'Coon problems
We have an outside cat that gets fed on our deck. We bring the food in at night so as not to tempt the skunks and 'coons but it doesn't seem to be working all that well. Evidently the 'coons still smell the food even though we bring it in and they get up on the deck and raise hell. We've had as many as four up there at a time. I've had a live capture trap set for a week but the only thing I've caught is my own damn cat!
I always check before letting the dogs out and the other night there were two of the little buggers out on the deck. I grabbed a push broom and got them shooed off the deck. There was much cussin' and growlin'! Those little bastages must have thought it was their deck 'cause they sure tried to stand their ground!
This morning at about 4:30 I let the dogs out to do their business. Unknown to any of us was that there was a 'coon holed up under a small table! The dogs ran right past him on their way down the stairs to the yard to pee. That's when the masked bandit bolted from under the table and headed for the stairs. The dogs heard him and reversed course, now heading back up the stairs and herding the pissed/terrified 'coon straight at me!
Anyway, a short meelee occurred between the dogs and the raccoon and at some point I managed to get a foot in there and punted him off the deck.
(Checked the dogs real good and no injuries visible.)
I'd shoot the little vermin but we live just inside the city limits and of course discharging a firearm in the city limits is verboten. Unfortunately my wife the cop is kind of a stickler for little rules like that. :roll:
I might have to wait until she's out of town to bust out the 10/22 with singly loaded shorts...
I always check before letting the dogs out and the other night there were two of the little buggers out on the deck. I grabbed a push broom and got them shooed off the deck. There was much cussin' and growlin'! Those little bastages must have thought it was their deck 'cause they sure tried to stand their ground!
This morning at about 4:30 I let the dogs out to do their business. Unknown to any of us was that there was a 'coon holed up under a small table! The dogs ran right past him on their way down the stairs to the yard to pee. That's when the masked bandit bolted from under the table and headed for the stairs. The dogs heard him and reversed course, now heading back up the stairs and herding the pissed/terrified 'coon straight at me!
Anyway, a short meelee occurred between the dogs and the raccoon and at some point I managed to get a foot in there and punted him off the deck.
(Checked the dogs real good and no injuries visible.)
I'd shoot the little vermin but we live just inside the city limits and of course discharging a firearm in the city limits is verboten. Unfortunately my wife the cop is kind of a stickler for little rules like that. :roll:
I might have to wait until she's out of town to bust out the 10/22 with singly loaded shorts...
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You need to use a baseball bat instead of a broom.
Sure, it is nasty, but you will discover the same (nasty), if you don't do something about those critters.
Alternatively, if the legal stickler wife will not allow "normal" processes, ask her to send out animal control from City Hall and let them deal with it. NOTE: Proper notification should be employed, if they plan on showing up at 4:30 AM.
Edit:
Just thought of another idea. Have the stickler wife shoot it with her "official" weapon. I mean . . . you know . . . with her special privileges and all.0 -
NeoBlackdog wrote:I'd shoot the little vermin but we live just inside the city limits and of course discharging a firearm in the city limits is verboten.
I have a neighbor whose son lives in town. Now it is only about quarter mile to the city limits, but that is still in town. Anyway, over the last several years the son and his wife have shot several deer, a mountain lion, and just in the last month two bears.0 -
Live traps wave to be set with one end open and the bait under the tray. They are sneaky.
The best way I know to get rid of them is to bang a pan, yell or have the dogs chase them up a tree. Being nocturnal, take a flashlight, a scoped 22 or pellet gun and look for their eye shine. Coons always look into the light and have huge retinas making giant eye shine. A 22 0r a pellet between the eyes brings them down and dead before they fall.0 -
Cage the cat for a couple nights and use a 220 Conibear in a bucket set. Bait with dry dog food. It will kill them instantly with no noise.
Keep resetting until you stop catching the disease ridden cute little trouble makers.
Be Very careful. A 220 Conibear can break your arm and kill cats, small/medium size dogs, etc.........0 -
If there's a cougar in the yard it's dyin', laws be damned, and my wife won't even bat an eye. The 'coons, nuisance that they are, don't quite rate that treatment... Yet. I don have permission to start shopping for a suppressor, so maybe some good will come of this yet!!!Horse Plains Drifter wrote:NeoBlackdog wrote:I'd shoot the little vermin but we live just inside the city limits and of course discharging a firearm in the city limits is verboten.
I have a neighbor whose son lives in town. Now it is only about quarter mile to the city limits, but that is still in town. Anyway, over the last several years the son and his wife have shot several deer, a mountain lion, and just in the last month two bears.
GHD, I thought about the Conibear. The problem is that there are too many neighbor cats and dogs that could wind up in it.
Were I further out I'd have already tried that option.0 -
Back home in Alabama, raccoons get on the porch, Mama just chase them off with a broom. 0 -
I've trapped a lot of coons, both at the house and in the woods. If you are not catching any in your live trap most likely you just need a better set up. Unlikely all of those coons are wise to the trap. Block the sides and back with cinder blocks, the side of a building, side of the trash can a combination of things, what ever. Just make sure the only route to the bait inside is through the door. Make sure your trap is working right, Bait it with what works. Canned fish works, but so does nuts, bread, dog food, cat food, peanut butter and a ton of other things. I usually spread a few nibbles outside and a couple inside in front of the trigger. Of course it will be more effective if it is in the common route they travel to your porch. Don't leave the coon in there very long, especially a big one, they can bend the door or sides and get out. I prefer to just shoot them, but if I decide to turn one loose I take it at least 10 miles from the house.
If you are going to shoot them you may look into the dog proof traps. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/830507084 I bought some at the local farm store and they work really well, I think mine are duke brand. I spread a little bait around the trap, and of course the bait in the bottom of the trap. The coon reaches down in the trap for the bait and sets the trigger off when they pull up on it. Something your dog can't do. A cat might, but I haven't caught one yet. I have caught a squirrel in one and I'm sure a possum of skunk is possible. If I were to trap for fur again I would add these to the arsenal, they are effective without a big set, just the trap and bait. These work much better on coons than a steel trap set, and I've caught a lot of coons in steel traps.
Buy some .22 cb's , short or long it doesn't matter https://www.gunbroker.com/item/834260527 they aren't plum silent but they are very quite so if you are out of site of the neighbors you should be good. Things like this are when a man has a use for a single shot .22. Shoot them in the brain, haul off and pitch.
Edit: To be clear, I place the primary bait in the back. I was just talking about coaxing him into the trap with the few nibbles outside and in the front. It seems I left that part out as I took for granted this was a given.0 -
Cookies are awesome bait the cats will not be attracted and the coons can't resist sweets. An arm hold trap with cookies is 100% effective in holding them making the 22CB shot easy. A unreal poison that works FAST is fly bait mixed with coke or some other soda. They lap it up and seldom go 10 feet. My neighbor used it to thin the herd of them and killed 11 in one weekend. Two were found face down in the bait pan dying DRT without making it out of the pan. 0 -
Yeah, we've had that problem here in the Atlanta area for about 150 years now. 0 -
I got rid of the suckers at Grandma's house with my sons long-abandoned paintball gun. Outside they got the regular paintballs, in the attic they got pepper balls. Not only was it fun it was effective.
The Pepper balls up in the attic are persistent and helps keep them from returning. I didn't use the Pepperballs outside because of the dog.
Grandmas neighbors aren't going to tolerate much, they'd call the law if you farted too loud.0 -
I allways used leftover fried chicken bones in the box trap for bait, never failed to get possum or coon........... 0 -
The dog proof trap is the way to go. Work great. Use a marshmellow for bait in the bottom of the tube. I trap, and havent caught anything but coon in them yet. 0 -
JimmyJack wrote:The dog proof trap is the way to go. Work great. Use a marshmellow for bait in the bottom of the tube. I trap, and havent caught anything but coon in them yet.
Marshmallows are good bait, work in the live trap too. In a live trap eggs work good for a variety of critters. My buddy in SD has even caught badgers with eggs. The dog proof traps are the most effective trap I've ever used for coons.0 -
Had the same problem with a young medium sized coon on my front deck last fall. I was raising chickens in the backyard at the time and knew it would be only a short matter of time before the two got together.
I went out to the garage and grabbed my Havahart trap. Had a can of free cat food that a store giveaway was promoting that had been up in the cupboard a long time and just opened it and placed it in the trap.
Before I even got back inside the house, I heard the trap shut. Coon caught!! I didn't feel like dealing with all of the blood guts and bury that morning so just put the trapped coon in the back of my car and drove to a nice setting along the river about 10 miles away. The little bugger seemed to enjoy the ride and the free meal as he left the can shiny clean. He even left me a tip! :shock: :? 0 -
Havahart trap- cookie or a few grapes UNDER the pedal. CC 22 CB Long in the ear.
Or you could call the ATF, tell them that is your dog on the deck wearing a mask, guarding your untaxed whiskey. They will come shoot it for you.0 -
+1 with big hava heart and peanut butter... 0 -
The yotes have been here a while too. Just started seeing armadillos down near peachtree city. Have not seen them north of town (yet)Smitty500mag wrote:Yeah, we've had that problem here in the Atlanta area for about 150 years now.0 -
Peach slices for bait, as the cat won't touch them. I use a bolt action with cb 22 longs from the bedroom window & the wife doesn't even wake up. 0 -
Coons on my deck left my bird feeder alone after I dosed some with hot sauce.
If they come back I'll visit the local Thai place and get a little of their "best"!0 -
we had 3 coons hanging around ( nothing new ) and 3 to 4 skunks , all were eating the chicken eggs and feed + the dry cat food we leave out
I think the skunks convinced the coons to leave . at some point several weeks ago
the skunks have been here all year so far ( born back in the spring they sprayed one of our dogs when it got cornered . but now have adjusted to the place :shock: the cats chickens ducks all get along with them and even us ( wife and I ) . my wife after watching them play and interact with the cats has a hands off the skunks law :? but they do not cause no problem except rob a few eggs eat some dry cat food along with the bugs they catch
as long as they behave I just let them share the place . about dusk they come out if they feel no real treat to there life they just mosey on maybe a tail flip just as a reminder but they do it ( threaten ) each other also , they hate to waste there defense system if at all possible
as for the coons well there again my wife use to have one come up to her at night looking for handouts more of a out door pet , , I have live trap them and take down to the river
they and take them down to the river have a sweet toot for cookies and marshmallows for sure give them a try for bait
wife loves all animals unless ther a threat or sick I am forbidden to dispatch them
oh wife told me a ground hog has moved in he will be leaving as soon as I see him , and I made the wife understand no foundation or large hole issues needed :x0 -
I?m up 9 so far this year. And only home on weekends. Can?t wait to retire, I think I can beat the home record of 32 in a year, after the masked buggers peed on my motorcycle from the barn rafters. They started it, and I?ll finish many of them.
Why not try a Gamo pellet gun?
May be legal in town, quiet and effective.0 -
Get a live trap and use pet food for bait. If you catch "Momma" first, you'll catch the rest of the family over the next week. If you catch a young one first, you may have to wallop Momma with a shovel to reach the trap. All the same just a different venue. What you do with the trapped critters is your choice but there may be regulations about moving the trapped animals vs killing and disposing of the carcass. 0 -
NeoBlackdog wrote:
I'd shoot the little vermin but we live just inside the city limits and of course discharging a firearm in the city limits is verboten. Unfortunately my wife the cop is kind of a stickler for little rules like that. :roll:
I might have to wait until she's out of town to bust out the 10/22 with singly loaded shorts...
Have you thought about using a .22 pellet gun? Quiet and lethal...0 -
wpageabc wrote:+1 with big hava heart and peanut butter...
Right
and as long as you leave food outside they will keep coming.
You need to try to get smarter than the animal you are after.0 -
Another quiet way to dispatch trapped animals is to just submerge them (trap and all) in a pond, tank, river, creek, lake, body of water. Drowning them and you have no blood on your hands. 0 -
Freeze the paintballs, like shooting a silenced muzzle loader.Hessian wrote:I got rid of the suckers at Grandma's house with my sons long-abandoned paintball gun. Outside they got the regular paintballs, in the attic they got pepper balls. Not only was it fun it was effective.
The Pepper balls up in the attic are persistent and helps keep them from returning. I didn't use the Pepperballs outside because of the dog.
Grandmas neighbors aren't going to tolerate much, they'd call the law if you farted too loud.0 -
I can be a heartless s.o.b., but I don?t think I could do that.Brookwood wrote:Another quiet way to dispatch trapped animals is to just submerge them (trap and all) in a pond, tank, river, creek, lake, body of water. Drowning them and you have no blood on your hands.0
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