots 1000 fps, its fairly quiet and should take care of them and keep you outta trouble with the neighbors. May even be able to recoup some lossess by helping the neighbors for a fee.

[RandyCOG3]

i don't want to get the female until i can catch the 2 babies

I might catch some flames for this, BUT, "if" you're gonna cap the adults, I'm not sure it's prudent to let the cute, fuzzy, little ones get a chance to grow up and trash your house for a THIRD time. Nobody would worry twice about what to do with baby rats or rattlesnakes. EGAD! What if Momma Coon is preggers? You better take her in for a sonogram before you cap her...(just kidding...)
I'm not a Trekkie, but you need to beam your tribbles over to the Klingons, post-haste.:machinegun:

RandyCOG3

[jfowl31]

a 22 lr silencer sounds like its in order... seriously.

if its a decent sized male and any kind of size on the females, pellet/CB 22's wont do crap.

Im thinking a 17 mach 2 out of a bolt rifle would be fine... just have some black cats around when people ask what yo were doing... oh nothing, just blowing up some anthills...

Me personally, Id go to each one of my neighbors and tell them I was fixin to start firing away, and to keep it on the low. Then Id pop em with the G22.

[nevada]

After the kill, put them in black plastic trash bags on garbage day with the rest of the trash. Who would go to F & G and confess you were killing "game"?
All you know is "Dey sleeps wid da fishsticks.":airtight:

[Genocide]

I've always had problems with coons and possums, trap 1 or 2 every 3 weeks. Had one in my addict last year tearing my insulation up, he got up there at a really poor time, I was making frogging gigs for my relatives.
I went up there and speared the little bastard with a trident gig. Hit him on the shoulder, the top two points went in his top shoulder, the third went through his arm into the wood pinning him down so I could put a pellet through his eye to kill him.

[Norton]

I used to coon hunt with my uncle and grandfather. The dogs treed one and we shot it twice with hollow point 22. t After that he male coon came down the tree to fight pack of dogs. My uncle had to shoot him a third time between the eyes. I learned this when a big male racoon is mad and wounded. They are fearless and will go after who they think has wounded them.

[Rampager]

As a word of caution:

The PA Fish and Game Commission occasionally drops food pellets for coons laced with anti-rabies vaccine cause it is so prevalent in the coon population around here. Coons are a big carrier of the rabies virus. If you see one in the daytime (not natural for them) stay clear from any contact with them. Regardless, always wear gloves when handling them dead or alive.

[Planning]

ok, here is the latest. the male killed the 2 baby raccoons in the attic ( did not know it for a few days) we spend yesterday and today ripping out sheetrock in walls and the attic. found the 2 dead raccoons in the far corner of the attic, one of the neighbors killed the male on friday and another neighbors killed the female.

what a mess, all outside holes covered up................

hopefully thats it for now.....................:rockon:

:airtight:

[RandyCOG3]

ok, here is the latest. the male killed the 2 baby raccoons in the attic ( did not know it for a few days) :rockon:

:airtight:

I'm confused: YOU didn't know they were dead, or YOU didn't know the male did it, or HE didn't know they were dead?
At any rate, by coincidence, I was discussing dead rodents from days gone by with an old-timer a couple of days ago.... at best we could dump embalming fluid in holes in the walls (at the place I worked); what the old timer said another, older, old timer told him was to get "lime" (as in hydrated lime, such as goes in the bottom of outhouses, or in the graves of mafia victims) and dissolve it in water and put in a sprayer and hose it all around the affected area, if you cant get to the corpus delicti <sp?>.

Not to belabor the point.... but I want a CSI-style investigation before we blame the male....

ON an ENTIRELY UNRELATED subject, I'd like to put in a request to those that make the "Smiles" icons, for a bouncy "We're glad you're dead" Smiley. I"m sure it will find numerous applications in the future. Thanks in advance.

BTW, I'm glad they're dead.:rockon:

RandyCOG3

[bullseye]

Now that that's over, every time I see those vikings with the flaming arrows, I think of the beginning of Men in Tights where they catch the village roofs on fire. :rolleyes:

BTW: Planning, glad your troubles have passed. :)

[jfowl31]

maybe all the coons are just playin possum so you stop attacking them, when really they are mounting a second wave of attacks. [/stroking fumanchu mustache]

[Planning]

a/c guy coming today to measure for new duct work and will install on friday. new sheetrock will be going up next week...................spraying will be done this morning for bugs, etc.........

[SteelCore]

with the help of the neighbors, no less!

"Had one in my addict last year"
-->Heroin or Meth addict? ;) I hate when I get varmints in the addict.

Hey, you tried the spear method too? It does a job on hissing possums, too. Use a dog to corner it, then I prefer the low underhnd "pool cue" style thrust. You can stick em and fling em at the same time! ;)

[Grasshopper]

"I'm not a Trekkie, but you need to beam your tribbles over to the Klingons, post-haste.


I suggest you send in a wave of Klingons with Battlefs and just tell em they are tribbles. (Scottie voice) They'll be no tribble atoll!

[wonderwolf]

Wonderwolf, you ever shot tannerite, it does get the attention of everyone at the range, hmmm and most folks within about a half mile to a mile.



Nah...But I've seen other people shoot at the stuff...Makes for great Long range handgun practice if you have a hot enough load so I'm told. I know some guys used to use ditching dynamite to practice on out at various distances :bash:

[okie shooter]

"I'm not a Trekkie, but you need to beam your tribbles over to the Klingons, post-haste.


I suggest you send in a wave of Klingons with Battlefs and just tell em they are tribbles. (Scottie voice) They'll be no tribble atoll!

From this source, http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Tribble

"Another glorious chapter in Klingon history. Tell me, do they still sing songs of the Great Tribble Hunt?" Security Officer Odo, from deep space nine, to Worf.

Sadly the Klingons send ships with warriors trained to eliminate them from the universe.

[fal_762x51]

I don't think it would have worked, but this is want I do for mice. Does anyone eat the instant mash potatoes? Tray of that, bowl of water. :nonono: Anyway, it sucks when they "explode" in the walls, but in a garage, it works.

[RandyCOG3]

I don't think it would have worked, but this is want I do for mice. Does anyone eat the instant mash potatoes? Tray of that, bowl of water. :nonono: Anyway, it sucks when they "explode" in the walls, but in a garage, it works.

Seems to be a variant of the seagull vs. Alka-Seltzer trick.

RandyCOG3

[okie shooter]

Its interesting what they use for rat poison now, they give them coumiden(sp) which just makes them bleed to death, enought for the rats, but not enough for the next thing that eats the rats.