How to keep raccoons away

[bill]

In article , [e-mail] says...

[Nick Hull]

EZ way to get rid of the coon is to take it (in the trap!) to your local coon dog hunter. It'll help train his dogs to coons.

[Adam Russell]

You dont know much about electricity it appears. Static electricity is completely different from transformer electricity. When you get a shock from static electricity it is 2-4k for only an extreme fraction of a second. I dont remember how short exactly (1ms comes to mind), but it is the brevity that saves you. As it swiftly runs out of electrons the voltage falls to zero. Power out of your wall does not fall off. At all. That 120v will deliver 1mA or 15A depending on the resistance of what you are powering and only limited by your circuit breaker or fuse. If you were to put a penny in the fusebox it could deliver 1000's of amps with no problem except that the wires would get hot. So putting it through a transformer will not reduce the amperage available to any safe amount. 4000v will kill you, and it matters not whether it is DC or AC.

Now as to the matter of electric fences, when I was a child my grandpa told me to stay away from the electric fence surrounding the cow field. He said it would kick me like a sledgehammer. He could have been pulling my leg, but I imagine that anything meant to coerce a cow would hurt a human. OTOH, a raccoon is not a cow. The question is open whether you could make a fence with enough jolt to keep out racoons but not enough to hurt 3 year olds. I personally doubt it.

[Adam Russell]

Yes but they dont use static electricity in electric fences, do they?

[Ann]

Not if the dog is trained. When I lived in the city, where most houses had postage-stamp back yards, the majority had at least a couple tomato plants AND a dog.

[Ann]

OK.

I relocated som opossums and it went fine. Placed the trap so when I opened it, the critter was facing toward some brushy cover.

Unless you're sure it isn't prohibited, be stealthy about it.

About an electric fence ... Assuming yours are standard raccoons, they'll raid the garden at night, so it wouldn't be on during the day. I wouldn't put one outside the chain link in an urban area in any event, but it should be possible to attach one to the top with some kind of angle brackets (pointed in). The raccoons would get zapped on the nose when they come over the top of the chain link.

[Ann]

He never showed you how to take a stalk of timothy, start by holding the end and touching the other end to the fence ... then shortening the distace between your hand and the wire until you felt the electricity?

Dairy cattle are more sensitive than humans to electricity. "Stray voltage" that humans don't notice can decrease their production. My REC (rural electric company) will come out and check the barn if a problem is suspected. With any animal, you want them to touch their nose (wet and no hair) to the fence. A trick with bear is to hang bacon from the wire.

I wouldn't have an electric fence positioned-so and/or on-when a 3-year old could get to it. But, worst case, it could certainly hurt, but I don't think harm him/her. An additional precaution is to use a battery operated fence to limit the amperage in case the tranformer malfunctions.

[styxx374]

Oh, for cryin' out loud....

I grew up on a farm, and as kids we grabbed the fence tons of times when we thought it was off. It hurt like hell, but it didn't kill us. Just sent us crying to mom.

Ig..don't know what state you live in, but in PA the Game Commission will remove nuisance wildlife at no charge....

You dont know much about electricity it appears. Static electricity is completely different from transformer electricity. When you get a shock from static electricity it is 2-4k for only an extreme fraction of a second. I dont remember how short exactly (1ms comes to mind), but it is the brevity that saves you. As it swiftly runs out of electrons the voltage falls to zero. Power out of your wall does not fall off. At all. That 120v will deliver 1mA or 15A depending on the resistance of what you are powering and only limited by your circuit breaker or fuse. If you were to put a penny in the fusebox it could deliver 1000's of amps with no problem except that the wires would get hot. So putting it through a transformer will not reduce the amperage available to any safe amount. 4000v will kill you, and it matters not whether it is DC or AC.

Now as to the matter of electric fences, when I was a child my grandpa told me to stay away from the electric fence surrounding the cow field. He said it would kick me like a sledgehammer. He could have been pulling my leg, but I imagine that anything meant to coerce a cow would hurt a human. OTOH, a raccoon is not a cow. The question is open whether you could make a fence with enough jolt to keep out racoons but not enough to hurt 3 year olds. I personally doubt it.

[rot13]

Ignoramus15189 pontificated wisely that:

Given that the racoons are nocturnal you would only need to turn the fence on at night when presumably your 3yr old would be inside.

I can second the recommendation for Premier. Their customer reps are very helpful and knowledgable. I called when I was setting up fencing for our goats planning on getting a fancy combination of electric twine, HT wire, fiberglass line posts, metal corner t-posts and a solar-battery energizer. After asking what I wanted the fencing for their rep suggested electric netting, some plastic corner posts and an energizer with 9v alkaline battery. Saved me a bunch of money and I've been very happy with the system. Kevin Miller [e-mail] (rot13)

[rot13]

Ignoramus15189 pontificated wisely that:

Check out an airgun: Not the Daisy bb gun many had as a child, but an adult pellet gun

Don't know about where you are but here in MA firearms are highly regulated to the point I cannot use one on my 12 acres, but an airgun is not considered a firearm and has very little restriction. Check your local reg because some U.S. states and towns, as well as other countries, do restrict airguns significantly.

Also be sure to carefully check your local hunting regulations. Many places, including MA, have an "exemption" to the hunting season rules that give property owners the right to destroy wildlife in the act of causing damage or threatening personal safety.

Good luck.

Kevin Miller [e-mail] (rot13)

[Des Perado]

Are you sure it is raccoons? We have a fairly large veggie garden and there are lots of raccoons around, but they don't damage the veggies. Des

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[Ann]

Me too, Northern Tier. I did see them drive by with the bear barrel once, but I wouldn't hold my breath for them to remove anything else.

[Anthony Aversano]

Where I live (a little north of Seattle, Washington) you have to pay for this service unless you can show they are injured or diseased. I had a family of 4 destroying my ponds last year and was told to either live with it or pay the cities subcontractor $300 to remove them. And keep paying about $75 per animal after that as new ones arrived to fill the created void.

Tony

[bill]

In article , [e-mail] says... <

[zebrin]

he ground.

------ In the ancient days they used a mote.

You had one around your castle... with a drawbridge.

Zebrin

[Richard Cline]

I have no love for raccoons. They have killed too many of my pet ducks. They kill just for the fun of killing as they do not eat the meat. Dogs are fairly effective at chasing them but you want to make sure your dog is big enough that it will be the winner if it actually catches the raccoon. The Have-a-heart trap is good. However my idea is to submerge the trap in the swimming pool if you actually catch a raccoon.

Dick

[jitney]

*** Next time your aldermen or county council meets for budget deliberations, show up. When the animal control people put in for their appropriation, point out their dereliction of duty. Pack the gallery with your supporters if you can, with the press if they will send a reporter. Democracy in action.-Jitney

[Adam Russell]

No, there's a difference. A static charge of 1000v will (in most cases) dissipate so quick you barely hear the snap, where 1000v ac or dc will kill you more than likely. Now that I think of it some, it may be that they *do* use static electricity for fences. Looked up electric fence on the internet. What I read doesnt explicitely say static charge, but they are talking about powering it with a low voltage battery so that does kind of imply a short lived charge.

[bill]

In article , [e-mail] says... <

[Susan (CobbersMom)]

And you'll be laughed right out of the building. The AC people are hired. They do what they're told to do, they pick up what they're allowed to pick up. The aldermen are ELECTED. They are the ones who need to change the policy if the AC don't pick up wildlilfe. I used to be an animal control officer which usually means a glorified dog catcher. I was paid to pick up stray PETS. Because I also was a wildlife rehabilitator they said I could pick up wildlife but wouldn't get paid for it. Only reason I could legally pick up wildlife is because of my rehab license. Sue Northern Wisconsin