Raccoons, continued

We have a fairly friendly opossum that we can send you , so the raccoons from Ken won’t be lonely. Our possum is already cat food trained, so just put some food out on your porch every night and set up a camera, and you can enjoy your own “Critter TV” that no one else in Alaska has.
Von Jones might even send you a whole family of raccoons if you get to liking them a lot ?
 
Yvonne Smith said:
We have a fairly friendly opossum that we can send you , so the raccoons from Ken won’t be lonely. Our possum is already cat food trained, so just put some food out on your porch every night and set up a camera, and you can enjoy your own “Critter TV” that no one else in Alaska has.
Von Jones might even send you a whole family of raccoons if you get to liking them a lot ?
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That's okay. It is illegal to own a wild animal as a pet here. Even the wolf hybrids have been determined to be illegal.
 
Don Alaska said:
I gave him the same advice @Shirley Martin. He was afraid his young sons would find out and report him to the MIL.
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This reminds me of when I was at my middle son's house for Thanksgiving. I was standing in the kitchen with Mom. The third stair-step granddaughter came to me and said, 'Grandma, my teacher said that you are hurting the raccoons.' I said, 'Well, she doesn't have to deal with them.' You think I tell those girls too much.:rolleyes:
 
Don Alaska said:
He lost all ten of his chickens to a raccoon.
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Best way I have found to save my chickens is to make the coop out of concrete blocks and steel. I have automatic doors that open and close at sun up and sundown and don't clutter or places for the raccoons to hide. Sometimes a hen reaches it's end of life and becomes a meal, but that's not often. The darn raccoons are not afraid of me, I think they are cute, but they certainly are vicious animals. The raccoons come for my chickens at night, they are persistent predators and chickens are delicious.
 
Axel Slingerland said:
The secret to success there is to put something over the trap so the raccoon can't see, then not tell it where you're taking it. :ROFLMAO:
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We just a few minutes ago found a young dead coon on the trail. Jake picked it up brought it back, got shovel and buried it.
Trap's need to be watched so the animal doesn't suffer. I don't like traps, but do understand sometimes there may be a need for them. Not sure how it died.
 
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Earl S. Much said:
Best way I have found to save my chickens is to make the coop out of concrete blocks and steel. I have automatic doors that open and close at sun up and sundown and don't clutter or places for the raccoons to hide. Sometimes a hen reaches it's end of life and becomes a meal, but that's not often. The darn raccoons are not afraid of me, I think they are cute, but they certainly are vicious animals. The raccoons come for my chickens at night, they are persistent predators and chickens are delicious.
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The son with the raccoon problem had a coop with an automatic closing mechanism and the chickens were trained to get in by the time it closed. I don't think many would invest in a steel and concrete chicken pen. The raccoons are just smart and can figure out when the thing closes and opens. We have plenty of predators, but no raccoons. When a brown bear decides to take your chickens, even the steel and concrete might not stop it. They have been known to disassemble a house to get at toothpaste when they are hungry.
 
Marie Mallory said:
We just a few minutes ago found a young dead coon on the trail. Jake picked up up brought it back, got shovel and buried it.
Trap's need to be watched so the animal doesn't suffer. I don't like traps, but do understand sometimes there may be a need for them.
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Every few years I get a mouse or two find its way into my house. I know they get in the crawlspace...and the snakes follow them in. I always use snap traps. I have snakes, owls, hawks, and beneficial mammals that all eat the mice (and each other.) No way I'm gonna poison the food chain.
 
John Brunner said:
Every few years I get a mouse or two find its way into my house. I know they get in the crawlspace...and the snakes follow them in. I always use snap traps. I have snakes, owls, hawks, and beneficial mammals that all eat the mice (and each other.) No way I'm gonna poison the food chain.
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We use mouse traps too, I wasn't thinking about rodents when I replied.
 
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Yep. Yellowstone Grizzly and Black Bears train their cubs to know how to find food for two years, and when they go off on their own they remember what Mama Bear taught them. I would assume that Alaska Bears are the same way.

I would love to see some Kodiak Bears before the bucket kicks me.
 
We had an apple tree where I once lived and it was a squirrel magnet. I built a live trap and relocated them, but it never reduced their numbers so I gave up. I also zinged them with a BB gun until I hit one in the eye and he really flipped like no other and ran. Later, I saw him come back staring at me with one eye. Felt guilty.
 
Ed Wilson said:
We had an apple tree where I once lived and it was a squirrel magnet. I built a live trap and relocated them, but it never reduced their numbers so I gave up. I also zinged them with a BB gun until I hit one in the eye and he really flipped like no other and ran. Later, I saw him come back staring at me with one eye. Felt guilty.
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Ed, are you kidding or did this happen?
 
We have had a terrible time with the squirrels eating all of the berries and whatever else looked good to them. They always ate the peaches before they get even close to ripe, and they absolutely love the figs from our fig tree out back.
When we started feeding the stray and feral cats, we did it to help the poor kitties and also in the hopes that they would kill the rats that are in the area of our neighborhood and under everyone’s house.

The cats have been helping with that, and an unexpected benefit is that they also go after the squirrels, so we do not have anywhere near as much problem with fruit and berries being eaten now.
The cats don’t go in the back yard as much because of Bobby’s big dog, so we still have to try and protect the fruit out there, but even so, there are very few squirrels anywhere on the property now.
 
Yvonne Smith said:
We have had a terrible time with the squirrels eating all of the berries and whatever else looked good to them. They always ate the peaches before they get even close to ripe, and they absolutely love the figs from our fig tree out back.
When we started feeding the stray and feral cats, we did it to help the poor kitties and also in the hopes that they would kill the rats that are in the area of our neighborhood and under everyone’s house.

The cats have been helping with that, and an unexpected benefit is that they also go after the squirrels, so we do not have anywhere near as much problem with fruit and berries being eaten now.
The cats don’t go in the back yard as much because of Bobby’s big dog, so we still have to try and protect the fruit out there, but even so, there are very few squirrels anywhere on the property now.
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Our old barn cat kept the squirrels and voles under control. I leave the squirrels alone unless they get into buildings and create havoc.
 
Don Alaska said:
Our old barn cat kept the squirrels and voles under control. I leave the squirrels alone unless they get into buildings and create havoc.
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I am telling you, squirrels are the best eating. I am not the shot I used to be but maybe I can set up a good brace and a lawn chair this year. They are being attracted by my daughter's bird feeder.
 
I usually am awaken in the middle of the night by the raccoons but this morning my bones could have jumped out of my skin. There was no build up to what I heard that I could have prepared myself. It was loud, it was mean, it was vicious and I heard faint whimpers through it to the end.

They were right at my back door but by the time I made it there and peeped out the door they had gone but I heard them in the distance. You may ask, 'What would you have done if they were still there?' Closed the door. :rolleyes: :ROFLMAO: :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO:
 
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