Large Scale Central

The 'coons win!

Gardening
#1

OK,
I’m throwin in the towel! I quit! Uncle!
The %$%#@ coons have destroyed my lily pond for the last time.
Over the years, I’ve tried every thing short of building a cage over the top of pond. Which I won’t, 'cause it defeats the purpose of the pond, ascetically.
This morning everything was torn up, shredded, muddied,----------
I pumped it dry, rescued the few remaining fish and snails, and tossed the lilies in a horse trough.
I’m gonna put in a Chinese pagoda and a fountain.
And mebbe piranhas hehehehe
Doesn’t do any good to trap them. I’ve trapped a few, and then they get smart.

TOG

#2

Shoot, shovel, shut up.

Oh! Did I say that out loud?

Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier.

Pools with vertical sides are better at defeating 'coons.

#3

Kill the fish, serve them for your own supper and the coons will only drink the water. Or pour a gallon of Clorox in the pond and clean up the scum and chuck the dead fish in the compost pile. Don’t fight mother nature, just live with it.

2nd idea, If you just say “the coons win”, you’ve already given up. Once the fish are gone, then you can really set the trap for the little buggers. We are talking major poison for the coon, that dude will wish he was dead before he dies.

3rd idea, instead of buying fish food, go to WalMart and buy some more of the seven cent gold fish and have the raccoon as the pet. Could be fun.

#4

<<Kill the fish, serve them for your own supper and the coons will only drink the water. Or pour a gallon of Clorox in the pond and clean up the scum and chuck the dead fish in the compost pile. Don’t fight mother nature, just live with it.>>

Sardine size…would take a lot for a meal.
I like your second and third words of advise.
These coons are huge! One was on my garage roof the other night. How he got up there, I haven’t a clue. There are no overhanging trees. Anyhoo, he was gone in the morning. And he was huge!

Just live with it…Ric, I’m living with a mother skunk and her skunklets under my deck right now. She doesn’t bother anyone, except eats the cat food. I like her.

Yeh, I don’t have a dog for a pet, just coons, skunks, tree rats, and other assorted fauna.
Hmmmmm…perhaps I should get me a killer dog to run off all the pests. No wait, I’ll live with my wild life. At least they haven’t dug the rr up yet. :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

jb

#5

Pie tins of Ammonia will get rid of the skunks. They don’t like it and they leave. Follow up with moth balls in all their favorite spots. I’ve seen raccoons treated like dogs or maybe more like cats. You know another name for a “Poll Cat”. Cute, but smelly.

#6

Dogs are not the answer either. Remember the pic you posted after the porky…:confused:
And when it comes to skunks…have LOTS of tomato juice handy… Peeeeeeeeewwww!

#7

None of ‘em have started chemical warfare in my backyard (yet). But they seem to waft the neighbor hood from time to time.
And I forgot to mention the feral cats! There is at least three of them living in my barn. Wilder than a march hare. (Yes we have bunnies, too…My wife loves the cute little garden eaters.)
A regular freakin’ zoo at my place.
jb

#8

You don’t need a big killer dog, a little one will do.

Rowdy, our 20# terrier frequently trees the coons that attempt to roam our backyard. They know better now to venture into his turf. I’ll second what Steve said about vertical sides. Also a shallow pond makes for good wading and fishing. My pond is 2 -3 feet deep with steep sides except on one side with a plant shelf but its steep beyond that. Raccoons, blue and green heron have visited but none have been successful at fishing, just stirring thing up a bit. The only critter that was successful at fishing was the neighborhood fox. He only came around during the height of the drought and was probably just looking for water. The fish swimming up to him (just another dog to the fish) was just bonus. After I patched a few holes in the fence, he stopped coming around. I doubt Ric’s idea with the chlorine would work and would just kill off the good bacteria in your pond. The raccoon would smell the chlorine and wouldn’t drink it. Chlorine also dissipates quickly and by the time the water wouldn’t smell any more it would be fine to drink, Most of us have drank our fair share of swimming pool water, after all. -Brian

#9

Brian,

I was well aware the chlorine would kill the fish, but if you keep it in the pond, on a regular schedule, you and the raccoon will be able to see the bottom, no fish and the coon will leave after a drink.

#10
Ric Golding said:
Brian,

I was well aware the chlorine would kill the fish, but if you keep it in the pond, on a regular schedule, you and the raccoon will be able to see the bottom, no fish and the coon will leave after a drink.


I knew you would know that Ric but I said good bacteria, not fish. The Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacters that maintain the nitrogen cycle in a pond. Of course if you’re not going to have fish or plants you might as well have a swimming pool.

-Brian

#11

Now you’ve created a new problem. Instead of coons you now have a back yard full of neighbor’s rugrats splashing around the pool…:smiley:

#12

Emigrate to Australia - no coons Down Under!

#13
Dave Healy said:
Emigrate to Australia - no coons Down Under!
Though you do have hoop snakes.
#14

And Kangaroos…!

Can you imagine one of those hopping across the layout…:frowning:

#15

Would that be worse than a herd of deer?

#16
Steve Featherkile said:
Would that be worse than a herd of deer?
Well, kangaroos play Australian Rules.
#17

:lol:

#18

Ask one of our club members what a herd of horses–well, two, at least–did to his layout the other day.
A little heavier than deer.

As to terriers runnin’ coons up trees. I have a male coon living around my placer that runs dogs up trees! He’s a huge one! If I could trap the bugger (and I’ve tried–he’s too smart) I could make not only a cap, but a vest also!

TOG

#19

I take it Liz’s horses got loose…:frowning: How much damage did Steve endure?

#20

A few pieces of track and some buildings. She blames Steve for leavin’ the gate open! :slight_smile: :slight_smile:

Now you know why I have a secondary fence in my back yard in case my wife leaves the gate open for her horses to wander around. I tole steve to build a second fence.

TOG