grynche Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Look, Mr. and Mrs. Racoon, I don't mind your helping yourself to the occasional suet cake intended for the birds in my yard. I realize you need to eat, too. I don't even mind finding an empty feeder on the ground. (Was it really necessary, though, to take such a big chunk out of the thistle feeder? Did you have a sudden craving for a side order of plastic?) But when you take the feeder with you when you leave, isn't that kinda rude? I mean, where am I supposed to put your next meal? I'm wondering if the racoons and the neighbors' cats are the reason my birds seem to have vanished? Other than hanging feeders from the upstairs windows, I don't know what to do. Ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhonda from the Bluegrass Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 This might not be what you have in mind, but I used to make sure to always put plates of goodies out just for the raccoons & other "ground" creatures. That always seemed to help. We've just taken so much of their habitat that they are all desperate for whatever little morsel they can come across. My heart goes out to them, and I put ALL my trimmings, left-overs, and other tidbits out for the creatures. During the winter months, they will be especially miserable . . . cold, and so hungry their little insides hurt, so I actually buy stuff just to feed them. I always think . . . there before the grace of God go I. I firmly believe that if we have the means to help God's less fortunate creatures, we must do so. Of course, selfishly I also enjoy watching them. They are funny little comics, all full of personality and individuality! I think I get more from them than they ever get from me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grynche Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Oh, I can see your point. But I live in pretty prime critter habitat and the raccoons just moved in a few weeks ago, so they must've been eating pretty well somewhere else for the past 7 years. If I start feeding them, the word'll get out to possums and skunks and porcupines, too. Not to mention those long-legged rodents with the white tails. While I wouldn't mind the skunks taking up residence under those nasty sheds in my neighbor's yard, I don't want any of them using my address. I've done a lot of reading this a.m., and seems people either give up and buy even more food for the 'coons or give up and don't feed anything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolfie Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 We don't have coons here, too high. However, the bears love bird feeders too - all of them, suet, seed and thistle. So we hang em high! Off the upper balcony about 35 feet off the ground. But our Stellar Jays love the feeders too, and they do much damage to my bird feeders - I think they are re-decorators in black and blue! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abunai Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I have always seen raccoon baffles work quite well if you're using a stake. If not, then I guess they are a good excuse to get a pretty new feeder every now and again huh? I feel your pain though. Years ago my parents were having raccoon troubles. Originally we just put up with them, but it got to the point that they were breaking into the garage and causing some serious damage to the house. So finally my dad started live trapping them. We live pretty close to the edge of nowhere so whenever we caught one we would take it out to a neighboring park type area about 5 miles away and let it free there. We caught 9 in total. I know they did just fine because this area is just CRAWLING with coons, that particularly rowdy bunch would have no trouble finding somewhere else to tear up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grynche Posted October 20, 2008 Author Share Posted October 20, 2008 Live trapping may be the answer. But this late in the season may be cruel. Dunno. Something will work out. I'm just glum today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chesterfieldzoo Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 My parents used to feed the racoons and deer off the deck. But when there got to be 50+ racoons out there every night, they stopped for a while. Then they moved onto the flower beds and planters in anger. After a couple of weeks, they almost all left. They started feeding them again. It is getting cold at night and they are looking for a good food supply. When there are so many, they get aggressive, so be careful. The bird feeders were hung from tree branches with rope that tied to another tree so you could lower them to refill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wee Obsession Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Thanks for the giggles....grynche!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miniwendy Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Hee hee hee! I'd go with a baffle on your feeder. They make ones to go below the feeder for pole feeders, and ones to hang above for hanging feeders. That being said, raccoons are really really mechanically minded and I wouldnt' be surprised for them to get past anything! Evidently at the last house we lived in the previous occupants used to feed the raccoons every night. Boy were we surprised when we looked out the back window and saw a pack of them sitting in the backyard, staring at the backdoor making those wierd little raccoon noises. It was like Alfred Hitchcock had made a new movie called "the raccoons" and they were just waiting for us to move so they could attack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 We haven't had raccoons since the feral cats caught & ate the last of the ornamental chickens the previous owners of our house used to raise, they "gave" them to the nextdoor neighbors and the biddies came back to our yard to lay eggs for the raccoons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntDee Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I used to have a terrible problem with racoons and squirrels raiding the bird feeders. Neither group was satisfied with just pigging out and eating all the food. the feeders were either taken with the racoons or the squirrels chewed thru the plastic. I now hang the feeders from shepard hooks. I use black stove pipe (the kind used for wood stove chimineys) and place that around the shepard hook pole. I bury it about 2 inches and make sure the pipe is snapped closed. The 8 inch diameter makes it impossible for the squirrels or racaoons to get their front legs around it to climb. IT takes 3 sections to make it tall enough to keep them from grabbing on and pulling themselves up. I make sure the pole is upright and the feeders do not hang low enoungh for the racoons to pull down. I do not mind feeding wildlife but my birds are messy enough that there is enough spilled on the ground for the critters to enjoy. Rita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grynche Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 ooohhh, somebody who has used stovepipe. Thanks! I found a site that showed a piece of stovepipe from the ground partway up the feeder pole, then a funnel with the pointy end up, and then one of the acrylic domes on top of that. I thought that was a bit too complicated, so I think I'll try just the stovepipe. My birds keep me from getting cabin fever in the winter........I neeeeeeeed their amusing antics to stay sane. Rita, do you have to keep moving the pipe up as the snow accumulates? Or do you clear the snow away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 After a family of raccoons moved into our chimney a couple of summers ago, I learned a lot more about those militant little critters than I had known before! Well, at least about urban raccoons. They're a totally different breed than the country raccoons I'm familiar with. Urban raccoons see humans as just another critter to overcome in their world. I swear, that mother raccoon is still stomping around on my roof and cussing at me for kicking them out. Coyote urine is used as a deterrent to keep them away, but if they're urban critters, they don't pay any attention to it since they have no idea what that kind of predator is. I think the ones around here would be more intimidated by a Goodyear tire. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AuntDee Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 do you have to keep moving the pipe up as the snow accumulates? Or do you clear the snow away? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeffrey Posted October 22, 2008 Share Posted October 22, 2008 idk if it works for raccoons but they have bird feeders that spin squirrels off of it as in if anything heavier than a bird sits on the feeder it starts to rotate and it throws the squirrel off of it. it doesnt harm them it just keeps them from eating everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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