Run a hot wire (fence charger) around the top of the garden fence. Tie slices of lunch meat to the wire the first night you energize it then listen for the squalling. They learn fast.

.....Alan.

Let the dogs out. We trained the lab to go look for possums or coons when we jump up off the couch and yell "Go!Go!" He's training the puppy to do the same.

Sometimes they get confused when the 'Canes have the ball, however.

I'm not a veggie gardener but I was (am) a trapper. Generally I would trap for armidillos because those dig up my garden. Usually I'd catch a coon or possum...and what ever went in the trap never came out alive. Those wild animals scare the heck out of me! I'm not even going to get close enough to RELEASE them!!!
I was countrified I'm not citified and still have armidillos. The trap is always out.

I grow Tumbling Toms in 3 gallon containers sitting on the ground and let the coons have them, twice this week I've found them out of their pots with maters and plants scattered around the yard, which I just put back in their containers and water to reduce the trauma. As long as the coons leave my indeterminates alone all is good. Once they take one of my real maters out comes the trap and once trapped I call the county and they transfer the coon to one of their cages and away it goes to euthanasia-land.

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We have been setting the bobcat trap and all we get is possum and coons. We were driving them to a conservation area and letting them out but we called Florida Fish and game and they said what we were doing is illegal. You can not transport wild animals in the state of Florida unless licensed to do so. They said(NOT ME)Shoot them we have too many and they are a bother.
There is a long post on this on the garden junksite apparently like to make a mess of yard art also.

We use our Hav-A-Hart trap and live trap them. Them my hubby either takes them PAST THE DUMP where we know they will like it even more than our house...OR...hubby takes them to his work which is in a wilderness area and ACROSS I-95...you KNOW they will NEVER get past that!

Also...as I stated in another thread...when Fl Panthers were trying to get our chickens ...I contacted the Big Cat Rescue and got some tiger poop in plastic bags. I set one unopened (ew) at each corner of the pen and didn't have problems FOR YEARS. I bet if you got some from the zoo or like I did, that you could hide the bags in un-noticable places...
Google Big Cat Rescue Florida and you will get a whole list. I did give them 10 bucks for it so they could buy more food for the tigers.

Hopeful... I used to feel like you. I was a "live and let live" kind of guy. Now, mind you, I don't have a crystal ball, but I believe the days of "hobby" vegetable gardening are coming to an end.
This economy is going to crash, and nobody can stop it. Home vegetable gardening is soon going to become serious business. Although I don't think that anyone can live totally "off the grid" in this day and age, I feel anyone with a lick of sense can become a lot more self-sufficient. A lot of front lawns are gonna get plowed up.
One of the hard choices we're going to have to face is protecting our food. If we are squeamish about killing four-legged garden raiders, how are we going to deal with gangs of the two-legged kind who arrive from the "inner city", looking to steal not only our hard-won produce, but anything else that strikes their fancy?
Too many folks still cling to the old "It Can't Happen Here" attitude. Oh really? Are you willing to bet your life on it? Starvation ain't pretty.

There is a $500. fine if you are caught relocating any animal.

Katkin is right,
but hubby said there is NO way he could shoot those cute little faces. We weren't TRYING to get raccoons we were TRYING to catch a Bobcat.
We really do not mind the coons and possums as they do not come to our house they stay in a wooded area and make good use of the pond.
We had done everything to ATTRACT wildlife to my property and even stocked my huge ponds with sunfish,Tilapia,and bass to share with wildlife..
How happy I was to see herons, Kingfishers, Osprey raccoons etc in my yard enjoying themselves.
But then I got pet ducks. I am careful to
lock them up at night and protect them as best I can but when a BOBCAT came into my yard in broad daylight, neighbors working in their yard and me in mine, and leapt from behind a tree, popped a duck in his mouth (me screaming and chasing it with a stick)I had to rethink what I had done. I decided to trim up alot of the growth that he had been hiding in while I worked nearby.
Yes, I did a great job attracting wildlife to my yard.
I just didn't want the top of the food chain! I don't live in the boonies mind you I just happen to have a couple acres close in.
Unfortunately animals are getting so use to us that we don't scare them anymore.

goldenpond... Bobcat troubles, eh? Here's a picture of how I dealt with bobcat troubles years ago: [IMG]http://i41.tinypic.com/2rgnk3k.jpg[/IMG]
Now, I realize that nobody will be able to see this photo unless somebody comes to the rescue like they did when I tried to post a photo of my starfruit tree months ago. I just can't post photos on this forum. I guess the 1990's internet technology here on Gardenweb Forums is too much for me to comprehend. Strange, I can seem to post photos on other internet forums. Oh well!
If I was on your property on a moonless night, I could probably kill your bobcat in about fifteen minutes. I just blow on a "predator call", which makes a high-pitched squeal, like a rabbit in distress. Bobcats, coons, foxes, coyotes, owls, and any other predator in the neighborhood usually come running to take advantage of an easy meal.
I've heard that bobcats and coyotes are almost impossible to catch in a cage trap. Unless you want to use a steel leghold trap, calling is the only way to go.

Last year I had a lot of trouble with critters eating all of my gingers (over 25 varieties!) I tried to use none leathal means to protect my plants none of which worked. I tried putting slices of extremely hot peppers around the plants and smearing pureed hot peppers on the plants. The critters just ate the peppers along with the gingers! I tried the spray stuff that is supposed to drive off critters but the only one that was driven off was me! Everything I tried failed until I finally gave up and got out my parents live trap and baited it with peanuts. At first I planned to try relocating the critters but after the first racoon I trapped growled and lunged for me through the cage I let my dad shoot anything I caught (racoons, possoms, & squirrels). Then he took the critters out to the back property and left them for the local scavengers to have. (the hawks actually started following him around the yard looking for handouts!) After awhile I tried another deterant that I heard about somewhere which is to put rags soaked in amonia around the garden to drive away critters and was amazed with how well that worked. Now I keep a supply of amonia on hand in case things start raiding my garden again this spring.

I'm still in the live and let live stage, just like Hopeful. My yard is a sanctuary to all wildlife, so far, except Cuban treefrogs, lubber grasshoppers and fire ants. When the day comes that I need to grow my food to survive, I'll rethink this position, but until then, I garden for the overall experience of bringing color and wildlife into my yard. Hopefully I will be able to do that for some time yet. I'm an optimist, and old enough to have seen troubles come and go, so I'm not going to panic and start killing things yet.

But that's just me.

Marcia

I know I am going against the grain on this one. But darnit, coons and possums are adorable. How could anyone kill one of them? Capture and transport, fine, kill, ahhhh shuxx.

When I grew up in S. Fl I used to have armadillos / coons and many other critters running around in my backyard. That that they have paved and built up everything, just the possoms are left. Happy to see some kind of wildlife to be honest with you.

Our poor creatures on this earth just cannot catch a break. Somewhere someone is killing, poisoning and shoving them out of the way. Breaks my heart.

Truely, I am no bleeding heart. And I understand why. On the other hand, these little fellows have been chased out of there homes and forced to live in our environments.

Just a gripe, ignore me... :) I hope the day never comes, when we all wish we could just see a wild coon again.

After awhile I tried another deterrent that I heard about somewhere which is to put rags soaked in ammonia around the garden to drive away critters and was amazed with how well that worked. Now I keep a supply of ammonia on hand in case things start raiding my garden again this spring.

I wonder why that would work? Same concept as using big cat scat, perhaps the urea? I'll certainly give it a try...in six years I've only had to trap out two coons but this one has been so pesky he's about to become the third unless I find another way....

Out here on the Island, new folks are tearing down the single story homes...totally clearing the lots and building 3-story high dwellings...dunno why...they've still got no view of the Gulf...status symbol, I reckon.
Anyway...they're systematically displacing the raccoons, possums, snakes, etc.
They're most certainly welcomed into my yard, although I do have a problem with the raccoons...but I've learned to live with them...after-all, they were here first.
I have a 7' fence around the back portion of my house/yard.
Every night around 7 or so I hear the raccoon scaling the fence in the northeast corner. He/she's coming to drink from one of my fountains out back...then to poop in my pool...LOL, but not really. :)
'It' takes the fountain totally apart on a regular basis...'bout once a week. I put the dang thang back together again, fill it and it's fine for a few days until 'it' returns...but, hey!...whaddayagonnado?

I am with Marcia and several others here on this issue:
No trapping or shooting in my wildlife habitat.

If you prowl on my property and have two legs instead of four, I will call the police.

The cheeky racoon is stealig pears in my son's backyard in JAX. The only shooting going on is with a camera.

I was told by Fish & Game the the population is too great in the woods and they are being driven out by their own kind and the ones bothering humans needed to be culled. They are far from being endangered.

There are probably more racoons, possums, and squirrels in the United States right now than there were before the advent of European colonization. Lots of food sources, few predators. Plenty of people feeding them to increase their populations beyond healthy levels. This is why the wildlife authorities do not want them relocated because it is only compounding the problem.

.....Alan.

I realize they aren't endangered in any way and that they can become a nuisance in some instances, especially if fed, but I'm still not ready to kill them when they venture into my yard. If circumstances change, as I say, I will rethink the situation. But for now, all wildlife that doesn't hurt me or my dogs is welcome in my yard. I'm hoping to get my yard certified as a Wildlife habitat this year, at some point, so it would make no sense for me to start killing things.

I think this is one of those issues where you have to decide for yourself how you want to handle the problem in your own yard. Everyone feels differently, and everyone's yard and neighborhood is different. As long as no one is breaking wildlife laws or endangering people or pets (like by spreading poison indiscriminately where dogs or cats might find it), then I personally have no problem with how others handle this.

I only know what works for me at this particular point in time. And that is to live and let live in my own yard.

Marcia

What does Fish and Game suggest doing with the babies, are sanctuaries not taking them anymore?

Yes, I know, I shouldn't be bringing baby raccoons into my house. I just didn't want it to die and the mother never came back to take care of it.

There are animal rehabbers around central Florida who WILL take baby wildlife, but I don't have any numbers for you. Animal Control MIGHT refer to one if you ask nicely, I don't know. You might try calling Audubon or a local animal shelter and asking if they can give you a rehabber's number.

Good luck!

Marcia

Silverkitty, where in zone 9 are you? Hopefully you can find a rehabber...

OK, I knew this would create lots of opinions! So here's my 2cents worth.

No one has mentioned the threat of rabies from coons which is real. I had a neighbor who had to have the shots when they were unmercifully painful from a coon she was feeding. We've had at least 2 cases reported in PB county in last year.

We are totally overrun with them. I have trapped 15 in the past several months. They will totally devastat your mango fruit and tree. They break limbs that are loaded with fruit and then bite a hole in a few before moving to the next limb. I live on a 2.5 acre lot with about 1.5 acres in native pine and palmettos so I have lots of wildlife and I encourage most of it. Have 3 bat houses and have had as many as 400 bats in one and over a hundred in another. I love it when a bobcat walks thru the yard in broad day light. So far the deer in the neighborhood have not been a problem to the garden. Neigbors have reported multiple sightings of florida cougars, and I'm sorry that I have not seen them. I love to fish and release except on rare occasion we will eat one. So I consider myself a guardian of wildlife in general, but when it comes to coons, rats , and possums, I agree that the population is out of control and I send them to the vulture cafe ! Sorry about that to you coon lovers.

"* Posted by lellie z9 Anna Maria Island (My Page) on
Wed, Jan 7, 09 at 20:14

He/she's coming to drink from one of my fountains out back...then to poop in my pool...LOL, but not really. :)"

So how do you keep the 'coon out of your pool? I have the same problem. We put in a robo pool cleaner with a long hose and the raccoons seem to be avoiding the pool-latrine now. Maybe they think it's a big snake.

As not only an animal lover, but someone who has compassion for all life and avoids even killing a spider when possible (which I am terrified of), I was obviously very disturbed by this whole thread. But I also grew up in North Fort Myers (which used to be a pretty rural area), so I'm no stranger to things like this.

First, silverkitty, try calling CROW (Care and Rehabilitation of Wildlife) in Sanibel. They can tell you what you should do. They are one of the top rehabiliation clinics in the country, and probably know of the other clinics in the state: 239-472-3644

That being said, I used to work for the management office in an adult manufactured home community, and would often hear complaints from the employees there about the wildlife. Coons were a common complaint. I used to tell them, "Look, you have to be smarter than them. You can't think that they are such stupid, valueless creatures that you can do whatever you want to them, and yet complain that they are so smart that there's nothing you can do to prevent them from getting into your garbage. It's one or the other."

I finally unpacked a few books, and came across my book "Total Critter Control". For those who don't simply have a vendetta against wildlife, but are simply seeking a solution to a problem, here are some things you can try:

For Coons:

• To dissuade coons from your garbage, in addition to using bungee cords to try to prevent them from getting into your garbage, you can also make it less appetizing by spraying the compound like Ropel on the plastic bags. It is foul tasting, is relatively inexpensive, and is harmless to animals and the environment.

• Also make sure that garbage is less accessible.

• Some have found that by offering pet food, they were able to persuade the coons to leave the garden and lawn alone.

• Coons like grub worms that infest the lawn. An old remedy to keep them off your lawn is to spray the lawn with a mixture of shampoo and ammonia (Hinder is a liquid concentrate that contains the ammonia soaps of fatty acids. It is approved for use on edibles. It can be obtained through a farm supply store or catalog.)

• Also for grub worms (which is what the coons are after), you can apply milky spore to kill the grubs. Or alter the watering of the lawn, as grubs can't survive in dry soil.

• Fruit trees: If the tree is isolated so that the coon can't jump from one to another, you can "flash" the tree trunk by putting a collar of slippery metal around the trunk.

• Coons love dining at small ponds-- they corral fish into a corner of the pond and then grab them. Keep the pond deeper than 2 1/2 feet deep, and they can't do this.

• Another pond solution is to put 16-18 inch pieces of terra-cotta pipe in the bottom of the pond to give the coons somewhere to hide. After the pipe is in the pond for awhile, the pipes become moss-covered and blend right in.

• For birdhouses, you can try using a "Bird Guardian", which is a device that is added to the opening of...

nfmgirl,
thank you for a great post
I gave up posting "lest live in peace" replies on this forum, as some people, unfortunately, get so upset about it. We are all entitled to opinions, and I love yours!

This summer half of my cantaloupes got eaten by possums, I presume - and I did not go starving. I saved a few cantaloupes for myself by putting milk crates over them, and that was it

Olya

Thanks, Olya. I figure if people have a right to voice their opinions about how killing is a good solution, then surely no one can be offended if I offer an opposing solution. As you say, we all have a right to our opinions.

BTW, I made a typo on one of the points. The terra-cotta pieces in the pond are for the FISH to hide, not the coon!

nfmgirl, a great post. It does offer alternatives for those who don't want to do anything drastic. As I have said above, for me, it's live and let live in my garden for the time being. Should circumstances change, perhaps I would rethink things...but I probably still would not kill coons, possums and most other pest animals. I have to confess, I don't mind much when my dogs catch the occasional fruit rat, so perhaps that's a prejudice on my part.

I do want to say one thing for those who don't know...and this is not to start up the whole discussion again, since many people are fine with killing animals. But for those who don't want animals killed and would rather see them relocated, do NOT call any state agencies. We had a long article in our newpaper this past week over the new STATE WIDE laws that any animal trapped by the state WILL be destroyed, period. No ifs ands or buts. There is no flexibility in the law, and even the Orlando Sentinel sees that as wrong.

So if you want an animal removed, call a rehab center or a private trapper of some sort. If you don't mind having the animal summarily executed, feel free to call the state.

Just sayin'....

Marcia (who understands in some circumstances, people might not have a choice, but who thinks many times, there are better alternatives)

My solution is to name them, make pets out of them, feed them, plant tomatos just for them, teach them that those tomatoes are for them.

...and shame them into leaving mine alone.

But then my situation is a lot different than most of you guys. Living on a small island, we know all of our "wild life".

Our problem wildlife drives cars, drinks way too much, thinks everyone here is on vacation (even at 2am on a Tues night), thinks that the whole world knows how important they are, and generally makes the rest of us want to stay as far away from them as possible.

The four footed wildlife is not a problem at all. LOL

Corrie

I hear ya, Corrie. I do believe I've met some of that same wildlife! In fact, in an urban environment such as mine, the two-footed variety of wildlife is definitely the predominant one. Makes you wonder why you can't get the state to come and trap THEM sometimes, doesn't it?

Marcia

corrie22,

Ahhh... The keys.... Ahhh... The keys... The keys.... Many a-lost nights.... I see both sides of the arguement. But I just cannot see myself going outside in the morning a picking up a dead raccoon that died because of me (poisoning, whatever). I fish, so I am from the camp I kill what I eat, nothing more. Then again, if something is eating what you are going to eat, how does that work.

I would probably do as olyagrove did, plant more catelopes and protect them. I would like to see a picture of the egg crates around the cantelopes.

Evil me, if the iguana's start in on my plants, bb gun time :)

As a young boy growing up in Iowa, my father would occasionally take me to the spring "coon feed". After coon hunt season, the pelts would be sold and my uncles would throw a B-B-Q probably a little different than most of you are used to.
The pelts would bring about $30 apiece. A nice winter income for a 100 acre farmer.
My father would do a better job cooking coon but it would take all day as they are a little stringy.
Dad would start off by par boiling or simmering for a couple hours. Then he would pop it in the smoker at low temp for a few more hours. Finally, he would finish in a hot oven with the coon covered in B-B-Q sauce until the sauce crusted nicely.
Of course, with all that effort, anything but high praise for the chef would have been unwise.
I actually prefferred my mom's pan fried squirrel with pepper gravy.We kids had fun counting the shotgun bb's left on our plates - a silly kids game.
I'm only 52 but this seems like many lifetimes ago.
Well, apparently we didn't eat them all but the squirrels sure ate all my peaches last year. I'm intent on growing, canning, and preserving as much of my diet as possible in the later stages of my life-but if the varmints decide to take my harvest completely- I guess I'll have to find something else to eat.

Andrew, the head of the maintenance department for the adult community at which I used to work, told me a story once of how he learned responsible hunting. He said that when he was a boy, he got his first gun. I believe that he was living with his uncle at the time. He said that he spent the whole day going around and shooting everything he saw. He shot squirrels and rabbits and birds-- whatever.

That night he sat down at the dinner table with the rest of the family, and his uncle asked him, "What do you think you're doing?" Andrew said, "Well, I'm eating dinner..." His uncle told him, "No, your dinner is out back." Andrew went out back, and there was a pile of everything that he had shot and killed that day. His uncle told him, "You think I didn't see you going around today shooting at everything that moved? We eat what we kill. So you are going to clean every single thing you killed, and that is what you are going to eat all week." And he did.

It was a good lesson...

Personally I was raised by an ex-hunter/trapper and rabbit farmer who, while one day looking at a deer through the scope on his rifle, suddenly saw for the first time the beauty of the animal on the other side of the gun barrel. He continued to hunt for a short time longer, but quit some time later. He raised me to always try to see things through the eyes of the animal, knowing how they think, their instincts and motivations, to have a better understanding and empathy for them.

Heather

Now, the ammonia thing may just cause trouble with the coyotes. The ammonia smells similar to their urine. Coyotes eat many berries, but also meat, and sometimes take samples from your garden.
Another problem to deal with.

The coons don't seem like much of a hassle anymore. They used to tip over our garbage can every night, but not anymore. They stopped a while ago. Maybe they moved on.

I am going to drip peppermint oil into cotton balls and hang them in an old shirt stapled up, just in case if the coons come back. This is supposed to work really well for repelling them.

I heard that lion urine would keep animals away. I didn't have a lion so I put out a towel that the cat peed on. The small woodland creatures played with it and tried to tear it apart. Later I tried putting cat hair into the planters around the deck and had much more luck with that. It has to be renewed regularly and I only have two cats so I can't cover a very large area. I guess if I were a better housekeeper I could collect more cat hair but I'd rather be outside.

Two years ago we hired a trapper. For a week he set 3 traps that were full each morning. Approximately equal numbers of coons and possoms. The bill was over $500! I'm on Daytona's barrier island and there are zero preditors. We are overrun! Anyway. When my husband and I made a garden box earlier this year, the critters dug in that box every night. I put mothballs around the box before it was planted and we have had no problems with critters since then. I keep renewing the mothballs and no sign of invasions!

I occassionally feed my raccoons, leave out water, name them and take cutesy pictures of them- especially the baby raccoons.

They have never once eaten my tomatoes, cucumbers, beans, peas or fruit (other than what fell onto the ground).

If they did attack my garden, I'd like to think I am smarter than a raccoon and wouldn't have to simply shoot them to deter them.

I am also not starving nor do I have to rely on my garden to survive. If it were the tomatoes I grew or starvation, perhaps I'd feel differently?

As for now, I agree with what a previous poster said, if I have to resort to shooting wildlife to enjoy the results of my garden, then it's time to find a new hobby.

I live in a neighborhood very close to my town's main street. There are many large trees - it's like an urban forest. We have barred owls, great horned owls, hawks, eagles, osprey... and I believe these birds help keep the raccoon population down a bit in my area. But still, we have no shortage of them, and they are not afraid of people. Nor do we have a shortage of abandoned cats. If I'm going to get angry about something, it's going to be with the idiots who don't spay or neuter their cats, then leave them and their hoards of offspring behind when they move away.

Folks in my neighborhood who have dogs have no issues with the raccoons. So, if you like dogs and are willing to put in the time and committment needed to own one, maybe that would be a good solution to killing local wildlife.

I do think hunting is an important aspect of wildlife management, and I believe in eating what you kill. I don't personally hunt, but I don't think it's an evil thing. Killing for any reason other than getting food or to put down a suffering animal is not something I personally agree with.

I think this is a very tough issue. We chose to live on conservation b/c of the wildlife that we might see. We have lived in our home for over 4 years and I've never seen a 'coon or 'possum in our yard. We did have an armadillo issue for which we hired a trapper to catch and relocate to his acreage (he said that's what he would do and I hope he did). Other then that, I have never had a problem with any animal eating/stealing/destroying anything I have grown.

I have a 40-mile roundtrip commute to my office each day. Every day, I see so many poor animals that have been run over. At the rate I am seeing roadkill, I truly question that there are more of them than there are of us. Look at the amount of habitat loss! I also blame some, certainly not all, of the animals that get hit on people not paying attention to the road and/or speeding. One of the main roads leading to where we live is a very dark, narrow, 2-lane road. Because I have seen deer, rabbits, 'coons, etc., I know to drive as slow as I can and pay extra attention to my surroundings. But that is my soapbox for another thread.

Personally, I cannot justify killing these animals, unless like Nicki said, it's for food or the animal is suffering. Call me a bleeding heart, but I personally do not think it is right to kill or harm these animals because they eat our veggies. Like Marcia and others have said, my philosophy in my yard is to live and let live. I have enough space and grow enough stuff to be able to share with the wildlife that live around me.

So, tell me, you cruel killer. And I'm serious now. What did you use for bait in the trap for possum? Please, I'm begging you. This fat guy already digs huge holes in my new garden, and I've never planted anything in it yet!!!!! We just throw wet garbage scraps out there and turn them under. I want his butt kicked outa there, permanently!!! Lights out, and off to veggie heaven!!!!

Last year, at our cabin garden, we had such a beautiful garden. We had abt 150' of the most beautiful lettuces of different varieties. Deer cleaned it all off in just 1 night!!! As for that, I'm not into poisoning them. I've had a guy hunting my property all Fall/Winter. We've also erected a 6' wire fence around the whole of it, to the cost of over $400!!!!

But I just can't justify a possum getting ready to harvest the garden I plan for here at our first home this coming Spring!!!!

I forgot to mention that, in exchange for the deer my friend harvests on my property, I get an occasional ziploc bag of delicious jerky and a tube of sausage. He set up a corn feeder with a camera trained on it. On the camera, he's captured as many as 25 deer at abt 1 am!!! He's only been able to harvest 8-9. I encourage him all the time to get over to my place and do his job!!!!!

He uses other friends' deer stamps, and then distributes the meat, which another friend process at no charge, to them in addition to adding to his own deep freezer.

I see the last comment was made back in 2009, so I hope this will awaken you again . . .

I use dry cat food to bait possum. It works well here. I usually ship them out to a distant park, but try to stay under the radar.