petem, I use a horse corral fence charger to energise an electric fence around my pond.
I installed it after my pond had been raided and torn apart by raccoons, they also ate most of my fish.

The fence is about six to eight inches high. I made my own posts from 1/2" PVC water pipe to support the wire [ tie wire,bought from a hardware store].
With the plants growing around it, the fence is hardly noticeable, at least to me!

My friend has a formal, rectangular shaped pond, with flat pavers all around the edge.
He installed 1/2" copper pipe all around, supported and insulated from the pavers, with short legs made from 1/2" PVC pipe. It does not look out of place at all and works very well.
Both fences are controlled by a plug in timer that switches it on at mid-night and off again at six AM.
Raccoons normally, do their raiding after dark. I expect yours will, especially now it knows that you are aware of it visiting your pond during the day time.

Your net will more than likely be adequate as a deterrent to keep the raccoon from catching your fish, but they are very determined creatures and will keep trying to obtain a meal of fish from your pond.
You would not believe the damage and destruction they leave behind them, unless you have seen it first hand.
It can be total devastation.

If you get a family of raccoons vying for a fish dinner from your pond, they will tear the plants apart, upset plant pots, turning the pond into a mud hole and possibly do damage to the liner with their sharp claws.

There was a member of this forum,some years ago, who posted an alternate method of control. She would leave a bowl of dog food and a bow of water out for the raccoons to dine on every night. She said they had their meal and never bothered her pond or fish.
Each to their own. Personally, I don't want them in my yard at all!
There is a link below to a page where you will see information about "Fido Shock". An electric fence kit for pet control, used by pond owners for the purpose of keeping unwanted visitors away from their ponds.
"Horton"

Here is a link that might be useful: Fido Shock link

I had troubles with Great Blue Herons who ate half our fish before we put a net up. That keeps them at bay in the summer. A raccoon won't be deterred by a net - he'll just rip it apart. Everyone has raccoons around, we had one in the yard continually taking our peanut feeder down. He was a clever fellow because I made that pretty tough to do. Thankfully he never ventured into the pond, possibly because he really wanted those peanuts. It's frozen solid except for the area near the bubbler most of the winter, so that's a deterrent in itself. I have not used an electric fence, but it makes the most sense if raccoons cause that much devastation. They're just as persistent as herons. The diversion feeding technique isn't a bad idea - it works for me with squirrels who raid my bird feeders. And it worked on that raccoon. You know he's going to come back, so might as well put out some food for him to distract him from your prized fish in the meantime.

I am a fan of the Scarecrow water cannon. When I am not at the pond it does a good job for me. On the other hand, I am often at the pond at night(see my name) and I see all sorts of animals comeing to the pond. It is quite enjoyable although some of the animals are entirelly too ready to be friends. I let them enjoy themselves unless they are doing damage and then I speak harshly to them and they usually quit. If the raccoons get too rambunctious or pushy the hose comes out and they back off. Sandy

Id' set a live trap and re-locate him. Feeding him will do no good....he will invite all his friends over and soon you will be feeding dozens of them. Relocating him a few miles away will work very well.

ccoombs1 is right about all the raccoons that will show up. LOL! The thing that bothers me about relocating them is it is usually a death sentence for the one dropped into what is essentually the enemy camp and if it is a female she probably has kits that will starve to death without her.

there is only one fool proof way to keep out raccoons and herons for that matter.

get a dog.

bears, dingos, lions, and perpetual frat parties are also effective if used properly.

Unfortunately, a raccoon can easily kill a dog.

I agree Hoov, a raccoon could very easily kill a dog.
I have relocated several raccoons using Have a Heart traps to a local preserve, over 30 miles away with LOTS of wetlands.
Relocating them a few miles away won't work...they find their way back.
Believe me, I spray painted one of my raccoons ...just a little bright orange spot on his rump....while it was inside a Have a Heart trap, to prove that raccoons can travel miles to my hubby. He was back in less than a week.
It's a PITA to relocate, but I can't shoot them.

i have to disagree.

i don't know what kid of raccoons you guys have that go around killing dogs. or what kind of dog you have that a raccoon would would mess with it without being rabid or forced defend its life.

we will on occasion lose a small dog to a mountain lion here, but without fail it end up being a very old and desperate animal. last year we had 3 bear attacks on humans, one fatal, but no dogs. in fact when we backpack here we take a dog which serves as bear and mountain lion repellent. granted the dog would loose in any confrontation, but the larger animal will nor risk the injury unless it it forced to to preserve its own life in some way. bears do not hunt wolves. they do not even hunt badgers which are much smaller. in the animal world avoiding conflict is the first priority.

here is my point. raccoons though they can be vicious if put in the wrong situation, but so is a squirrel and will do everything to avoid that situation. they will avoid conflict with other animals at all costs because even a small injury can be fatal in the end. raccoons are opportunistic omnivores. the will eat mice, fish and small birds if they can catch them. however, the do not hunt in the traditional sense of the word. there is no instinct or behavior that would bring a raccoon into conflict with a dog.

the dog however is just a domesticated wolf. the wolf dose hunt and does consider a raccoon as a viable meal. fido is not as fully capable or desirous to eat a raccoon as his wild cousins, but he does retain many of the same instincts which vary by breed. the raccoon sees no difference and will retreat and avoid what his instincts tell him is a predator that wants to eat him. unless it is trapped, the raccoon will retreat and quite quickly.

we live in the foothills of the rockies with a creek a half block away. we have plenty of very large and brave urban raccoon. i hear them fighting with each other, see their tracks and occasionally see them driving at night. we have a pond with fish and even keep our dog food outside. the raccoons do not venture into our yard and my dog is in no danger. while living in montreal, we had some semi domesticated raccoons that would show up within seconds of hearing you take out the trash and even take scraps from you hand. there was one that had to have been 40 lbs. but even ge would not come into our yard when the neighbors german shepherd was out on the other side of the fence.

could a raccoon kill a dog? possible yes, but very unlikely unless it was a very small dog. it is far more likely that the raccoon like a cat would avoid the dog and retreat.

don't go get a dog for this purpose, but i can tell you for certainty that they two will not exist at the same time in the same space.

What?!

Have you ever had a dog corner a raccoon?
Around here, raccoons can get up to 40 pounds (at least).
A raccoon will fight like a bear, EXACTLY like a bear to defend itself.
It can take on a dog twice it's size and shred it, rip it's throat out, exsanguinate it.
It's called the survival instinct.
A raccoon is a wild animal, which instinctually will fight for it's life.
A pet dog is a domestic animal. It does not fight like a wild animal.
Not a raccoon: Once threatened or cornered...it defends itself, and goes for the kill.
My dad was a veteriarian, and had to euthanize MANY dogs because of raccoon wounds from fights.
I have seen some of the dogs he has treated and euthanized.
You would think the dog fought a bear.
Raccoons don't domesticate. They may seem friendly, even 'semi- tame', but they are still wild animals...capable of acting like a wild animal at any given moment.
And they kill dogs. Fact.

Eh? Really?
I mean, I've heard of raccoons drowning dogs crossing rivers....but I've not heard much about fighting raccoons in general. Old raccoon-man and his people are a cowardly folk, as far as I can tell (which is surprising due to their size).

The raccoons come for the cat food around here; and, during the summer, they come up onto the back deck to swish around in the big, cherry tomato water-tub.

Although the raccoons snarl and bluff quite a bit, I've had a lot of success getting them to retreat with an ordinary broom.

We must remember that *rabbits can disembowel wolves and other predators, but these exceptions do not prove the rule. For the most part, your dogs are safe.

Good luck!

Josh

I don't have a dog but there raccoons hereabouts. I would like to hear more about the effective use of perpetual frat parties--I must say, one of the more innovative suggestions in some time. Gives new life to treating raccoons to a few shooters.

my point is that a raccoon will avoid a dog and thus the yard. if a dog ends up at the vet, there obviously was a fight the raccoon probably did not fair well either if the dog was of equal or greater size, probably died. wild animals avoid conflict. the raccoons here avoid the dogs and the yards that contain them. for our own purposes we have hightened the territorial and protective instincts of the wolf, and breed out some of it's common sense. compared to wolves dogs are more more bark than bite (joke there for any other zooligistadult wolves are incapable of barking). dogs will force a conflict, the raccoon will not. if it happens quickly or in a confined space where there is no retreat, there will be a fight for sure and the bigger animal has the advantage for certain. some dog breeds would do better than others. i would take the odds on a 15lb jack russels over a 40 lb raccoon, but take 20 lb raccoon over the 40 cocker spaniel. my dog would track, then point, but not get closser than 4 feet from a raccoon, that is what his breeding tells him to do. if the raccoon was foolish enough to attack, it would be cut from the gene pool in about 3 seconds (my dog is an 85lbs hunting breed). but that never happens, because the raccoon would always retreat over the fence. i say would because they do not enter the the fenced portion of the yard because the dog is there.

i am not saying that there are never conflicts, but they are rare. there are 78 million dogs in the U.S. and probably as many raccoons. in my neighborhood i bet the dogs are up 3-4 to 1. if the raccoons were as bold an vicious as as some here believe, there would be fur flying every night. i could not find any accounts of raccoons killing dogs online, but hundreds of the contrary almost all mentioned the raccoon having rabies which would have made the raccoon into a vicious and aggressive animal that would attack without provocation or at least stand firm in the case it was attacked. many of these stories also mentioned the dog having to be put down because of the contact with a rabid animal, but not from injuries. again, i believe with possible, but without rabies (none reported here in over 50 years), so improbable to put in the lightning strike category. the raccoon has millions of years telling it that any wolf no matter how domesticated is something to avoid.

back to the beginning of this tangent. introduction of something that the raccoons will naturally avoid is the the best solution. lights will work for some until the raccoon learns they are not a threat, same for air guns, sprinklers and the like. i would not even put it over on a raccoon to learn to how avoid an electric fence in time. the predator, be it dog, dingo, or african lion will be the most fool proof solution as the raccoon has not figured out how to deal with them other than by avoidance. for those with pet allergies the eternal frat party works just as well as the raccoons avoid people almost as much as dogs. the nice thing about a frat party is it takes very little to keep it going and therefore required little effort on your part, just some beer and maybe some chips. some greeks (referring to the college type not the ethic kind) can even be trained with some effort to recognize a raccoon 7 out of 10 times and to throw an empty in the general direction this saving the pond.

if you live far enough south, maybe an alligator?

Don't feel bad about electric fencing. They learn after one nip. A lot better than relocating to an unfamiliar area or into another raccoons territory. Fact is you'll get them again so may as well get a hot wire.

Very important, bait it! Try wrapping fish, canned catfood or canned tuna. Wrap it in tinfoil and wrap that around the wire.

Furry predators don't learn if their fur insulates a shock- it's gotta zap a nose or tongue.

Here in Texas, we use Cayenne Pepper to keep critters off own lawn. Just sprinkle a layer of powdered cayenne pepper around your pond. It makes their feet hot when they walk on it, and they stay away. I did that to keep mice from getting in my garage.

If the Cayenne Pepper does not work, try some of these I have listed. My friend had this problem, and he said some of these work:

http://www.critter-repellent.com/raccoon/how-to-get-rid-of-raccoons.php?source=GoogleAW&gclid=CLqy38GstZACFRkHQQodQAG-HQ

http://www.deerout.com/critter/

http://www.gardeners.com/Squirrel---Raccoon-Deterrent/default/StandardCatalog.YardPests_Rodents.36-559.cpd

Also, if you wanna try a Hav-a-heart trap and relocate...the absolute best raccoon bait for me was a slice of plain old white bread, half of it spread with peanut-butter, the other half GRAPE jelly, then sprinkle about a half handful of any dry cat food, then fold it in half so it all smushes together. Place it into the trap so they can't reach it from the outside. (they will try to get it from the outside first!) A professional trapper gave me his trade secret bait formula...and it works!

This was the problem...
{{gwi:235195}}

This was the solution...
{{gwi:235196}}

{{gwi:235198}}

It was released into a preserve about 30 miles away. :)

i once fed an overly aggressive and troublesome raccoon we had in montreal a tabasco sandwich. he made a terrible noise and never came back. i think the cayenne could work, but the delivery would be difficult and it would wash away. i imagine it would take a lot of cayenne to treat a yard. maybe a spot treatment on a specific plant you need to protect would be effective or if you wanted to teach them that the dogfood dish is not for them. but i would be careful around you pond. cayenne dessolves in oil not water, but i would imagine it could be painful for fish if it was mixed into the water, taken into their gills or if they ate it off the surface.

Poor baby! He looks so humiliated! LOL! Sandy