My daughter has a trap that she puts a can of cat food in for bait and catches them, then releases them far out in the country where there are no homes in the vicinity.

The last one she caught was a young raccoon, not real tiny though, but it got into the trap at 8:30 in the evening and then cried all night long. Instead of just sitting in the cage and glaring at us, like the more mature raccoons do, it was rolling all over the cage and also was much harder to release. She always puts on tall boots and heavy gloves when she releases them.

One time when we were coming back from a raccoon release we saw one running across a field and I told her it was "our" raccoon trying to beat us home.

As long as there is food there, the raccoons will come. I would say keep the fruit off the ground if possible and make the trees impossible to climb. In our area I see metal collars around trees to keep the critters out. Don't make water available for them to wash their food.

I made one run away once by playing the radio loudly, but I realize this isn't very practical.

We've trapped them also and released them elsewhere. I know some people don't approve of this.

Mary, that's funny. Our neighbor paid a man to trap the raccoons in her yard. We're sure he just drove around the corner and released them so he could trap them again for her!

Here they get shot as they carry rabies and terrorize the local farm animals. Yes they are cute when small, but oh so dangerous when larger.

I had a pet raccoon for three years, and he was as sweet as one of my cats. I had small kids then and he went to kindergarten as a show and tell and rode around in my car with me. So much for dangerous.

Its food those masked crittters are after and their appetite is voracious. They are clever and persistent, and also excellent climbers. However, they are wary of dogs, especially if the dog is larger than they are.

If you have a fenced yard, install a doghouse and let your watch dog stay there at night (unchained) during the warmer months. During the winter months, possible you could control or reduce to zero the available food. One food source may be your bird feeder. If they can not get into it, they will still dig up the ground under the feeder searching for the drops. But, at least in winter, there will be veggies in the garden and no fruit on the trees.

If none of this is feasible, you will have to resort to live trapping and releasing the critters elsewhere. Be ware that during the spring season, or whenever they bear their young, if you trap a nursing mother and remove her, you may be condeming the pups to death by starvation.

The release site must be carefully chosen. Releasing the problem in some else's back backyard is a no - no, and illegal in aome localities. The release site should be removed from other houses and have a habitat where the racoon can find food.

I haven't put birdfeed out in months because of the raccoons. I have a metal baffle on mine and they still climb right up the metal pole and into the feeder. They can be a real pain!

Sue

WORD OF WARNING about trapping:

A man we know trapped them on his place and took them elsewhere to release. He opened the cage to let one go about a year ago, and the coon came out of the cage and attacked him. He had to undergo painful rabies shots...while battling cancer.