I'd try it. All you can do is experiment. But don't forget what I said about setting a trap for it with peanut butter, etc. outside the cat door.
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Need advice on raccoon problem
- Thread starter gleason
- Start Date
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #22
The dirty bugger came back last nite and cleaned out the cat dishes. I don't have a live trap so I would have to see about getting one. I also don't have peanut butter. Do cats like peanut butter? I'm concerned about trapping one of the feral cats instead of the raccoon?
No way to know for sure if one of your cats might like peanut butter. As a general, they don't seem to, but there are always exceptions to every rule. If you get a trap, set it away from the cat door in the hope that the cats will pass by it and head for the cat door instead. The raccoon might not if it comes across the food in the trap first. If you would happen to trap one of the ferals, just release it when you find it trapped. That one will likely avoid the trap thereafter.
I've read other members who have set up a raccoon food station away from the area where the cats eat, and the raccoons go there instead of bothering the cats' food. It all just depends on whether you can accommodate such a station.
Do these cats/kittens tolerate your presence? If so, you might consider spending a night or two in the garage. The raccoon will be less inclined to want to enter knowing there is a human in the garage. It would also enable you to know the approximate time the cats show up to feed, and you can use that to your advantage in terms of when you put food down and when to remove it, thereby reducing the amount of time you need to spend in the garage at night until you can get this raccoon to move on or trapped.
I've read other members who have set up a raccoon food station away from the area where the cats eat, and the raccoons go there instead of bothering the cats' food. It all just depends on whether you can accommodate such a station.
Do these cats/kittens tolerate your presence? If so, you might consider spending a night or two in the garage. The raccoon will be less inclined to want to enter knowing there is a human in the garage. It would also enable you to know the approximate time the cats show up to feed, and you can use that to your advantage in terms of when you put food down and when to remove it, thereby reducing the amount of time you need to spend in the garage at night until you can get this raccoon to move on or trapped.
Some cats like peanut butter some don't. when you get the peanut butter be certain you buy one that does NOT have Xylitol in it. Xylitol is known to be toxic to dogs, so far there are no studies done with cats and no known reporting - see article below for why cats may be more than sensitive to xylitol but problems have slipped under the radar. Nor are there any studies with raccoons. Since it is toxic for dogs I'd consider it a risk for other animals. Your choice.
Is Xylitol Toxic to Cats? It's Possible! | Preventive Vet
Is Xylitol Toxic to Cats? It's Possible! | Preventive Vet
The most popular brands of peanut butter, such as Jif, Skippy, Smuckers and Peter Pan are all xylitol-free. I usually buy Publix brand, and it also does not contain xylitol.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #26
Thanks for the reply. Do not want to set up a raccoon feeding station which would only encourage more raccoons.
All of the cats and the kittens tolerate me. The kittens have gotten fairly tame as well as a couple of the adults. From the trail cam, it appears they spend most of the night in the garage and feed thru out the night. There is only 1 that I can see that does not stick around.
LOL I'm 70 years old and staying in the garage for a night or two is not an option.
I'm going to look into getting a live trap.
Greetings from the Eastern Sierra. Raccoons are a terrible nuisance and the devastation that they wreak on baby animals & poultry is sickening.
You need to check your local laws regarding trapping. Our state does not allow relocating so any raccoon that is trapped must be "dispatched". I had an out-of-state friend who didnt know that so he drove the raccoon into another camping area. The raccoon was understandably very defensive and kept trying to attack the young men trying to release it. Had they been bitten, they would have had to surrender the coon or do the rabies treatment. Eventually, i brought them a hook on a broom handle and some ribar and we were able to stay in the truck and lift the trap's gate. Lesson learned: rig a way to easily release the animal or use a trap with only one gate & a drop-down door on the other end and practice, practice, practice releasing the trap prior to catching anything.
Alternately, one of my fellow feral colony-caretakers is very handy with wood and makes L-shaped, narrow but short tunnels to cover the entrances. The cats learn to enter them quite handily but the raccoons seem to stay out.
You need to check your local laws regarding trapping. Our state does not allow relocating so any raccoon that is trapped must be "dispatched". I had an out-of-state friend who didnt know that so he drove the raccoon into another camping area. The raccoon was understandably very defensive and kept trying to attack the young men trying to release it. Had they been bitten, they would have had to surrender the coon or do the rabies treatment. Eventually, i brought them a hook on a broom handle and some ribar and we were able to stay in the truck and lift the trap's gate. Lesson learned: rig a way to easily release the animal or use a trap with only one gate & a drop-down door on the other end and practice, practice, practice releasing the trap prior to catching anything.
Alternately, one of my fellow feral colony-caretakers is very handy with wood and makes L-shaped, narrow but short tunnels to cover the entrances. The cats learn to enter them quite handily but the raccoons seem to stay out.
There's your answer
G
gleason
! Since you've got so much acreage, I think
dcam
's idea of giving the raccoons their own "food court" 
sounds like an interesting thing to try - - entice them away and let them get their fill of food court food (usually works that way for me at the mall). Think that'll work at our house? We've got a backyard that's about 10 foot x 15 ft - - think that's far enough away? 
dcam
's idea of giving the raccoons their own "food court" sounds like an interesting thing to try - - entice them away and let them get their fill of food court food (usually works that way for me at the mall). Think that'll work at our house? We've got a backyard that's about 10 foot x 15 ft - - think that's far enough away? 
my neighbor traps the racoons that visit his bird feed, then they get a ride down to the cemetary in the trap for a new home...
Rabies is a big concern. In Pennsylvania, there have been 81 cases of rabies found in animals this year. (Jan. 2023 to May. 2023) We are only half way through the year and summer is coming. You would expect there to be an increase in the number of rabies cases during the summer.
Out of those 81 cases, 42 of them were raccoons. Bats come in third at eleven cases. Care to guess what animal takes second place? Cats! There have been 14 cases! All other animals are in the single digits or have had zero cases.
These are the animals that we found with rabies. There might be as many as five times those numbers that weren't reported! (The Pareto Principle.)
With that information, we can make an inference... There are many cats that get infected with rabies from raccoons!
Don't forget! Rabies is 100% fatal. If an animal gets rabies, it is DEAD! Humans, too! Yes, there is a rabies vaccine. Yes, it can be given as a preventative measure, before exposure, or immediately after exposure but if it isn't given in time, before the rabies virus starts to grow, the vaccine won't work.
All mammals can get rabies, including humans. Some animals are less susceptible but no mammal is immune unless vaccinated before infection.
Feeding raccoons is a really bad thing to do. When humans put out food for raccoons, they tend to congregate around the food source and that increases the chances of spreading diseases like rabies, tularemia, canine distemper, parvoviralenteritis, infectious canine hepatitis and others. If you feed raccoons or if you allow them to come near your house for food, you greatly increase the chances of spreading disease. If you have dogs or cats, yes! They can get sick from raccoons, too!
Bottom line: Keep raccoons away from your cats at all cost! If you have to kill them, so be it! I don't like the idea of killing things any more than anybody else but, if I have to do it to protect my cats and my family, I will. I would not hesitate to kill (and safely dispose) a raccoon if the need ever arises.
I like nature and I am willing to let animals live in the wild and I won't disturb them but, if they start coming too close to my house, my family or my pets, something's going to have to give and it's not going to be me. If I can't deter them or scare them away, I'll do what I have to.
In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to trap raccoons without a license. (Raccoons are, technically, classified as fur-bearing animals.) There might be some gray are when it come to homeowners protecting their property. Most authorities will look the other way in that situation.
In the area where I live, most people would also look the other way if you discretely shot a raccoon. If anybody did say anything and you told them you had to dispatch a raccoon that was getting into your house and you couldn't scare it away, their reply would be, "Be careful, now..."
Besides, if you called the Game Commission regarding a stray raccoon, the Game Warden would just assume that it is rabid and immediately dispatch it.
From what I've read, racoons are territorial which means they won't allow racoons that aren't part of their group to move in. However, the minute you move the ones who are currently there out, you've opened up the property for a new group.
When you release a racoon into an area they don't know they will have to fight for territory. This means injuries to the ones who live there and the ones you move there. Consider the age of the kits when you do this. Consider asking the local wild life people for help. And, consider that there are places where there are racoon hunting seasons and that means there are times when it's illegal to hunt them.
When you release a racoon into an area they don't know they will have to fight for territory. This means injuries to the ones who live there and the ones you move there. Consider the age of the kits when you do this. Consider asking the local wild life people for help. And, consider that there are places where there are racoon hunting seasons and that means there are times when it's illegal to hunt them.
After finding THREE possums, one after another, in the cat house, we stuffed a towel in the door and relocated them. Raccoons were eating the cat's food every night too. I now let the cats eat all day if they want, but pick the food up at 8PM every night. They will quickly learn when the food is there and adjust their schedules. They are waiting every morning as soon as it is light. Coons can't jump but can climb almost anything. Putting it on top a chest freezer may work, (it is slippery) and you could provide the kittens with an elevated jump spot like a sturdy box or 5 gallon bucket with lid) about half the height of the freezer a ways away so the kittens can jump from that to the top of the freezer, but not the coons. I have a feeling they will climb the walls to get to the freezer top. With a camera you could watch how they are getting up there!
I like possums, but not taking over my cat's beds! They all have a hard time finding food.....
I like possums, too. We have a little pet shelter outside our back door. Some of our neighbors leave their cats outside all night long. We let them hole-up in the shelter if they want to get out of the rain or if they need a safe spot to hide.
The ostensible reason we have a cat shelter is in case one of our cats escapes and tries to come home while we aren't around to see them. They know that's their safe spot to hide out until their humans come back to let them inside.
Anyhow, we do get the occasional opossum in there. I don't mind, so much, but I agree. The cat shelter is for cats, not other critters.
Like you say, opossums are beneficial. They eat harmful insects and they are fairly docile, compared to other critters. It's also rare for an opossum to get rabies. Not to say that they can't. It just doesn't happen very often.
If I find an opossum in the cat shelter, I just scare it off.
...and don't leave pet food out, overnight. It WILL attract opossums and other less desirable animals.
Rabies is a big concern. In Pennsylvania, there have been 81 cases of rabies found in animals this year. (Jan. 2023 to May. 2023) We are only half way through the year and summer is coming. You would expect there to be an increase in the number of rabies cases during the summer.
Out of those 81 cases, 42 of them were raccoons. Bats come in third at eleven cases. Care to guess what animal takes second place? Cats! There have been 14 cases! All other animals are in the single digits or have had zero cases.
These are the animals that we found with rabies. There might be as many as five times those numbers that weren't reported! (The Pareto Principle.)
With that information, we can make an inference... There are many cats that get infected with rabies from raccoons!
Don't forget! Rabies is 100% fatal. If an animal gets rabies, it is DEAD! Humans, too! Yes, there is a rabies vaccine. Yes, it can be given as a preventative measure, before exposure, or immediately after exposure but if it isn't given in time, before the rabies virus starts to grow, the vaccine won't work.
All mammals can get rabies, including humans. Some animals are less susceptible but no mammal is immune unless vaccinated before infection.
Feeding raccoons is a really bad thing to do. When humans put out food for raccoons, they tend to congregate around the food source and that increases the chances of spreading diseases like rabies, tularemia, canine distemper, parvoviralenteritis, infectious canine hepatitis and others. If you feed raccoons or if you allow them to come near your house for food, you greatly increase the chances of spreading disease. If you have dogs or cats, yes! They can get sick from raccoons, too!
Bottom line: Keep raccoons away from your cats at all cost! If you have to kill them, so be it! I don't like the idea of killing things any more than anybody else but, if I have to do it to protect my cats and my family, I will. I would not hesitate to kill (and safely dispose) a raccoon if the need ever arises.
I like nature and I am willing to let animals live in the wild and I won't disturb them but, if they start coming too close to my house, my family or my pets, something's going to have to give and it's not going to be me. If I can't deter them or scare them away, I'll do what I have to.
In Pennsylvania, it is illegal to trap raccoons without a license. (Raccoons are, technically, classified as fur-bearing animals.) There might be some gray are when it come to homeowners protecting their property. Most authorities will look the other way in that situation.
In the area where I live, most people would also look the other way if you discretely shot a raccoon. If anybody did say anything and you told them you had to dispatch a raccoon that was getting into your house and you couldn't scare it away, their reply would be, "Be careful, now..."
Besides, if you called the Game Commission regarding a stray raccoon, the Game Warden would just assume that it is rabid and immediately dispatch it.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #38
So here's an update. The raccoon kept coming in looking for food but was not able to get on top of the freezer. The cats were able to get up there as well as the kittens. We have a toilet right there so with the lid closed the kittens could jump on there and then onto the freezer. I had a camera out there.
I decided to get a live trap as the raccoon was just not giving up. He/she managed to not set the trap off but ate the peanut butter. That happened the first 2 nites. The 3rd nite, I tied the empty tuna can to the trap and put the peanut butter in. Caught the raccoon that time. I looked out at 4:50 am and saw it. It appeared to be sleeping. Sitting there with it's head down very quiet. I went out at 6 am and the coon was gone. But here is what is bothering me. There is a lot of hair all over the trap as well as outside of the trap. No blood tho. One end looks like something attacked the trap and bent it in. Definitely done from the outside. Raccoon did not get out that end I'm sure. Not sure how the other end got opened for his/her escape. The trap was laying on it's side tho. We have coyotes around here. Would a coyote attack a trap like that? Could the raccoon have gotten out and safely away? I'm still putting the food up at night and the camera. So far no signs of the raccoon.
I decided to get a live trap as the raccoon was just not giving up. He/she managed to not set the trap off but ate the peanut butter. That happened the first 2 nites. The 3rd nite, I tied the empty tuna can to the trap and put the peanut butter in. Caught the raccoon that time. I looked out at 4:50 am and saw it. It appeared to be sleeping. Sitting there with it's head down very quiet. I went out at 6 am and the coon was gone. But here is what is bothering me. There is a lot of hair all over the trap as well as outside of the trap. No blood tho. One end looks like something attacked the trap and bent it in. Definitely done from the outside. Raccoon did not get out that end I'm sure. Not sure how the other end got opened for his/her escape. The trap was laying on it's side tho. We have coyotes around here. Would a coyote attack a trap like that? Could the raccoon have gotten out and safely away? I'm still putting the food up at night and the camera. So far no signs of the raccoon.
Wow! I have no idea. But it is amazing that whatever happened none of the cats or kittens were affected. Keep us in the loop.
" Coyotes do eat raccoons. Raccoons are a relatively easy animal for coyotes to hunt. They are small enough for a single coyote to hunt and kill. Both animals are nocturnal and coyotes can see in the dark allowing them to see raccoons. A raccoon’s defenses won’t do much to ward off a determined coyote. " Do Coyotes Eat Raccoons? How Coyotes Hunt Raccoons – Critter clean out
On the other hand this site below said, " “Raccoons do not seem to be vigilant toward coyotes when caught on camera, and their activity patterns overlap, all of which indicates that coyotes are not depredating raccoons, meaning they’re not eating them,” said Chris Moorman, professor and interim associate head of the North Carolina State University Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. " Do Raccoons Fear Coyotes? A Research Team Used Cameras to Find Out | NC State News (ncsu.edu)
So, my guess is it depends on whether there is more than one coyote, and there usually is. ("If you see one coyote there's another one behind you.") and how hungry they are.
Coyotes are fond of eating cats. However, you haven't trapped a cat, so they are in a position to scatter when a coyote approaches, which would help the cats escape.
On the other hand this site below said, " “Raccoons do not seem to be vigilant toward coyotes when caught on camera, and their activity patterns overlap, all of which indicates that coyotes are not depredating raccoons, meaning they’re not eating them,” said Chris Moorman, professor and interim associate head of the North Carolina State University Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources. " Do Raccoons Fear Coyotes? A Research Team Used Cameras to Find Out | NC State News (ncsu.edu)
So, my guess is it depends on whether there is more than one coyote, and there usually is. ("If you see one coyote there's another one behind you.") and how hungry they are.
Coyotes are fond of eating cats. However, you haven't trapped a cat, so they are in a position to scatter when a coyote approaches, which would help the cats escape.
