Racoon in my wood pile

I have a cord+ stacked on my deck covered with a tarp. I move it up in the last month. A couple nights ago, the cat started going nuts at the door! Upon investigation, I found a friendly racoon. I banged on the door and he backed off a few feet. I cracked the door, and he ran up under the tarp covering my wood. This morning I went out. I hit the tarp with a broon stick, and once I convinced myself he wasn't there, I pulled back the tarp. Found a nice pile of racoon "gifts" in the middle of my stack. I am going to leave the tarp off for a while with the hopes of discouraging him to stay. Anything thing else you guys recommend?

Once in a while I see them or their tracks in backyard here in town.1/2 acre wooded lot with large old cottonwoods + other stuff behind apartment building 2 doors north of me.Old neighborhood with lots of mature trees.Long as they stay outta my garage I dont worry about it too much.

One evening June 2010 I seen a young one peeking out from behind one of my tarps.Wasnt even dark yet.It was pretty tame,didnt wait for me to finish putting cracked corn underneath the swing before it stayed close by to watch me.2 stacks have about a foot or so gap between them,covered with tarp.Pretty sure either an opossum or raccoon sleeps under there occasionally.Also the neighbor's cat when he spends most nights outside during spring,summer or early fall.

I have not used this personally but I've heard some ammonia keeps them out of the garbage. Maybe some in a spray bottle will discourage them.

I has a similar problem. I had about twenty raccoon "gifts" on a roof. I figured he was climbling up a rose of shannon tree so I put a sling around it and used a come along to bend the tree away from the house. No luck she still kept coming back

If I were you I would move the wood pile. IIRC the poop can become toxic after it drys out.

Raccoon feces carry a deadly parasite.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baylisascaris

Take a flamethrower (weed burner) to any leavings. Otherwise, do everything you can to discourage raccoons around your property, especially if you have kids.

Raccoons come up to my back door to visit , all the time ,they only hang for a few minutes ,no problems ,never seen any feces

Apparently I have an undocumented Chipmunk in my stack behind the garage.
Noticed I didn't have as many Jalapenos as I normally get out of the garden.
Picked a few sticks out of the pile and I see something bright red - a hoard of my jalapenos ~40 of them tucked away for winter.
I wonder if it's droppings will be toxic?

Chipmunks are on our side!

My trouble are the dang red squirrels. They've already chewed through three strings of Christmas lights, and I haven't even had the formal lighting ceremony yet.

Cheers, and good luck with the coon.

I took out 8 red squirrels on a 1 acre property this summer. They were way too many of them. Half were with rat traps, half with a pellet gun. The pellet gun was way more fun.

I'd be taking care of that raccoon also. There isn't anything good that can come of one that isn't afraid of people. A 220 conibear in a bucket will make real quick work of him. Make sure you check local regulations though. Some have specific ways you have to set the conibear so that a domestic dog doesn't get his neck snapped in one.

Matt

Daniel Boone comes to mind.
Coon skin cap

When's trapping season?

Raccoon ain't bad eatin

I have a .308 that works really nice and there are a few other tricks one can use. Some might frown on this but they quickly become so thick they are some of the worst pests we have. For those who grow any corn at all, they quickly learn to hate those critters. We dispose of 1-2 dozen of them every year and the neighbors do the same. Yes, there are that many around.

One of the worst things that happen are the idiots in towns who live trap them and bring them out to the country "where they won't do any harm." Of course with corn selling $7.00+ per bushel one can realize really quick what harm they can do. And on the feces, it can be one of the worst smells to get rid of. Rotten for sure.

Get

Live trapping is an odd thing to get ones head around. Why make it somebody elses problem? I'd prefer not to deal with live trapped animals. They all have teeth and I haven't met any too happy about being in a trap. I bring a .22 when I check footholds. I prefer a conibear.

Matt

Dennis I had to read all of these post before someone said anything that makes any Cents' Power to the Gun.

I have seen this here and on other boards, what the heck does "IIRC" mean??

We have a dingbat around the corner that feeds them, people can be really dumb.

If I Remember Correctly

If I recall correctly.

If you see a chipmunk with flames coming out his azz, you know which one it is

I had 5 possums on my deck the other night, turns out my wife left some cat food out by accident She wont do that again, the next two nights they came back looking for their snack, I let my dog out and they scattered, she had one hanging from a skinny branch upside down with her barking up a storm, they havent been back since.

A live trap lets you release the neighbor's cat unharmed. A .22 barrel will fit through the wire of the trap and make them easier to let out.

I used to have neighbors that fed the damn things. The racoons weren't afraid of people which made it easy to hit them with a shot of pepper spray when they came up on the porch.
In my new neighborhood, a .410 seems to be the deterrent of choice.