How to Keep Racoons Away!

[Tudo]

We have about 1 acre of woods behind out house. We try to rescue as many cats out of there as possible but lately the raccoons, dozens of them are coming around crapping in the backyard, ripping open the garden and keeping the food from the cats.

Is there an air rifle or something you would suggest that would strongly convince the raccoons that they should move and harass someone else? No capital actions please! Help!

 

[LyryC]

Fortify that trash and they won't have any reason to mingle in your neck of the woods.

Take away the food sources...

 

[tehmaster]

Raccoons are scared as hell of dogs of just about any type , they recognize them as natural predators.
You could go to wal mart and get a small, BATTERY POWERED AUTOMATIC , airsoft gun (little plastic bb's ) The sound of the electrics and gears whining as you shoot full auto is very strange for an animal to hear, although the bb's will be too weak to even leave a mark. All the bb's bouncing around and the sound of it will scare them.

Preferably i use a spotlight or strong flashlight, then loudly walk around once i spot one , they will slink away. If not i let that little airsoft gun go off and they get out quick. Dogs hate them and they hate dogs .

 

[tehmaster]

Just about any type of less than 60 dollar pellet or bb rifle from wal mart will give them a "Strong Convincing" without ever penetrating their skin from range.

 

[Tudo]

So a Beeman R7 Elite Series Combo air rifle isn't auto and overkill?

I just went to amazon and copied and pasted automatic airsoft gun and came up with a bunch of them. How about this one Winchester Model M 14 Semi-Automatic CO2 Air Rifle ?

Has to also be quiet. Click click is ok, bang bang not ok.

We bought a little pellet deal from walmart but you have to load and pump it for each little pelley. Meanwhile the raccoons are having a good laugh over that and now there's more of them. So auto or semi auto is important and something that they won't laugh off but move.

The goal is to at least buy the feral cats some time to eat.

 

[tehmaster]

So a Beeman R7 Elite Series Combo air rifle isn't auto and overkill?

I just went to amazon and copied and pasted automatic airsoft gun and came up with a bunch of them. How about this one Winchester Model M 14 Semi-Automatic CO2 Air Rifle ?

Has to also be quiet. Click click is ok, bang bang not ok.

We bought a little pellet deal from walmart but you have to load and pump it for each little pelley. Meanwhile the raccoons are having a good laugh over that and now there's more of them. So auto or semi auto is important and something that they won't laugh off but move.

The goal is to at least buy the feral cats some time to eat.

Tudo the beeman r7 combo rifle is the one with the interchangeable barrels if i'm not mistaken? Well if it is, i put it on my mother's life that you don't want that. I had that pellet gun, and due to the fact that the barrells are interchangeable, it ended up the barrell would always be loose. I implore you do not buy into the two barrel trick. I was sorry i did and returned it. A loose barrel on a precision rifle means it's not really precision anymore.

A pellet gun of the "break barrel" variety will be enough to really really get them moving, and most likely a kill if you get a good brain or neck shot especially. Have you ever picked up a dead raccoon? They are DENSE motherfuckers and alot tougher than the average cat .

Hit the raccoons with your strong light, hold the flashlight on the side of the pellet rifle (after getting good with it at day time) shoot that little rat, and GIVE CHASE. Let him know it's you who did this and you're coming for his life. A good pellet shot is enough to make one never come back,(a great one with the intent to kill will drop them) it's enough that my uncle uses one of those "pump up every times" to keep feral dogs away and i''ve seen it work .

Check out the Youtube channel " Edgunusa " to see many different types of pellet rifles, and multiple pest hunting applications. He reviews the 5000$ dollar rifles you power with scuba tanks , and the regular ones at your local wal mart.

Also i would not recommend a c02 semiauto pellet rifle as they are prone to jams, and inconsistent strength/accuracy. A break barrel pellet rifle and flashlight will just about knock them from the tree.
The choice is yours, since they are currently not responding to the weaker pump up rifle, when you get that break barrel do you shoot him in the neck and lungs for the kill or do you shoot him in the thigh to scare him off? If you want the choice of something that's gonna "ring his bell" a break barrel pellet rifle that you can shoot well will really do you well.

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

Do you have something against wild birds? Putting food out for the feral cat population isn't going to help anything. That is the cause of your raccoon problem. If you want to shoot the coons, get a laser pointer for your air rifle.

 

[Tudo]

We are involved in trap and release and have also found homes for cats. Is that problematic too? Thanks for your input. The vultures and other lovely birds will have to find their own advocate elsewhere as will the raccoons. The lowlifes and dirtbags who have rented and purchased houses in this neighborhood only to abandon their pets when they leave are the people who need a good ass kicking for creating this problem in the first place.

We will feed them all but if they insist on violence toward the cats we will inflict the same on them.

 

[Tudo]

Tudo the beeman r7 combo rifle is the one with the interchangeable barrels if i'm not mistaken? Well if it is, i put it on my mother's life that you don't want that. I had that pellet gun, and due to the fact that the barrells are interchangeable, it ended up the barrell would always be loose. I implore you do not buy into the two barrel trick. I was sorry i did and returned it. A loose barrel on a precision rifle means it's not really precision anymore.

A pellet gun of the "break barrel" variety will be enough to really really get them moving, and most likely a kill if you get a good brain or neck shot especially. Have you ever picked up a dead raccoon? They are DENSE motherfuckers and alot tougher than the average cat .

Hit the raccoons with your strong light, hold the flashlight on the side of the pellet rifle (after getting good with it at day time) shoot that little rat, and GIVE CHASE. Let him know it's you who did this and you're coming for his life. A good pellet shot is enough to make one never come back,(a great one with the intent to kill will drop them) it's enough that my uncle uses one of those "pump up every times" to keep feral dogs away and i''ve seen it work .

Check out the Youtube channel " Edgunusa " to see many different types of pellet rifles, and multiple pest hunting applications. He reviews the 5000$ dollar rifles you power with scuba tanks , and the regular ones at your local wal mart.

Also i would not recommend a c02 semiauto pellet rifle as they are prone to jams, and inconsistent strength/accuracy. A break barrel pellet rifle and flashlight will just about knock them from the tree.
The choice is yours, since they are currently not responding to the weaker pump up rifle, when you get that break barrel do you shoot him in the neck and lungs for the kill or do you shoot him in the thigh to scare him off? If you want the choice of something that's gonna "ring his bell" a break barrel pellet rifle that you can shoot well will really do you well.

Thanks Tehmaster, just want to sting them not hurt them. She's trying to feed them too with bowls of food on either end of the yard lol but that didn't work too well, suddenly have 10 cats and 50 raccoons not to mention the damn vultures.

 

[Wiggs Dannyboy]

Who ya gonna call?.....

 

[resinryder]

There are only 2 ways to get rid of them.
1- Kill em
2- Don't have ANYTHING out that they can feed on.

Once they find a food source they will not leave it. Be it cat food, dog food, garbage cans, chickens, etc. They will do some serious damage to another animal or even a human if they feel threatened. I have seen 1 coon tear up a pack of dogs before either being killed by them or running away. They can be a vicious little critter.

 

[Tudo]

There are only 2 ways to get rid of them.
1- Kill em
2- Don't have ANYTHING out that they can feed on.

Once they find a food source they will not leave it. Be it cat food, dog food, garbage cans, chickens, etc. They will do some serious damage to another animal or even a human if they feel threatened. I have seen 1 coon tear up a pack of dogs before either being killed by them or running away. They can be a vicious little critter.

I was hoping somebody wouldn't say that.......

One of the cats was just left outside a house 4 doors down when these.......people just left and moved away. We didn't know until after I had cat houses made and my wife had been feeding several cats and the raccoons seemed to go along with what she was doing as she was also feeding them lol ( and the birds and the possums etc etc etc )

We saved that cat. Turned out to be Feline FIV positive too. I talked the local vet, our vet into putting it up for adoption if he felt the cat was nice enough. A single man in his 60's who just lost his 20 year old cat walked into the vets place and Zuchini ( what we named him ) meow meow meowed to him, he even said the cat spoke to him and all we know from the receptionist is they are now best friends, the cat went from under the bed the 1st night to on the bed the 2nd to on the mans lap after that and they are happy ever after. There's several more than we know for a fact were house cats and abandoned. We are trying everything we can to save them.

 

[dickcorn]

100% with resin ryder none of that other crap will work raccoons are smart and will just wait for you to leave and return.
Option#3 live trap and relocate, might not work if you have 50 though

 

[resinryder]

I was hoping somebody wouldn't say that.......

One of the cats was just left outside a house 4 doors down when these.......people just left and moved away. We didn't know until after I had cat houses made and my wife had been feeding several cats and the raccoons seemed to go along with what she was doing as she was also feeding them lol ( and the birds and the possums etc etc etc )

We saved that cat. Turned out to be Feline FIV positive too. I talked the local vet, our vet into putting it up for adoption if he felt the cat was nice enough. A single man in his 60's who just lost his 20 year old cat walked into the vets place and Zuchini ( what we named him ) meow meow meowed to him, he even said the cat spoke to him and all we know from the receptionist is they are now best friends, the cat went from under the bed the 1st night to on the bed the 2nd to on the mans lap after that and they are happy ever after. There's several more than we know for a fact were house cats and abandoned. We are trying everything we can to save them.

Happy ending for the kitty.
Sad what people do. Have a friend that's a realtor. He has gone into houses here and found both live and dead animals that people have just moved off and left.
Others are driving out to the desert and turning their horses loose, I'm guessing they think they'll take up with a mustang herd, but it doesn't work that way.
Personally I feel such people should be stripped and have the ever living shit beat out of them.
People never cease to amaze me any more.

 

[blastfrompast]

crossman backpacker pellet gun in .22

If you get the un-tuned version, take it appart and fill the bleed hole with JB weld.

It has killed the following larger animals with 1 WELL placed shot...Groundhog, Skunk (this took 2)..Headshots...Mine goes through the bottom of a metal coffee can with ease. Oh and plenty of rabbits...

Sometimes firing the 870 or .22 is just not kosher..even living in the stix...

 

[BOMBAYCAT]

Hey Tudo: Last year I had a problem with the Raccoons tearing up the garden because of the fish emulsion I was feeding the plants. Anyway someone suggested moth balls you get at the $1 store. They stink up the back yard but no Raccoons yet. The grapes are almost ripe so that will be a test to see if they come around.

 

[Crusader Rabbit]

She's trying to feed them too with bowls of food on either end of the yard lol but that didn't work too well, suddenly have 10 cats and 50 raccoons not to mention the damn vultures.

Situation sounds hopeless.

 

[dagnabit]

paintball gun

 

[yortbogey]

LARGE quantities of ground CAYENNE pepper....
sprinkled....EVERYWHERE in the area's they have been frequenting....
one sniff.... and HOT~SHITT.... there nose is on fire... and there headed for the hills....
all the others will quickly suffer the same.... and haul ~ass elsewhere.....

 

[Tudo]

Hey Tudo: Last year I had a problem with the Raccoons tearing up the garden because of the fish emulsion I was feeding the plants. Anyway someone suggested moth balls you get at the $1 store. They stink up the back yard but no Raccoons yet. The grapes are almost ripe so that will be a test to see if they come around.

Yeah but what about the cats who we're trying to help?

Stop it with the hopeless nonsense

My health may be hopeless. You may be hopeless. Freedom may be hopeless. But this situation isn't hopeless and I'll post pics of Zuchini who will melt your heart. I forgot to say, after he was abandoned he was trapped and released! Poor guy, when the cats are t&r'd the vet clips the ear so that if/when animal control sees them again they know they've been neutered and therefore hopefully don't go after them. This poor guy you will see when I post his pics ( when he was homeless ) they used a paper puncher or something to mangle the little guys ear. He is absolutely one of the most loving cats I've ever seen and we're so happy he's in someones home how making them happy. It's a two way street.

Three way if you consider the fact that we're overjoyed.