Raccoons

WV Sawmiller · July 28, 2020, 11:26:16 AM

We continue to have problems with coons getting into the dog food on and under the porch. Sampson is not aggressive enough (Maybe he is just smart enough to know better) to chase them off and will hunker down in his dog house while they steal his food overhead. Last night we chased them off twice and Sampson was inside the first time and I yelled at him to get them but no go. I set 2 live traps and caught one on its 3rd visit. It will not be coming back. We will see if the others come back tonight. I hauled one off a month or so back and released it next to the interstate hoping it would go play in traffic. :

Texas Ranger · July 28, 2020, 11:43:02 AM

Set my trap out last night for feral cats, had an unhappy possum this morning.

WV Sawmiller · July 28, 2020, 12:48:01 PM

Are you sure he was unhappy? Wasn't he smiling? :D

I saw a cottontail on the way to my barn yesterday. First one I have seen on the place in 2-3 years. Sampson ran around and smelled him a while but did not bark or see him. We were overrun with them and woodchucks when we moved here then we got the multi-flora roses cleaned out and they disappeared. Getting rid of the roses does not seem to have affected the coons.

Texas Ranger · July 28, 2020, 03:17:59 PM

Quote from: WV Sawmiller on July 28, 2020, 12:48:01 PM
Are you sure he was unhappy? Wasn't he smiling? :D

Strange critter, I opened the cage, he climbed on top and look at me a moment or so then took off in a straight line to field behind the house. I could almost see the thought in its head, "What was that all about, dude?"

Banjo picker · July 28, 2020, 03:31:31 PM

Coons love marshmallows. If they are going on a one way trip, ever heard of a coon cuff? Tim

WV Sawmiller · July 28, 2020, 04:00:44 PM

Banjo,

My son has one and maybe more. He likes it because dogs and cats and such can't get caught in it. I have some old marshmallows laying around and may try them for bait tonight and see if I can't find some company on Happy Mountain for the one from last night.

Old timers used to talk about catching coons by boring a hole in a log over a stream and putting a piece of foil or such at the bottom then driving a thin sharp nail in at an angle and the coon would see the shine and stick his paw in and get hooked on the nail trying to pull it out. I never tried it but seems reasonable.

Africans supposedly caught monkeys by placing a narrow necked gourd or clay jug where the monkeys were around and put a hard seed or such in there. The monkey would stick his paw in and grab the seed and was not smart enough and too greedy to release it so would be caught.

They would also catch pythons by staking out 2 chickens on either side of a rail fence. The snake would swallow one, crawl through and swallow the second chicken and be caught between the lumps. They'd come tie the snake to a pole, remove the top rail and carry it, the snake (Just in case the MM is checking my grammar and punctuation again :D), home.

Banjo picker · July 28, 2020, 08:36:41 PM

Put one marshmallow under the trigger, and then lay the other right on top....easy to get. Hay there is another one down there. Draw back is if you don't get one you get ants galore. Tim

WV Sawmiller · July 28, 2020, 09:29:00 PM

My grandfather had coons getting into his garden and was using steel traps. One coon figured out how to reach underneath and spring the trap and get the bait. He got by for while and Grandpa studied on it and turned the trap upside down and caught him.

We have ants but nothing like you do down there so won't be as much of an issue.

Banjo picker · July 28, 2020, 10:52:20 PM

If I get where I can trust these two terriers we just adopted not to dig out, they should keep the coons and possums out of my muscadines in the back yard. Last year was my first small crop and they got most of them.....just before they got ripe. They weigh about 25 lbs each. He is a little bigger than she is.

They were just playing tug of war with one of the grandkids flooties. The flootie lost. Tim

thecfarm · July 29, 2020, 05:39:24 AM

I had a dog that cornered a coon by the house, like a square "U". This was early in the morning, still dark out. He was just a barking, I knew that bark, he had something. I grabbed my Grandmother's 22 and a flashlight. I put the light on that coon and he was on his hind legs and all I saw was claws and teeth. My dog run behind me saying, you get him PaPa. :D I got him too.
Never had him back down protecting The Farm before. Smart dog.

Chuck White · July 29, 2020, 06:50:35 AM

Those marshmallows in a boxtrap will also get you some SKUNKS!

Banjo picker · July 29, 2020, 07:11:45 AM

I have an 8 foot fence around the back yard. Takes something that can climb to get in. Don't know if a skunk can or not; plus we don't have many around here. I have never seen one and only smelled one a couple times.

Old Banjo the pit bull we had never backed down from anything. He killed a couple coons in the back yard that didn't make it to the fence in time. Once he killed a possum in the living room floor.

Deb had been feeding some of the cats on the swing on the front porch, and had a small bag of cat food just inside the front door....real convenient. I had put new weatherstripping around the front door and you had to pull the door hard to get it to shut. I am laying in the bed about half asleep when she screamed "Banjos killed a possum! ...I said so what...then came "in the living room floor".

Possum evidently came looking for food in the swing, and didn't find any, but smelled some inside the door. A little push and he's in....wrong move.😉. Tim

WV Sawmiller · July 29, 2020, 09:03:14 AM

They stole the marshmallows and some bread out of the trap last night on the porch. I will reposition them some tonight and try again.

trapper · July 29, 2020, 10:58:35 AM

If you get a skunk in a box trap slowy walk up and cover it with a blanket. You can then take the covered trap anywear and either dispose of or release the skunk without it spraying. Once wife and I had lunch at mc donalds with a skunk in the trunk and no one knew.

WV Sawmiller · July 29, 2020, 02:38:44 PM

My dad worked with a guy who sold their foreman a "descented" skunk one time. The man bought it at the parking lot and left it in the car for the shift then when he got out there to go home he found it had not been descented. He eventually had to sell the car as he never could get the smell out of it. The foreman caught a lot of flack over that for a long time and would get fighting mad when someone brought up the issue.

My son killed one out by the trash then a few days later caught a young one there they figured was its kit. We tried to have it descented but our vet would not because DNR would not give you a permit to keep one. I don't think I have skunks getting on the porch - just coons. I guess I will find out.

stavebuyer · July 29, 2020, 03:31:57 PM

Long story but a funny one. I used to be gone on the road most of the weeknights and that left the Mrs to look after the house and the two terriers. Our basement door screen door had a pet flap for the dogs and we closed the wooden door behind it at night. The area immediately outside the basement pet door was a patio with 6ft chain link fence so the dogs were still more or less contained even when they went out the pet door unless we were home and opened the gate that a led from the fenced patio area into the yard. This was a wooded lot at the end of a dead end road. We had critters. I built a hinged enclosure for the trash cans down at the end of the driveway to keep the critters from dumping the cans and strewing the trash. Well my college-age live at home daughter had about one household chore and that was to haul the household trash out to the mailbox as the bags got full. More than once she set it outside the basement door until she got one of them round tuits even though I warned her and her mother that the ripe aroma of kitchen scraps was a critter magnet. Of course Ol dad was just being picky don't ya know. Well just so happened one fine morning the wife gets up before dawn and opens the basement door to let the dogs out. A startled full grown Racoon feasting on the trash left by the door inside the 6ft chain link fence is immediately attacked by our 9lb runt of a Jack Russel female that knew no fear. That fight didn't proceed exactly like the JRT figured it would. My panicking now fully awake bride sees her beloved lapdog in a death squeeze from the Racoon. Of course the 2nd dog being a double registered Treeing Feist has plenty of bark but also enough sense to not directly join the fray. Somehow the wife manages to grab a walking stick hanging by the door and open the gate. She wops on the the coon and it finally lets go of the little dog and makes a dash for the gate. The Treeing Feist in its haste to bark and keep things stirred up backs into the gate which has an auto latch that locks it back. Being JRTs are often too brave for there own good the dog attacks the coon a second time and gets promptly grabbed by the throat. I guess the mother instinct took over as the wife somehow used the walking stick to pin down the coon by its throat and it released the little Jack Russell a second time. By this time the offending college student has been awoken by the all the commotion and opens the gate and secures the dogs. The wife releases the coon who heads for parts unknown. The dog has a few scratches, the wife twisted her knee but not a single scratch from the coon. It was of course all my fault for not being home.

WV Sawmiller · July 29, 2020, 04:23:11 PM

Reminds me of the time I was home on R&R from an overseas assignment for a couple of weeks. The wife was teaching school and the kids were in school. My wife opened the front door then the screen door and hit Ugly, our old tortoiseshell cat, who was walking past with a chipmunk in her mouth. Ugly dropped her prey who was very much alive and took refuge up the nearest available source - Becky's pants legs. I woke up to the most gosh awful screaming you can imagine. My teenage son knew he was in trouble and went running out. What my wife was yelling was for him not to open the door as she did not want the chipmunk getting in the house. Anyway the story ended tragically about the time I got up and to the door when my wife accidentally stepped on the chipmunk. Things can happen real quick when you live in the country.

goose63 · July 29, 2020, 06:57:49 PM

WV that reminds me of a song about a church and a squrel in missippi

WV Sawmiller · July 29, 2020, 07:36:46 PM

This one?

https://www.bing.com/search?q=mississippi+squirrel+revival+video&form=ANSPH1&refig=96429f557017421ab7fe6f7ea39075f5&pc=U531&sp=1&qs=HS&sk=PRES1&sc=8-0&cvid=96429f557017421ab7fe6f7ea39075f5

goose63 · July 29, 2020, 07:50:00 PM

Yes sir thats the one

WV Sawmiller · July 29, 2020, 10:46:32 PM

I just heard a "Clank" a few minutes ago and went out and "processed" another coon. I had separated my traps and left one on the porch and put the other one beside Sampson's dog house/food dish under the porch. The one under the porch had an occupant. It is reset and I could have another one or two in the morning.

WDH · July 30, 2020, 07:06:40 AM

I think that Auburn needs another mascot. They already have three or four, so another one won't hurt......Auburn Raccoons. Hmmm, I like the sound of that.

WV Sawmiller · July 30, 2020, 09:34:19 AM

Danny,

Maybe I could borrow War Eagle #75 for a while to help clear them out. I'd see if UGA #83 was available but he is probably the only dog on the planet who is more worthless at coon hunting than Sampson.

My trap on the porch was sprung but no occupant this morning. The one under the porch might have smelled a little suspicious and no second catch there last night.

btulloh · July 30, 2020, 09:45:34 AM

Raccoons learn those traps pretty quick and then it gets a lot harder to catch them. I've even had them turn the trap on the side and then go in and get the bait without fear of the trap springing. After that I put a light on top of a 22 I use just for coons. Lead poisoning never fails, but you have to administer it personally.

Good luck. They can be real pests.

WV Sawmiller · July 30, 2020, 11:01:28 AM

Yeah, I have found enclosing the trap where they can't get to the bait from the sides or end is sometimes necessary.

I used to hunt coons with a world class 17 lb squirrel dog. I have a little Ruger 10/22 with a 2.5X scope on it I used for hunting squirrels ans rabbits. For a long time I would take the scope off for coon hunting at night. That was dumb! I finally realized how much easier it was with the scope on to see and hit that one orange eye up in the tree which was all you would often see on an a wary old coon who would sit up in the top of a tree and cover one or both eyes.

If I can ever get Sampson to bark at them we can solve the problem quick enough. My son has a dachshund mix that has a lot of potential and pretty fearless that I might should borrow but he is a house dog and the granddaughters would fire me if I got Teddy hurt in a coon fight.