Grassroots raccoon repelling?

Over the course of the past few years we've had a but of a raccoon problem. It seems that every time we get rid of one another one pops in within a week. They're getting into a crawl space area at the top of the house that i don't have access to (at least any sort of easy access).

After tearing down everything else on the sides of the house they can shimmy up i've determined they're getting up by way of the back porch. They're shimmying up these supports:

Does anyone know of anything i can place around these supports so they can't keep getting up them? Any sort of coatings or surrounds, hopefully on the cheap?

thanks!

Jacques

A .22/220 works wonders, plus you can get that pesky neighbor as well.

2 6" wide metal straps wrapped around each the posts...separated by a few inches and each connected to one of the 2 leads on a car battery...

Smells like chicken

I have nothing to add. I read the title as Grassroots Raccoon Rappelling, and that would just be weird.

Wrap some aluminum roof flashing around the supports, overlapping as you go up (same way that siding boards overlap) for probably a foot to 18". Then listen for the thumps as they slide down and hit the porch.

These squirrel baffles will 'usually' deter raccoons:

The ones that look like a lampshade don't work.

Better off to bite the bullet and block the access to the crawl space with hardware cloth - even if it is a royal pain, you will only have to do it once.

I've seen raccoons scale vertical clapboard siding, so whatever you do, they will probably find a way...

I have one now that raids the neighbor's garbage for steak bones, and then insists on eating (and pooping) on my roof. Makes cleaning the gutters a special treat.

I second the .22.... its the ONLY thing that kept the damn coons out of my trash. a pellet gun would work equally well since it looks like you are in a residential area.

.22 is ok......

a .223 ruger is a bit better

Drozd... but only because you have other structures close by.

Buy a Have-A-Heart trap and drop them off in the next county.

I have a smaller one for Chip & Dale that hang near my woodpile.

Dan

If you Had-A-Heart, you'd Bust-A-Cap on them so the people in the next county didn't have to.

http://www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=NWS001&Category_Code=WCSSS

I use the Duffer's myself, then a 22LR. I used to spook them up the tree, then carefully shoot them down so that they'd land on the ground and not the porch, which takes an additional 20 minutes to clean the blood off of. As you look to live in town, trap them with a Duffer's (they LOVE M&M's with Peanuts and Special Kitty), then get some CCI CB Long 22's and use a rifle. Makes about as much noise as a pellet gun. Head shot For The Win.

Here's a hint: After you cap about 10 of them, word gets 'round 'coon circles not to go to your place.

Dr. Hess wrote: Here's a hint: After you cap about 10 of them, word gets 'round 'coon circles not to go to your place.

You could probably get that number down a little by putting their heads on little pikes as a sign for the rest.

I've got a story about a raccoon!

Humm, Walter, I'll have to try that. I do have a skin that turned out real nice. foxtrapper helped me out with directions on how to tan the hide myself. I really haven't had much problem with them since, actually. Maybe they figured it out. Or maybe I just ran out of 'coon, but it's been over a year since I had a problem with them.

And if you use night vision and an IR illuminator, (Harbor Freight, hint-hint) their little eyes light up like two flashlights up in the tree....

I know that I managed to get rid of the possums that were getting into our trash by "marking" our fence perimeter. I read somewhere that most animals will smell human urine and stay away. Of course, I decided to forgo the whole pee in a bottle and then sprinkle it around the perimeter, and went straight to peeing around the fence in the dark. Heard a noise as I came down the side fence, and just as I was going there, the possum sticks it's head under the fence. It didn't seem to happy to catch a full stream, square in the face. However, I haven't seen it since. Of course, raccoons are a whole lot meaner. Not sure that I'd recommend this course of action (ie: know that the raccoons aren't around before you start.

Wrapping razor wire around the posts,or a few vertical lines up each one, will deter them. You'll still have to clean the porch off of raccy bits and blood, and might have to put earplugs in to ignore the noise, but it won't take too long before they leave you alone. It's hard for the little critters to climb when they only have nubs for paws. Hess, I like how your mind works. Always looking out for your fellow man.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybaPJ51u1sI

Just get a bigger raccoon and put him up there. That'll keep those other ones away.

I "mark" around where our trash can sits and havent had but one problem,which was the reason I pissed around it in the first place. Dont know how you would pee on the gable ends tho.

Hess, any advice on Beaver removal?

Current plan is to bust open the damn on our pond and wait for them to show up and let the .22 have fun

porksboy wrote: Dont know how you would pee on the gable ends tho.

drink alotta beer and tea and arch your back

Thanks for the suggestions all! I'm gonna start with flashing and see where that gets me. If that doesn't work, the barbed wire is an awesome idea!

Guns are a no-go in town but "marking" my territory could be a last ditch thing

thanks again!

Jacques

Air rifles with .177 pellet could also do the trick, who says any one needs to know you're using a gun.

I tried to post a Vid of us Coonhunting several timescould try to find some local hunters they'll take em out for good

We don't have no Bee-ver 'round here. Not fer a hunderd year 'er so. So, can't help you there. Actually, we don't have no 'coon round here right now either. Can't figger out why...

Duke was great. He was 1/2 Black Mouth Cur, and the rest mostly Rhodesian Ridgeback from a line I'd had for twentyfive years. I had him trained so that he'd bark when the coon was on the porch, eating the Special Kitty, not before. Sometimes I'd look out there and tell him "No, Duke, that's a possum" and he'd shut up. He'd go off about coon thirty (they work in shifts, by the way,) and I'd try to spook it up the tree, then get the night vision out. Eventually, word got around coon land that I could see in the dark too and they started running down the tree instead of up, plus they would spook at any movement in the house and it was getting too hard to get a clear shot off. That's when the Duffer's traps came out. Then I had Duke trained to go off when the coon would get itself "stuck." Take about 20 minutes at that point to dispatch the coon and bag it up.

Then there was the one I saw in the driveway at about 2 or 3PM. That's rabies until proven otherwise. Hit it with a 9mm (Mr. Helwan again) in the torso and it didn't even know it'd been shot. About 4 more and it was done.