Raccoon: how to keep if off my vegetable garden?

[sapote]

I failed to trap this one - it's too smart to get the fish bait inside the trap. Last night I placed the fish/meat inside a plastic bottle with some thumb size holes cut out, and hang the bottle with the wind-bell about 12" off the ground, hoping it will try to pull the bottle around and ringing the bell for me to aim the air gun. It didn't touch the bottle and dug up the 4" mustard-greens seedlings all around looking for worms. I am running out of ideas. Might try cover the soil with hot chili flakes.

Also, there is a squirrel I couldn't trap it: it licked off all the peanut butter outside the trap but didn't get inside for a bigger meal. I used to get all of them this way but not this one.

[Jack, Nipomo]

Raccoon are common here and essentially own the night.  Have dealt with them in my pond and also the garden, but enjoy having them around.  Not so much when they enter the house through the dog door (now just close it at night.)  We have used an electric fence used for cattle, dogs, etc.  Wires are not very visible and it has kept them out of the pond and garden.  Now and then I hear a grunt or cry from an encounter with the electric fence. They don't come back to that area.  We now have few issues with them.  Integrated Pest Management from UC: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/home-and-landscape/raccoons/pest-notes/
It is illegal to relocate them, but I have used a Hava-a-Heart live trap previously and moved some to nearby river locations where they can live out their life.

[sapote]

Tonight I will lay a 24"x24" chicken wire on the ground, connect it to AC neutral (grounded), then secure a 6" dia cardboard on the center of the chicken wire, as isolator. Then on the cardboard will secure a metal pan with fish/meat, and the pan is connected to 110v hot wire. The chicken wire will be staked to ground so nothing can move and might cause short circuit to the hot pan. When it walks on the chicken wire, nothing will happen, but when it licks the pan, it will remember not to get near any pieces of chicken wires. Will place a few pieces of chicken wire around the plants to reinforce the conditional response.

Will use a timer to disconnect the power to the setup in the early morning or I pull off the cable from the outlet, whatever comes first.

[spaugh]

Please video this.

[spaugh]

You could get a large live trap also and put food in it for a few nights and let it get used to going in for a reward then set the trap.  Trail cameras are useful also if you dont already have one.

[W.]

Shoot it right between the eyes (with a proper gun, not an air gun) and it won't bother your vegetable garden ever again.

I know some people won't like that advice. A few years ago, I probably wouldn't either. But, I have had too much experience with raccoons to think any positive thoughts about them. People in the old days were right about raccoons: they are vermin. Ravenous, destructive, disease-riddled vermin.

I tend to trap mine, though. Peanut butter is a foolproof bait in my experience.

[Jack, Nipomo]

Using 110 VAC on raccoons might have unintended consequences on dogs, children, or even the poster.  Much safer is the hotshot version which is very high voltage with low current.  It works with large animals like horses and cattle and they learn to avoid wired areas.  Been dealing with raccoons for almost 50 years, tried many things.  In my trapping days, I removed many only to create an opening for another one to move in.  Watched many viscious fights between raccoons from indoors.  Our population seems stabil now and we sometimes pass in the night, but garden and ponds are left alone (still electrified.)  Electric fence chargers are pretty cheap.

[palmcity]

Tonight I will lay a 24"x24" chicken wire on the ground, connect it to AC neutral (grounded), then secure a 6" dia cardboard on the center of the chicken wire, as isolator. Then on the cardboard will secure a metal pan with fish/meat, and the pan is connected to 110v hot wire. The chicken wire will be staked to ground so nothing can move and might cause short circuit to the hot pan. When it walk on the chicken pan, nothing will happen, but when it lick the pan, it will remember not to gear near any piece of chicken wires. Will place a few pieces of chicken wire around the plants to reinforce the conditional response.

Will use a timer to disconnect the power to the setup in the early morning or I pull off the cable from the outlet, whatever comes first.

Pictures of project completed?

If vermin standing on cardboard and touching pan = no charge passage hot to neutral
If vermin standing on pan and eating in pan = hot only with no circuit completion.
If vermin lick the pan while standing on pan or cardboard = no circuit completion.
If Vermin standing/walking on wire and then touch pan = Completion of circuit. Correct?
So, hopefully vermin does not walk over wire and onto cardboard and or on pan and eat it all and then simply walk off first on cardboard and then to neutral wire without being on both neutral wire & pan (no jumping allowed animals). Animal might jump from chicken wire to pan and not get circuit completion also.
If carboard is cut to about exact measurement of pan sounds better than a large piece of cardboard allowing escape; correct? Probably secure cardboard to pan and hope animal does not flip it/drag it upside down for circuit completion for a long period of time if fuse does not blow.

Just guessing... Pictures???

[sapote]

Will take pic after I built it up tonight.

24” x 24” chicken wire mesh and only 6” diameter cardboard in the center with 5” pan on top, then it doesn’t have any cardboard to stand on the hind legs. It can’t stands on the pan to eat food unless it jumps over the chicken wire and landed on the pan (if it does this then it’s not a real raccoon but a Bot with the latest AI software running).  It either touches the food pan with highly sensitive/dexterity paws, or licks the pan and receives a conditional response shock. This won’t kill cats as I had seen it in action when I used this method to deter the cats from harassing my outdoor canaries  (the gangs of cats first got on and sat on the grounded chicken wire mesh (placed a few inches away from the bird house perimeter), licking their lips and sharpening their claws with a file, until one of them reached up with front paws to climb up the chicken wire bird house, then I heard a high pitch Meeeeoooo, and its arcing back was like a deep U shape, spring off 4 ft high like a rocket, and all ran away for a few weeks, then the next gang came again).

Yes, I have to be very careful with this simple 110v setup, but this is a quick solution for tonight. I will use one of the cheap Polaroid camera flash light circuit – high voltage discharge flash light with over hundreds of volts but low current so it is not deadly to human and animal but a good painful shock – instead of 110v household power.

[sapote]

You could get a large live trap also and put food in it for a few nights and let it get used to going in for a reward then set the trap.  Trail cameras are useful also if you dont already have one.

I have been setting the 24” long large trap with fish/meat inside for every night of the week, and it ignored the bait and dug up the vegetable. I think this one was trapped and either escaped and many hours fighting, or was released and learned.  I was quite surprised that it didn’t even touch the fish bait in the hanging bottle last night – hanging fish in the air  looks to suspicious? I hope fish in the pan looks  more natural, except the small connected wire. I’m worried that its whiskers can sense the electrical then walk away before licking the pan. Maybe I should half cover the pan to force it using the paws sensitive skin to open it.

[Rispa]

Tie your trap open and feed outside the first night then progressively farther in, then the night after you feed all the way in take the tie off.

[spaugh]

You could get a large live trap also and put food in it for a few nights and let it get used to going in for a reward then set the trap.  Trail cameras are useful also if you dont already have one.

I have been setting the 24” long large trap with fish/meat inside for every night of the week, and it ignored the bait and dug up the vegetable. I think this one was trapped and either escaped and many hours fighting, or was released and learned.  I was quite surprised that it didn’t even touch the fish bait in the hanging bottle last night – hanging fish in the air  looks to suspicious? I hope fish in the pan looks  more natural, except the small connected wire. I’m worry that its whiskers can sense the electrical then walk away before licking the pan. Maybe I should half cover the pan to force it using the paws sensitive skin to open it.

Ok, try using a foot trap.  Theres always a way to win.  Dont let them win, you are the boss sapote.

[1rainman]

Seedlings should be covered with a piece of screen. Like what they use for windows or pool cages. There's rats, birds, squirrels, racoons etc. Chicken wire is good to put around larger plants then net or bag fruit.

[sapote]

I was spending a few days in ER recovering from electrical shock accident.
Not really. I had a second thought about the electrical shock – I wanted to capture the bad animal instead of scaring it away. Doing more research and got the recipe for the best raccoon bait: mix up these ingredients together – marshmallow , concentrated vanilla, strawberry flavor Kool-aid powder, strawberry yam. It smelled fantastic and no doubt the raccoon will notice this . Made a food trail from inside cage to the front of trap door, covered the cage using old car cover and placed leaves on top of the metal mesh floor. That Friday night it ate all the food in front of the cage door but didn’t touch anything inside the opened door, few inches away. I can feel the frustration of the animal -- wanting to eat the food inside but scared to get in. It was so mad and dug up many volcanoes around, and damaged the mustard green badly, 5x of the normal digging activity. Very mad I thought. Saturday I left more bait at the door and disable the trigger to let it eat free of fear for a few nights while we’re away for the night. Came back on Sunday and nothing happened – it didn’t come. Last night I added some more fresh bait, and also covered the ground around the mustard greens with Cayenne hot chili powders I had learned from internet. It did come and dug 2 smaller holes near the mustard but no more – the hot powders worked!!! It also dug around the trap but didn’t touch the bait – needs more testing times? Tonight I will leave a trail of food further away from the trap to let it feeling more comfortable and eventually forgets about the trap and gets inside the cage for the food.

If this doesn’t work this week, I will set up the electrical shock. I might even use the high voltage circuit from the electric fly swatter with 4500V: I zapped a small moth last night  with sparks flying and a surprising loud fire cracker like noise – flied it instantly. This 4500V will be painful but won’t kill a human as it’s not a continuous current.
https://www.amazon.com/Hodiax-Rechargeable-Handheld-Electric-Mosquito/dp/B09WSYLN1F/ref=sr_1_29?crid=1YMGIHVE2ZC38&keywords=electric%2Bfly%2Bswatter&qid=1683582200&s=lawn-garden&sprefix=electric%2Bfly%2B%2Clawngarden%2C162&sr=1-29&th=1

[sapote]

At the same time, I also have a very smart squirrel: It ate the peanut butter around the cage but didn’t get inside for more food. It’s a two door trap but I normally closed one door and set the food near this end to make sure the animal is deep inside when the other door snaps down.  So I read that the animal feels more safe if both doors are opened and it feels safe to not being trapped with a dead end (closed door). On Saturday I tied up the trigger and had both doors opened for it to eat free food for the whole day, came home on Sunday and added more food in the case. Then in the evening I went out to add more food and set the trigger, thinking I will nail it on next morning. Went out at 9am this morning, and both doors were closed and the peanut butter were cleaned out, but no squirrel!!! How? For this particular trap, I placed PB on the ceiling above the trigger plate, on the plate and under the plate, thinking it will trigger when it tries to get the food sticking to the under side of the trigger plate. This has been working all the time until now.
https://www.amazon.com/Havahart-X-Small-Release-Rodents-Animals/dp/B0000DINGG/ref=sr_1_7?crid=3FFQFCDNG1YO8&keywords=squirrel+live+trap+2+doors&qid=1683583403&sprefix=squirrel+live+trap+2+doors%2Caps%2C135&sr=8-7

Side note: I used to use this trap for rats and squirrels, worked great but the squirrel cut a hole and escaped. I patched up with thicker chicken wire but its teeth are stronger than steel chicken wire. I ended up bought the two-door Havahart with larger metal wires and it’s non destructible so far.
https://www.amazon.com/Kensizer-Animal-Humane-Chipmunk-Outdoor/dp/B07331WZ6G/ref=sr_1_3_sspa?crid=3NRGBAS0V0QWJ&keywords=squirrel+live+trap&qid=1683584083&sprefix=squirrel+live+trap+%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-3-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyR1o4NEc1VzBLNjVHJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwMTU2MjQ4MTVNMjJOVEpGVjJKUCZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwNTc4MDcwMlBFTlBRTEE5SUM3TiZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX2F0ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

[Malhar]

I have the same Havahart trap and have noticed that traps is not long enough for some of the squirrels. Squirrel's tail gets stuck under the door which does not close all the way allowing squirrel to escape.

[Finca La Isla]

Lots of interesting ideas, sounds like fun except for the damage. How about using a dog?
Peter

[SD Dan]

I have a squirrelinator to handle my garden nemesis. The trap is a bit expensive now but they've worked really well for me. I've seen videos on youtube of DIY versions if you want to save a few bucks

[Enkis]

Don't have racoons here but had a similar experience with herons eating fish from my pond.
I saw one around my pond from inside my house, my dog, a jack russell, was outside barking at him from a distance of 20 meters, the heron didn't care at all.
They don't give up and will eventually figure out if something is not a real threat. I had a fake heron statue decoy which i think it worked for some time until they figured out it's fake. People online say you are supposed to move it around from time to time to not give it away but i don't think it would have helped much.
I had to net the pond and after more then a year now some will still come to pay a visit and inspect the whole perimeter to check if there's a way in.

Good luck with your racoons.

[sapote]

4500V trap is set: metal window screen is GND and brake disk on white plastic bucket cover is hot 4500v.
I removed the fly swatter 4500v circuit for this.
Bait: hot wings and T-bones.
Captured picture from Wyze security camera.

[sapote]

Well, at 9pm a stray cat wanted to test it first.

"This scares the flies, not me!"
Then it yelled like a lion:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4xuXy8EqyM

Don't know why it didn't Meow or scream, but sounded like that. Any idea?

[spaugh]

Its very cool my friend.  Good job with the traps.  Trapping is an art form and you are an artist.

[palmcity]

I have a very smart squirrel: It ate the peanut butterl!!! 

Game should have been over by now... It ate the peanut butter = You should know how to end it's existence (rats/squirrels).... Mix 50% baking soda with it.

Squirrel should have been on the bus to squirrely heaven by now...
Also 1/2 baking soda & cormeal mix just in case it's taste change...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBeySuYvdbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLvpNIO84hA

Also, either a racoon or opossum enjoyed chewing on typical rat food bars for about a week (Large enough animal to pick up the bar and eat it above the bricks it was placed in). But it/they no longer chew on it... I think they jumped on the bus also.

Yes, my squirrel/rat population is down since using 50% baking soda with cornmeal and/or peanut butter placed in plastic containers like from empty cottage cheese.

I still like the bars securely placed for larger critters.

[sapote]

It's interesting about baking soda kill rats and squirrels. Thanks for the info.

[sapote]

Finally 2 days later a coon shown up on 5/14. It got zap and jumped so hard that pinched a tiny hole on the wire -- enough for the high voltage to ionized the air and arcing onto the grounded window screen -- the wire wasn't shorted to the screen but the pin holed insulator allowed the air to be ionized and arcing.
(It ate some grapes so fast, then accidentally stepped on the hot wire black alligator clip clipping on the bait chicken wire cover, so the electrical current flown from left paw through the body then out the right paw on to the screen.)
Fly zapper scared the big fat coon.
No more digging the last 2 nights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYGlMZrrCy0