Min, how can you be so philosophical about this theft? If you let this go by, you'll just encourage their criminal tendencies. You'll be an "enabler" and have no one to blame but yourself.

And don't let their table manners or fancy fur coats fool you. They might appear to be from the better stock, but underneath the thin facade they are bottom feeders who think the rules of society do not apply to them.

Renee

renee you are so right (and so funny too.)
next year i won't enable them- i'm going to put my carrot growing barrel in a large wire cage with a heavy concrete block on the top and we'll see how well mannered those raccoons are then! i may have a midnight riot on my hands.
min

Time to invest in a large HAVE A HEART trap? Do your neighbors have similar problems? I had a den of these creatures in a crawl space above my patio ... didn't realize it, 'till the STENCH made its way into my bedroom, just a wall away from that space. My son cleaned out the mess and boarded it up. Since then, no problems in my garden with midnight diners! Our neighbors had a nest of coons in their attic ... found out same way I did .. from horrific stench ...but when professionally erradicated, found that electrical wires were being chewed on ....

barb, wow, you had a really awful time re: raccoons!
i live in the hills by a creek so there's no chance of blocking them away from my garden and i'm sure they aren't nesting in our attic. no complaints from the neighbors so far.
in fact i did find a huge raccoon in a hav-a-hart on my front porch one night when i had been after a feral cat. i just propped the trap door open and ran inside and watched the raccoon take its sweet time leaving. while it was incarcerated, it had CHEWED UP a very tough little metal can that had had cat food in it! a farmer nearby told me that raccoons chewed their way into a metal shed and killed some chickens so i guess we can't depend on metal containers to protect our flower seeds, birdseed and other garden stuff from them if they want it. -or maybe even carrots in a wire cage... min

We used to have a raccoon as a pet (dumb idea in 1974). The concrete block and wire are useless; they're smart and strong enough to remove the block, enjoy the contents, then replace the block afterwards.

Around here they target my apples, and are very discriminating in their tastes; they wait until the choicest apples are at the peak perfection of ripeness, then they disappear without a trace. The mushy apples and unripe ones are untouched, so it is the highest compliment for an apple variety to be chosen by this food critic.

Applenut

applenut- sorry about your apples! sure hope you aren't depending on selling them for your living.
in spite of being complimented by these discriminating robbers, it sure doesn't count for much. they could at least leave half the crop for us.
min

I read this advice but have not personally tried it: soak a rag in household ammonia, the place it outside near your carrots or whatever in a plastic tub, like a butter tub. Supposedly the ammonia smell will drive the racs to other locations.

Years ago my mother had neighbors who fed the raccoons nightly at their patio table. One night there was a bad tasting tv dinner with chicken drumsticks and all the raccoons sat around the table eating chicken.

Too funny! They want to eat my chicken's drumsticks too. And my fish's filets, for that matter.
Renee

Only probem with the Havaheart trap is - the next morning you have a really pissedoff raccoon that you have to deal with. The city animal control guy said they just kill him, the nature park will not let you drop him off there because you could be introducing disease or something. I guess you could send him on a cruise.

Living in the woods as we do all the native animals live with us. We have to be careful not to attract them by using anything like fish fertilizer or blood meal in our garden. They will dig up anything that has a smell of food. They have not been a problem with our fruit trees, probably because the rats beat them to it. This year I am on a campaign to reduce the rat population. They have been eating a pound of bait a night for the last three weeks, but have been sparing the fruit so far. I may end up spending more on rat bait than the fruit is worth. Al

Al- rats are our worst problem too- we finally bought a couple of rat zappers (4 D batteries) and they really work. no more poison bait. just keep the zappers away from kids and pets.
min

What about those little devices that emit hi frequency sounds that drive away animals? I have seen ads for outdoor ones that you put on trees.

try motion detector lights. I have set up a bunch of them on trees, building etc and it seems raccoons and skunks stay away. Rats are another problem- You used to be able to get free poison from the County Ag here in Napa.

I've stopped the raccoons & possums from eating our avocados by wrapping a long piece of metal sheeting around the trunk- they can't climb it. But I've also got rats walking a tightrope on our electrical wires to get to the tree. Then, it's an all you can eat rat buffet, all night long. Has anybody had any success with lights or anything else to scare them off?

You need a tree-dwelling, badass CAT!

I have those ultra sonic devices which do not work on rats nor gophers. I have chicken wires under all the raised beds which keep some vermin out, but not all.

My fearless old hunting dog went potty in the backyard one night, met a raccoon and tried to chase it out. The raccoon fought back and left my 50 lbs dog with a bloody nose. I have the large trap. But the raccoons here are twice as big and won't get in the traps.

Learn to live with them is not by choice, really. It's because I have no choice.

LOL@Renee

Good advice Al. I never considered that the fertilizer I use my attract raccoons.

I too have raccoon problems with them messing with my pond in the backyard. I have an older model of the Havaheart live animal trap but I think it is too small for these overfed raccoons. In addition, I learned it is illegal to trap and relocate raccoons here as all you do is cause them to become the problem for someone else....

I'm considering getting a paint ball gun.....

This article - MANAGING RACOON PROBLEMS - might help. Though our problem was solved [by blocking their nesting area] wi/o resorting to county/city vector control, one might have to 'nudge' officials to do what they are paid to do [hmmm, "paid" may be an oximoronic term in CA, unless you work for Bell] But at least to not have them hamper your control attempts with "against the law/regulations" roadblock.

...snip....Laws and Regulations

Raccoons are not threatened or endangered. They are classified as furbearers in California. Fur harvest regulations are set by the California Department of Fish & Game. A trappers license or depredation permit may be required before taking any raccoons. It is a violation of California state law for any wildlife to be kept as pets. Only authorized wildlife rehabilitators may keep injured or orphaned wildlife, and then only for limited periods of time. California Department of Fish & Game Regulations prohibit the relocation of raccoons and other wildlile without written permission of the Department. For further information on the legal status of raccoons and other wildlife, contact your California Department of Fish & Game Regional Office. For further information or assistance in solving raccoon problems, contact your local agricultural commissioner.

Here is a link that might be useful: CA publication re: racoons