Keep racoons away from feral's food

[ellsworth]

How is it that your raccoons don't attack your cats?

I live in Southern California in a very densely populated area and yet we have raccoons that have killed two of my cats and would have killed a third except that I managed to grab the cat before the raccoon did. The fact that it was only 9:00 p.m. and people were walking in the street and I yelled and screamed and chased and hosed it down with water did not deter it. It just kept coming back after my cat. Fortunately my cat ran to me, thank god.

Now my cat only goes outside after the sun has been up for awhile and if I am home. The cat constantly begs to go outside or I would simply keep her in all of the time. Now you are saying that those critters come out in the day??

 

[elayman]

Originally Posted by Ellsworth

How is it that your raccoons don't attack your cats?

I live in Southern California in a very densely populated area and yet we have raccoons that have killed two of my cats and would have killed a third except that I managed to grab the cat before the raccoon did. The fact that it was only 9:00 p.m. and people were walking in the street and I yelled and screamed and chased and hosed it down with water did not deter it. It just kept coming back after my cat. Fortunately my cat ran to me, thank god.

Now my cat only goes outside after the sun has been up for awhile and if I am home. The cat constantly begs to go outside or I would simply keep her in all of the time. Now you are saying that those critters come out in the day??

Awwwww ! You must have been devastated. Horrible! Raccoons are thugs. Not the raccoon’s fault, though, just animal instinct on their part. It's the the owners that need to be more responsible and ALWAYS bring small animals in at night.

I worry about the ferals in my area, but they all seem to co-habitate very well so far.

 

[elayman]

Originally Posted by LDG

We generally put food out around 8:00am and pick it up at sunset. When we're trapping, we put it down for two hours in the morning and two hours before dusk.

That sounds like a good arrangement. Now someone needs to invent a raccoon proof trap.

There was a new kitty that had the markings of a known feral family (...could it be already 3-4 mos this early in the spring ???) out by the feeder around sunset this morning who I'd love to try and TNR without making the already fixed regulars extremely hungry. Get ready for a riot on the porch !

 

[ldg]

Good luck!

We only trapped raccoons and skunks when we trapped after dark. Gary trapped a possum he couldn't figure out how the darn thing squeezed himself into the trap once.

...and I guess it's because we live in a rural area that the raccoons aren't a problem for the cats? Never seen an aggressive one - and if it were not scared away by us (in this area), we'd assume it had rabies. Of course, that's much more of a problem in the raccoon population out east than out west. ...But maybe it's because we try to make sure we're not attracting the cats when coons would be out? Our pet kitties are indoor-only.

 

[chausiefan]

if ur cat is found dead eaten or goes missing its a coyote not a coon where coons live coyotes will probably live also and they are the number one cat killers out there and here in ca they are all over

coons and cats usually get along sometimes one will go after the other if they are hungry or feel threatend in a fight a coon is obv much stronger and would win any serious fight

 

[buehler740]

what I been doing the past couple of weeks , I do have a camera set up so I can see what is getting into the station, I put it up higher but other animals can still get it but I let the bird food and seeds get real low, also put food out all day then some wet in the evening, Oreo will come in and eat then I take in all the food after I watch him eat, suprisingly enough he came back in about an hour or so looking for more so when I seen him I went out and I was amazed he stopped, and didnt run, I gave him some wet food in a bowl he is used to seeing and slowly put it as close to him as he felt comfortable then I sat in my chair and just talked to him while he ate and then he left, but since doing that taking the food in I havent seen any racoons or other wild animals they may have moved on , so I guess if there is no food out for the wild animals they will move on, and as for Oreo few times he came in real late and found empty bowls so he started comming in earlyer so he would get his share , so he is figuring out he has to come in early

 

[taryn]

Originally Posted by chausiefan

people tend to say a native wild animal attacked their dog when clearly they and their dog cornered the poor animal forcing it to defend itself because it was scared for its life !

It had a very very clear escape route, the way it came in. Molly did kind of growl. It was not cornered, Molly was not near it and all Molly did was growl at it and it was ready for a fight. It doesn't matter who started it in order to protect my animal I will kill another especially a wild animal who might be carrying god knows what.

Like I said it shouldn't have been comfortable sitting next to Paul. That is a problem, if Paul had thought it was a cat and reached down to pet it without looking to see what it was(and we do just reach down and pet the cats without looking at them) he could have been seriously hurt.

Molly was not looking for trouble, she was not going after it, it certainly was NOT cornered. She growled at something that was next to her human that was in her territory. If it hadn't of been so comfortable next to a human it wouldn't have been harmed. Even if it wasn't sick it was way too comfortable with humans and that is dangerous, my kid plays here and while he knows not to touch a wild animal, kids don't always listen and at 7 1/2 he's old enough to play outside by himself. There are also other kids in the neighborhood, so it was a danger to them and others as well.

It was humane, a shot right at the base of the skull, it kills them instantly. It's not like he shot the raccoon multiple time or it felt any pain, it was dead before it felt anything.

Taryn

 

[taryn]

Originally Posted by Ellsworth

How is it that your raccoons don't attack your cats?

I live in Southern California in a very densely populated area and yet we have raccoons that have killed two of my cats and would have killed a third except that I managed to grab the cat before the raccoon did. The fact that it was only 9:00 p.m. and people were walking in the street and I yelled and screamed and chased and hosed it down with water did not deter it. It just kept coming back after my cat. Fortunately my cat ran to me, thank god.

The raccoons and my cats live together perfectly happy. The raccoon comes and eat their food and they just lay there and watch him. They ignore each other.

I'm not about shooting raccoons, we have at least 2 or 3 that come by if we forget to put up the food bowl and like I said I don't blame them for it, heck if I could get a quick easy meal I would too. They don't bother the cats and the cats don't bother them.

Taryn

 

[elayman]

Originally Posted by Taryn

The raccoons and my cats live together perfectly happy. The raccoon comes and eat their food and they just lay there and watch him. They ignore each other.

I'm not about shooting raccoons, we have at least 2 or 3 that come by if we forget to put up the food bowl and like I said I don't blame them for it, heck if I could get a quick easy meal I would too. They don't bother the cats and the cats don't bother them.

Taryn

Heck, mine are territorial enough to appear every night for the water alone.

Although you might want to try foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, chicken, turkey or fish that aren't setting the "poor things" up for obesity-induced heart failure, liver disease, joint/hip lameness and arthritis, etc....

 

[taryn]

I have seen up to 2 together and I think they were mates. They were the HUGE ones, they are a good 30+ lbs each(they have always been huge, they eat well in their natural environment, cat food has nothing to do with their size.) Other than that they are alone. We have a smaller one. Even though that might have been the one he had to shoot at Mitzi's when it was found in her woodpile alive but unable to move. I think it might have had a run in with a car and manged to get to the woodpile or whatever I think it was injured and not sick. Either way it was totally paralyzed and only just kind of tried to growl when Paul used a piece of wood to get it out of the woodpile so he could end it's suffering. A normal raccoon would have ripped your arm off and beat you with it for even getting that close to it much less not reacting until you used a piece of wood to gently lift it and even then it only kind of growled.

They only get the cat food if I forget to take up the bowl at night. I'm not encouraging them to come around. They are already comfortable enough around humans that I have to yell at them(most of the time I yell "get out of here!!") to get them to leave if they are here. Any more comfortable and they become a danger. Mickey and Mitzi are afraid of them, Mickey because she's in her 80's and Mitzi worries about her dogs, she knows Dylan would go after a raccoon and she doesn't want him ripped to shreds.

Taryn

 

[ellsworth]

Originally Posted by chausiefan

if ur cat is found dead eaten or goes missing its a coyote not a coon where coons live coyotes will probably live also and they are the number one cat killers out there and here in ca they are all over

coons and cats usually get along sometimes one will go after the other if they are hungry or feel threatend in a fight a coon is obv much stronger and would win any serious fight

I thought it was a coyote at first, even though I've never seen one in the neighborhood. But a neighbor told me he lost his cat to a raccoon so I went on line and looked up raccoon scat. Then I looked at the spot where the cats were killed and there were several pieces of raccoon scat. That, plus the episode described in my post above, makes me think it was the raccoon family that lives 2 houses down from mine.

 

[elayman]

They may not be the threat of bobcats or cougars, but raccoons, especially babies, can still look like a nice snack or lunch to top-carnivore coyote. I live too far in the city, just along an urban wildlife corridor, to have personal experience; but just logically I can't see many smaller prey (raccoons, skunks, foxes etc) excited about hanging around that kind of situation for long. :?

 

[mdunhamma]

Our feral cats have been around skunks since they were kittens. Ferals get along with skunks well and vice versa. Skunks also like cat food and rule of thumb is 15  minutes after feeding ferals, if food IS left, put that much less in the bowl(s) at the next feeding. Good luck.

 

[usmc2344]

I had a 2 month problem with a raccoon eating my outside cat food as well. He tore up my orange cat and got in my garage. I hired trappers, he would not go in the traps. My wife and daughter were getting in the car and he popped outta the wall and growled at them. He ran off and never came back. He would not get trapped, or go away and hurt my cat real bad. He was coming out in the day to. He figured out I was feeding them them then not putting food out at dark anymore so he would come during the day. I could not let him get in the house while we were not home Bc he would have hurt my inside cats or my family.

 

[rezzi]

I rent in the suburbs of Long Island, my landlord (lives on site) has fed 2/3 cats for years now, one just had a litter of kittens a few months back and most (4 of 5/6 I believe) have survived illness, racoons, etc... They were always afraid of my boyfriend and I who rent the ground level part of the home but recently have been getting just a tad more comfortable.
We have colder weather coming and a storm tonight, I created a mini temprary shelter with a cardboard box on its side, with one Wong for an over hang, stuffed it with old pillow cases and an old sweater for warmth and put a Tupperware of water and one of a partial can of tuna... I've been reading th comments because we certainly have racoons(we live in a slightly more wooded area near a large county park and I know the racoons get into the garbage often even destroying the plastic cans...)
I put an old towel over the box and placed it up on the 4.5' ledge that borders the ascending ground so the racoons can still technically get to it, but I placed it just askew, hoping the agility of the cats would allow them in as opposed to the more clumsy racoons. That area is also known to be where the cats hang around in the brush. My hope is that, as a test, the shelter is light enough so that if a racoon was to get to it during the night (it's 330am) their lack of agility n weight would knock over the box allowing me to discern which of the two got to the food... And if the food is gone but box still let alone, it's a good chance the cat(s) probably found their way in.
I've always had a soft spot for cats, been feeding strays and saving my coins to donate to sheltera since a little littl girl.
If anyone has any other recommendations I'd love to hear them.
Unfortunately the above links were not working.
I plan on possibly creating a shelter that only has a small hole-like entrance that cats only can get through in the future...
Hope they get out of that rain tonight, poor guys.

 

[rhodophyllis]

I feed both outdoor raccoons and feral cats.  I try to do it at different times of the day, but I also feed them different things.

The raccoons get dry dog food (Alpo, Come and Get It works) and my feral cats get wet cat food.

The raccoons don't like the wet cat food and leave it alone.  The feral cats will not eat the dry dog food as the pieces are too big and too hard for them. 

If I feed dry cat food to my feral cats, I am sure to take it inside before the raccoons arrive at night.

So far, I have had no food fights between the raccoons and cats.

Hope this helps.  .

 

[mlkavanaugh]

I have a feral and domestic cats and where I live and raccoons are a real pain... My feral cat sleeps on my closed in porch in a heated cat house I purchased.

The best way I have found to discourage the raccoons is to feed them a mixture of cat food/peanut butter and Cayenne pepper, after a couple of nights they look elsewhere for free meals. Mike

 

[lelu088]

I realize this thread is pretty old but I’ve been feeding a few ferals around my house in hopes of trapping, spaying/neutering & getting them adopted out but raccoons & skunks are definitely an issue. I noticed the raccoon family stays by a nearby condo community’s dumpster so when they start popping up by “my” ferals I put some food out for them by their dumpster. I get some cheap dry dog food & mix in any old sugary cereal I have around the house & it keeps them from stealing the ferals’ food. It’s not a permanent or great solution but it does work for me. Just an idea if anyone has the means to do it

 

[daisysdad]

Relocating racoons can only ever be a temporary fix. You will only get more moving into the territory to fill the void.
We have to work with the wildlife and not eliminate it.
We all care about our feral population and I’m out several times to shout a racoon off.
Like most people here I agree that feeding during the day and,or at fixed times in the evening if you can be present. The raised platform is also an option. Racoons are skilled climbers, but not good jumpers. If you can work something out that the racoon can’t climb easily.
Yes the racoons are annoying, but they are also hungry and if there is a bowl of food to be had, then what do we expect?

If possible keep feeding stations away from sleeping quarters also.
Good luck with your kitties.