You have some nasty raccoons there! There are raccoons in my woods,but they never bother the hostas,(and I have over 300 of them)> I don't know if red pepper would deter them,but it sounds feasible. I've heard it works on squirrels and other critters. Phil

I use black pepper on my plants to stop the hosta-munching ground hogs, they don't like the taste. Not sure if red pepper would work on raccoons as they are not actually eating the plants. Might just make them sneeze. (I just had a mental flash of a bunch of sneezing 'coons haha!) You must have nice wormy soil as that is what they are looking for, and grubs and snails.

And of course your koi and any just ripe sweetcorn you might have probided for them, plus any interesting garbage you didn't lock down. Driving thru Michigan around the lakes a couple of years ago I noticed all the curbside trash containers were in cages with sturdy hasps. Must be a big coon problem up there!

Destructive cute little bandits! We had a pair move into the attic a few years back, they bent the louvers on the vent fan, ripped the screen off and bent a fan blade to get in.

But that's another story.

I don't think the red pepper will hurt the hostas but skeptical about it working. One of the granular repellents that you sprinkle on the ground might be better. Doubt if blood meal will do it. A few years ago we bought those expensive little repellent things on a stick to repel the deer but the raccoons stole them the first night and broke them open, I guess they ate the contents.

Sandy

You need a dog.

bkay

Not city here, Ken, I grew up on a farm and we live on the edge of town. Woods all around. Never lived in a big city. Well, once. For about a year. Hated it.

And they are too, cute, haha. Especially the babies.

And yes, I'm a bleeding heart tree hugging nature lover that thinks all living things have a place in the world, even humans. Well, most of them, anyway.

We just need to find ways to get along with our fellow creatures. After all, they are not in our habitat, we have invaded theirs.

Sandy

I'm hoping the "fire" from the red pepper will get in their mouths and eyes and make them look for another feeding ground.

I hadn't thought about slugs. It's been a terrible year for them. Even putting out lots of slug bait I've had holes in hostas that were never touched before. Maybe there's a silver lining to the raccoon invasion.

We have two corgis. They do deter the deer, but they sleep indoors. The raccoons dig right under our bedroom window and neither man nor beast has ever heard a thing.

I try to be tolerant. After all, I'm the one who moved to the woods and planted a 24 hour buffet in deer territory. A few munched leaves and molehills are part of the neighborhood. The raccoons have just turned into too big a problem to ignore.

Thanks for the advice-

Chris

Around here (suburb Ken, with lots of cement) they live in the storm drains and come out at night to tear things up. I don't know what is in your soil, but here it is the grubs in the lawn and under much of my groundcover (evidently). Nice big fat white ones. Even the crows and ravens tear up plugs of lawn to get them. Gosh, they must be tasty.

Beneficial nematodes will keep the area pretty clear of grubs for a couple years, but take time to work. Or you can go the non-organic route and use some of the Bayer soil products to kill the grubs, if that is what they are after.. We haven't had any damage in a couple years, but for awhile we had a good portion of our back yard covered with chicken wire to keep them from digging. Once they find a good spot they keep coming back hoping for more.

You need a pretty large dog to mess with a 30 pound raccoon. They are fierce.

-Babka

Sandy - I think you and I were separated at birth! Your description of yourself sounds like you took the words right out of my mouth!
They ARE adorable! I would try the pepper! I'm wondering if laying chicken wire around the hosta on the ground would deter them? Would they not like that feeling under their feet? Then again, they aren't too particular about what they walk on are there...???

Home Depot sells plastic netting. To reduce cost you could cut it into 2 ft wide srips and weigh the outside down with bricks, also sold at HD. For example, racoons do not go into my little pond to catch goldfish because I have a black net over it.
Bernd

We have a mom and babies that come up on our deck every night......I'm sure it has nothing to do with me leaving food and water out there for them or anything ;) They don't seem to do anything in the gardens accept walk through them. Maybe you could leave some apples, bread, cat food or cookies ;) out in your garden?

Cricket Love- NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Don't feed them people food. Let them forage for their natural food. Your neighbors probably leave out the food and they probably live under your deck.

I sound mean and angry and I AM. We had a mom and bunch of babies jumping around on our roof and destroying several $100 dollars of ground cover, while breaking branches off 2 Japanese maple trees.

Please..... don't feed them.

-Babka

They once came up on our deck,and drank all the nectar from my hummingbird feeder,until I put it on a longer pole,so far out that they wouldn't go after it. I quit putting my garbage out in my outside trash can,because they used to turn it over and trash my lower deck. Phil

They can be destructive little buggers! Get yourself a live trap. Cat food makes good bait. Then make sure you transport them many miles away from you to release, as they can travel miles back to you.

I do think they're cute, too, but would not feed or encourage them. Because of rabies. Raccoons are the largest reservoir of rabies in animals.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rabies in Raccoons

Back from shopping my way through Iowa, will post pictures of the new plants if I ever catch up in the garden. Apparently I should have explained watering in more detail - lots of shriveled plants.

The red pepper flakes don't stop the raccoons, but they do cut the digging about 90%. If you have the same problem, it's worth trying.

The chicken wire is a good idea, will have to try that around the newly planted hostas.

The thing I hate the most about raccoons is the offending, malodorous gifts they leave behind after uprooting your pond plants. i have to put down the CRITTER RIDDER again because they are once again leaving huge holes beside my hostas.
I'm also going to try the ground black pepper.

We had to anchor our chicken wire around the edges with whatever we could find, because they would lift it up to go digging. Here are some pics of the damage, the chicken wire and the "art" they left on our skylight while prancing around on the roof one night.

-Babka

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Babka, love your gardens with the creeping thyme. It's a shame you have to resort to the chicken wire.

Babka, I feel your pain. Beautiful gardens, it's a shame you have to drape wire over them.

Irawon, I used dried red pepper flakes, not black ground pepper. They run their paws through the dirt and get their noses to the ground, so I'm assuming the hot part of the pepper gets in their eyes. That would certainly discourage me!

Yes, you're right, we've invaded their space. However, when we do that, they usually don't have their natural predators about to keep them in check. In the wild, they're kept in check by their natural predators. Therefore, the responsible thing to do is keep their populations under control by other means.

"Pretty is as pretty does" and that's not pretty!!

Deanna