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lakngulf
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Intruders!!

As many of you know I am in my second year of a garden completely encapsulated with roofing tin and two strands of hot wire (except over the water, no hot wire).
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That has worked well to keep the squirrels out of my tomatoes, and the raccoons away from my sweet corn (both critters have enjoyed a lot over the years). Well, I was working in the garden recently and noticed some droppings, large enough for raccoon, and it was the color of Butternut Squash. (some of you will remember what I thought was yellow squash turned out to be butternut this year). I looked around, and more poop. Near the door I noticed digging where some creature had tried to get out.

So, I concluded that a raccoon had gotten in the garden (thru an open door I hope, and not thru my ft. know barricade) and could not get out. I set a trap (with butternut squash as bait) and found this the next morning.

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There was enough sign that I thought there might be another critter. Sure enough I set the trap the next night and got the same result. How many more are there? I will not be home for a few days so I could not leave the trap set.

At least some of the Butternut squash was eaten!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :twisted:

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rainbowgardener
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I can't really tell from the picture. Is that a wood chuck? If so, probably not a bunch of them.

gumbo2176
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I enlarged the picture and it sure looks like a coon to me.

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lakngulf
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rainbowgardener wrote:I can't really tell from the picture. Is that a wood chuck? If so, probably not a bunch of them.
Raccoons. And there are tons of them in the neighborhood. I need to thin the herd.

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applestar
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I guess they chose their last meal.

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Gary350
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Drive the racoon down the road about 5 miles and let it out.

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jal_ut
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You want to drop the trap in the pond. An hour later come clean it out and toss the carcass in the trash. Please do not release them to pester someone else.

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lakngulf
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Gary350 wrote:Drive the racoon down the road about 5 miles and let it out.
My neighbors would not like that!

bri80
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You will do nothing to "thin the herd" by killing this animal. There are probably a dozen wandering around for every 1 that you actually see. They are part of our environment, like it or not. Please don't think you're helping to eliminate a "pest" problem. You are only killing an innocent animal trying to find something to eat. Figure out a better way to raccoon-proof your garden, and let this guy go in the woods somewhere far enough away.

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Gary350
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bri80 wrote:You will do nothing to "thin the herd" by killing this animal. There are probably a dozen wandering around for every 1 that you actually see. They are part of our environment, like it or not. Please don't think you're helping to eliminate a "pest" problem. You are only killing an innocent animal trying to find something to eat. Figure out a better way to raccoon-proof your garden, and let this guy go in the woods somewhere far enough away.
If it were me I would drive to a local State Park or National Park or Wilderness Area an release the racoon.

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KitchenGardener
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Well, he certainly looks well fed, sorry to say!

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jal_ut
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Quote: "You will do nothing to "thin the herd" by killing this animal. There are probably a dozen wandering around for every 1 that you actually see. They are part of our environment, like it or not. Please don't think you're helping to eliminate a "pest" problem. You are only killing an innocent animal trying to find something to eat."

It really is OK to protect your interests from marauders. If the growers of this world did not, we would have nothing to eat. You can bet the farmers who grow the corn and wheat that show up in your menu have controlled the critters.

thanrose
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It's a different strokes sort of thing. We live in such a variety of places and situations that no one answer fits all. I'm sure lakngulf did not expect to do more save get some sympathy and show off his ingenious garden.

bri80
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jal_ut wrote:Quote: "You will do nothing to "thin the herd" by killing this animal. There are probably a dozen wandering around for every 1 that you actually see. They are part of our environment, like it or not. Please don't think you're helping to eliminate a "pest" problem. You are only killing an innocent animal trying to find something to eat."

It really is OK to protect your interests from marauders. If the growers of this world did not, we would have nothing to eat. You can bet the farmers who grow the corn and wheat that show up in your menu have controlled the critters.
No need to get angry, I'm just expressing my opinion. I have a family of raccoons that traverses my backyard every night. There is nothing that prevents them from accessing my garden. They never eat anything.

I currently have a rat that is eating some ripe tomatoes. I'm working on a strategy to repel him/her with essential oil spray, rather than killing him/her. Why? Because I live in a city! There are rats! They're here. They're not going anywhere, no matter how many I kill. I can kick some out of my yard, but that just opens up the space for other rats to come in and start over.

Same thing with raccoons. The idea that killing two raccoons that entered your garden will somehow prevent the dozens of other raccoons living in the neighborhood from doing the same is kind of silly when you think about it. Basically all you're doing is opening up new territory for other raccoons to fill. This has been studied and has been shown to be true... eliminating a natural part of the ecosystem from an area will result in nearby animals filling the niche that has been vacated.

If it makes you feel better, I can't stop you, but you also can't stop me from pointing out how ineffective and outdated of a strategy it has been proven to be.

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jal_ut
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"If it makes you feel better, I can't stop you, but you also can't stop me from pointing out how ineffective and outdated of a strategy it has been proven to be."

Ineffective and outdated? FYI, I am rather an old man at this point. I grew up out in the boonies of Northern Utah. My Dad had a 150 acre farm. At one point the darned little ground squirrels had become so numerous at one spot that they had completely denuded over an acre of Dad's cropland. So he handed me the ol single shot 22 rifle and a carton of shells (500) and said: "Go kill those squirrels!" I confess, I did not get them all, but reduced their numbers to the point that Dad could get a crop. Yes, at times it becomes necessary to protect our interests if we are to have a crop.

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lakngulf
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Sorry to cause any problems. I am happy with my garden enclosure. I think the raccoons got in when I had the door open and could not get out. I caught two and those two WILL NOT get any of the fresh corn that will be ripe this week.

I have found no new droppings in the garden, so I think those were the only two that got in. AND, I still have plenty in the neighborhood!!!

Image

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thanrose
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You didn't cause any problems, lakngulf. You just provided a healthy reminder that we are really pretty diverse here.

Love all the critters, big and small. Doesn't stop me from planning to eat conejo tomorrow night.

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jal_ut
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I garden on the plot out back. No fence, it is wide open country. Yes, I have raccoons, skunks and a deer now and then. I find that placing a radio in the corn patch tuned to the local talk station frightens off most of the critters. Crows can also be a pest at times. they will come sit on a corn cob and peck the top till they can eat the kernels off the top side. If you are going to grow a garden, expect some pests, that is just the way it is.

thanrose
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Ha! A radio tuned to a local talk station would keep me away, too.

My grandpop b.1892 d.1973 told me to always plant three times as much as I thought I could use. Part goes to pests, part to weather, and some of the rest to me as long as I give away a good portion. He had good sense. I did not inherit it, apparently.

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Raccoons have no natural predators and since they find tons of food in peoples garbage they don't suffer from natural peak/crash cycles. They also commonly contract and spread rabies and several other diseases/parasites which are very harmful to people. They are also extremely smart, once you trap and release a raccoon you won't catch it ever again. A formerly trapped female will teach her young to avoid an area where she was trapped.

If translocation was legal, which it is not now in many states, 5 miles is not far enough. Their range can be more than 5 miles across. 20 miles would be better but really is not good for the raccoon. Your drop-off becomes an intruder in the new territory and can spread disease/parasites into an area where they might not be present.

And yes, there are more than you realize. One year we had a serious raccoon problem and I trapped and eliminated 23 raccoons. Several more were hit by cars in our general area.

When the fur bounty was eliminated the raccoon population exploded since they have a nearly unlimited food supply thanks to people providing food for them.

Once an occasional visitor becomes and unwanted resident, your best bet is to trap and kill the animal. Relocating a raccoon is dangerous. It is also illegal to do so in Alabama.
from this site:
https://www.aces.edu/natural-resources/w ... ccoons.php

As for the "plant enough for wildlife too" adage, good luck convincing the wildlife that they need to leave some for you. I've had deer damage all my melons in one night. I've had groundhogs damage all my tomatoes in a few days. I watched squirrels take all my tomatilloes, sunflower heads, sweet corn and peaches in a matter of hours. And I'll never forget the mama groundhog that brought her babies to devour my lettuce patch in under an hour.

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jal_ut
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When I lived on the lot out on the river, I took a cable and tied it to stakes with a pulley on the cable and tied a hound dog to the pulley with a short chain. He had the run of the length of the corn patch. He pretty well kept the critters out.

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lakngulf
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Right after the Eclipse today I picked corn from the garden. Thank goodness it was there to be harvested.

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KitchenGardener
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Okay, something has been eating my zucchini plant. Not the zucchini fruit, but the stalks of the leaves - I imagine for the water content? Anyway, to my surprise (and its surprise!) I saw it tonight - a small mouse. If it had to be a rodent, I'm glad it was a mouse and not a rat. Anyway, I sprayed it with a pepper spray, but I think its a goner...



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