From Feral To Lap Cats

[KarenKat]

I have to ask - what did the raccoons do to cause so much dollars of damage!? They sound like punks, lol

 

[CatLover49]

I have to ask - what did the raccoons do to cause so much dollars of damage!? They sound like punks, lol

I was wondering the same thing myself..5K...is alot of damage for raccoons to do in my opinion..seems to me it would take long long time to do that much damage

 

[CatLover49]

I'm getting very annoyed with these raccoons. Nothing against them but they did more damage. So far they have cost us 5K in damages on this property. Cute as can be but very destructive creatures. How quickly would these raccoons find their way back if I had wildlife rescue relocate them? We don't have the funds to have them keep destroying our property like this. They're worse then the moles.

I think some of us are curious...What was the 5K in damages????

 

[CatLover49]

Yes I thought Wildlife Rescue Center is a professional since they are connected to our Missouri Conservation Department as well as our St Louis Zoo. Until then I'll scare them off with loud music or the sound of an angry cougar as I don't have 5K weekly to repair their damages. With 100 other neighbors they can go to their homes and cause the damage there.

Also, at this moment, zombie disease is contagious among St Louis raccoons and that can spread to humans as well so are we supposed to wait til one of them attacks a neighbors kid or a pet? So here we are to monitor them and do what is necessary for our protection. So far these raccoons are healthy as I've been observing but I doubt playing a loud angry cougar is against the law. Otherwise arrest the fraternity boys behind my house that have live bands til 3 or 4 am. Which in 63 years has never happened. But no I would never take it upon myself to remove the raccoons, but you can bet I'll scare them off.

They probably are going to the other homes

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I mentioned earlier that they pulled all our wires to the garage, and totally destroyed our back steps as well as tore through several screen windows and the garage door and tore the roof of the garage. Raccoons are smart and can figure this out. Many people think they're cute but do not realize the damage that they can cause. . We have no man here so to get someone here to take care of the damages, rewire and all we are being charged 5K for labor and parts to repair.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Right now they aren't going to other homes because 1) I have the cats and they know that I feed the cats here even though everything is picked up at night. 2) 1/4 acre backyard is playground for them as well. Sadly I can't reduce the size of the lot and I'm not getting rid of the cats, but that is not going to stop me from playing the sounds of an angry cougar.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

We have 30 raccoons in the backyard. Yes I caught them all on cam one night and counted them on a photo I snapped. And unless something is done soon we'll have 300.

And in short time just 2 raccoons can cause serious damage.

https://www.colonialpest.com/raccoons-can-cause-some-serious-damage/

 

[CatLover49]

Right now they aren't going to other homes because 1) I have the cats and they know that I feed the cats here even though everything is picked up at night. 2) 1/4 acre backyard is playground for them as well. Sadly I can't reduce the size of the lot and I'm not getting rid of the cats, but that is not going to stop me from playing the sounds of an angry cougar.

U know that's probably gonna scare the cats away...too...But im sorry ure having to go through so much...When all ure trying to do is HELP some precious KITTIES..

 

[CatLover49]

We have 30 raccoons in the backyard. Yes I caught them all on cam one night and counted them on a photo I snapped. And unless something is done soon we'll have 300.

I REALLY hope things work out with u n ure mom n ure KITTIES..(n hope things get taken care of with (the raccoons...but in the right way for all concerned..)

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

U know that's probably gonna scare the cats away...too...But im sorry ure having to go through so much...When all ure trying to do is HELP some precious KITTIES..

I'm sorry, I mentioned last night that the sound does not bother the cats, considering I play it around them to desensitize them to the sound. So they're fine. I have played it to them just now and they just twitched their ears and slept through it.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I observed last night on cam. I played the cougar sound, the raccoon took off and the cats as well but as soon as the raccoon disappeared into the bushes, all three cats turned around and came back. After observing that I'm not going to believe cats aren't more clever than raccoons are. They knew what they were doing. They acted scared to make it believable to the raccoons. After last nights observation I won't believe otherwise. Tell me again why i like cats so much?

 

[KarenKat]

Oh wow, I can see how rewiring and roof repair would add up fast. Smart of you to think of the cougar noise!

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

I actually googled it and outside of going outside myself banging on pots cougar is on top of list. They also scare by mirrors which don’t bother the cats. Sopdet likes looking in the mirror but the reflection in a mirror scares the raccoons which is odd considering they like to wash their food ( reflection in water).

I spend 20 minutes a day with the cats with various sounds to desensitize them. They no longer run to the bushes when it storms but sit by me. I have not desensitized them to lawn mowers though. I want them to be fearful of them (especially since Treasure is so curious). So what they are desensitized to the raccoons are still fearful of. The possums I don't worry about. They're harmless.

And turning on lights scares raccoons but sadly that also signals to the cats that food is about to be served and if I don't take food out in 30 minutes of turning the lights on they go ballistic. Otherwise I'd invest in a good outside strobe light which scares them more then just a regular light.

Oh and sorry if I'm not timely in responding. I do surveys so I can feed the cats and some surveys can take up to an hour or more. Or I"m helping my Mom around the house.

 

[stacydc83]

Oh my. I just saw your video of the raccoons you had posted, and that's just scary. They really are a nuisance. Usually they are cute but on your video they are not. They scare me, we have some around here. I swear one morning a few years back before Zoe realized she wasn't big and tough, I saw her wrestling one on the porch. Then I saw a young one come up to our sliding door a few months ago, it was actually pretty cute but yeah don't want those buggers around!

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Sad news. Treasure is not letting Shaman eat. And as I've stated a million times, no one else within 3 miles of here are feeding the cats. At some point Shaman needs to eat. So I don't know what to do. I can't bring inside because of Mom's allergies and I can't sneak food to her because he follows me everywhere I go when I'm outside. It's the most tragic situation ever that you probably heard of. I really should have thought twice before starting this because I'm not really providing them the best protection they need.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Treasure is whining because I refuse to share my Burger King breakfast with him. I"m not an advocate of serving human food to cats though even if just a taste.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Shaman just attacked me. This is really getting to be too much

 

[KarenKat]

I understand how stressful this can be. Hope you are ok. Was it aggressive or was he trying to play, not realizing we are soft and squishy humans? Maybe a wand toy could help redirect.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

Oh wow. My heart is breaking in two. I went outside and sitting there while still light was a raccoon. He just stood there and stared at me. I stopped so as not to antagonize. Treasure and Sopdet were there and I'm so worried now about them out there yet crazy woman won't let me bring them in. I'm so sad about this entire tragedy. Why would a raccoon come this close to a human? Aren't they supposed to be scared? Does this mean the thing is rabid? I"m so worried and sad and crying over this. I may lose these cats.

I failed these cats because of the Mom situation. I can't stop crying. I"m so depressed The raccoons will not leave no matter what I do. Treasure is outside scratching and wanting in. He's terrified. I don't know what to do and I get no help from people in my city. I'm so scared I'll have 3 dead cats tomorrow morning.

 

[MoonstoneWolf]

The raccoons won't leave. If these cats wind up dead tomorrow morning I will never ever ever forgive my Mo for not letting me let them inside. My heart is breaking in two.