Operation Racoon elimination

[bman]

And this is AWESOME

[roadtrip]

Awesome coat Bman! the ring aint bad either. I cant stand it anymore, I will be buying a few traps as soon as I finish cleaning this Deer.

[big bend gyrene]

Hmmm... the plot thickens... was running errands around Lake Jackson today and spotted this. Sure you aren't passing your problem on to others, Bman?!!!

[red_yakker]

Are you releasing the trapped raccoons in an area away from your yard or are you euthanizing them?

The "problem" isn't the raccoons - the "problem" is YOU are inadvertently attracting them to YOUR yard with food sources, i.e., bird seed and chicken feed, during the winter months when the raccoons' natural and normal diet of berries, insects, amphibians and reptiles etc. is not as plentiful.

If you're relocating the trapped raccoons, well, good for you because that's better than euthanizing them (although by relocating them you are putting them into an unfamiliar and perhaps unsuitable habitat). If you're euthanizing the trapped raccoons, well, that's just wrong.

Maybe instead of trapping the raccoons you're attracting you should try containing and housing your chickens in a raccoon-proof chicken coop and quit feeding the birds (that frankly don't need to be fed).

Are you an ethical fisherman? An ethical fisherman abides by regulations, either legally harvesting and consuming his catch or practicing good management of "catch and release".

As outdoorsmen, who utilize our natural resources, it is our responsibility to be good stewards and protect ALL our fauna and flora, including the oppossums, raccoons, etc.

The raccoons don't desrve to be baited, trapped and killed just because 1.) they're hungry and 2.) because you're attracting them to your yard.

Bwahahahaha! Seriously? Have you considered that the fact that he has trapped so many coons in such a short time suggests that they are a bit over-populated? Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe environmental stewardship includes doing what you can to maintain balance between the predator and prey population (especially in man-made environments like the suburbs, where natural predators don't exist). That means in the absence of natural predators, man must become the predator. Don't be so quick to judge. It won't win you any friends on this forum.

Also, yeah, chickens can survive without being fed as long you allow them to range freely. But if you want eggs worth gathering, you gotta supplement their feed with grain. To suggest that he should stop feeding his chickens in order to avoid raccoon problems is ludicrous.

[MarkM]

What did you decide was the best bait?

[bman]

Honey Bun worked best for me...
Pnut butter on a piece of bread worked but not as good as the Honey Bun.

To many cats in the neighborhood to use something fishy.

[SHOWBOAT]

what are you doing with all the cats you catch
Just kidding.

I'll rent you Boo for a day: $20/pest.

[MudDucker]

Got it a few too many raccoons in the yard. They have been harassing the chickens and raiding the bird feeders.

One got in the garage and that put my wife over the edge. So I decided it was time to take care of the problem.

Are you releasing the trapped raccoons in an area away from your yard or are you euthanizing them?

The "problem" isn't the raccoons - the "problem" is YOU are inadvertently attracting them to YOUR yard with food sources, i.e., bird seed and chicken feed, during the winter months when the raccoons' natural and normal diet of berries, insects, amphibians and reptiles etc. is not as plentiful.

If you're relocating the trapped raccoons, well, good for you because that's better than euthanizing them (although by relocating them you are putting them into an unfamiliar and perhaps unsuitable habitat). If you're euthanizing the trapped raccoons, well, that's just wrong.

Maybe instead of trapping the raccoons you're attracting you should try containing and housing your chickens in a raccoon-proof chicken coop and quit feeding the birds (that frankly don't need to be fed).

Are you an ethical fisherman? An ethical fisherman abides by regulations, either legally harvesting and consuming his catch or practicing good management of "catch and release".

As outdoorsmen, who utilize our natural resources, it is our responsibility to be good stewards and protect ALL our fauna and flora, including the oppossums, raccoons, etc.

The raccoons don't desrve to be baited, trapped and killed just because 1.) they're hungry and 2.) because you're attracting them to your yard.

Yep, smelled this one out. Careful Luv2Yak, if you try to hug one of these coon critters, they gonna bite you!

[charlie tuna]

Thanks for the info on "the best bait", i'll keep that in mind next time i thin down the critters in my yard! And the "honey bun" is a whole lot less stinky as cat food!

[Luv2Yak]

[quote="red_yakker] Maybe I'm wrong, but I believe environmental stewardship includes doing what you can to maintain balance between the predator and prey population (especially in man-made environments like the suburbs, where natural predators don't exist). That means in the absence of natural predators, man must become the predator. Don't be so quick to judge. It won't win you any friends on this forum.

Also, yeah, chickens can survive without being fed as long you allow them to range freely. But if you want eggs worth gathering, you gotta supplement their feed with grain. To suggest that he should stop feeding his chickens in order to avoid raccoon problems is ludicrous.[/quote]

One of the raccoon's remaining natural predators is the coyote, which way too many folks like to shoot to hell. Problem is, "man-made environments" have encroached on the habitats of predators and prey. Man can and does serve to help bring wildlife game populations to levels that can be sustained by their reduced habitats, but inadvertantly baiting and luring wildlife into the suburbs with such things as bird feeders (primarily for the purpose of people's viewing pleasure, as there is no scientific evidence to support the need for supplementary feeding of song birds for their survival) is ludicrous.

Gee, you gotta wonder...if a bird of prey (protected by migratory bird federal regulations with stiff fines, penalties) was "harassing the chickens", would he be trapping that, too?

And by the way, I never suggested that he should stop feeding his chickens. I suggested, for the sake of his chickens being harassed, and for the sake of the raccoons, he house and maintain his chickens in a "racoon-proof" chicken coop.

I fish, I hunt, and have a B.S., Zoology/Wildlife Biology. Ain't at all too concerned about makin' any friends on this forum. Far more concerned about ignorance and uneducated attitudes like "man must become the predator".

[Gulf Coast]

[bman]

Dude,
You need to chill out.
First you suggested I was trapping illegally without the proper license and now your suggesting I'd kill a "bird of prey"
You obviously don't know me.

I get wanting to protect wildlife- I'm a conservationist.
The guys that I fish and hunt with can tell you I don't waste what we take.
And I can tell you I don't kill solely for the pleasure of it.

We make decisions all the time about how much we are going to impact the wildlife around us.
We live in cities that were woods. We drive cars that kill lots of animals. We eat food produced on farms that have reallocated lots of habitat.
No matter how hard you try you have an impact... a foot print in the wilderness.
Its a good thing to think about that and a good thing to support and protect wild places.

At the same time when there are enough vermin that they are causing problems I have no problem getting rid of them.

To comment on your two suggestions - a raccoon proof chicken coop and not feeding birds.
I have one elevated bird feeder and its been empty for three months because the varmints kept pulling it down... they did not go away.
My coop is a raccoon proof as it can be... when I caught one trying to dig under the buried wire...it's a problem.
When the chickens are harassed at night and spooked to the point their egg production goes down... it's a problem.
And when they are coming into my garage in the daylight... it's a problem.

I believe I have taken a reasonable course of action... reduced the local population and hopefully eliminated a few of the brazen ones.
Four were caught inside or just outside my garage!
Again I think it's reasonable.
You can disagree with me.

But if you do, make a reasonable argument rather than trying to scare me into stopping my saying I'm breaking the law.
Or saying if a pack of coyotes were roaming my neighborhood I wouldn't have a raccoon problem.
Or implying I'd break migratory game laws and shoot a hawk?

Dude, with your "holier-than-thou" attitude your not going to educate anyone

[big bend gyrene]

Ain't at all too concerned about makin' any friends on this forum. Far more concerned about ignorance and uneducated attitudes like "man must become the predator".

Ok, just so I get this straight... the strategy you believe best to employ in educating your audience is to clearly insult them. This, in a forum where you've only been a member a month and contributed a dozen comments, while you're preaching to members who have been on the board for years and cumulatively have contributed tens of thousands of posts. Not to mention that your audience is actually comprised of a healthy mix of educated AND accomplished professionals, and with you arguing against what happens to be the clearly specified law at this time. So it's us who need to be educated and you've chosen the wisest path to do so, huh?

Got it. Clearly you're a big Dale Carnagie fan.

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[RHTFISH]

I fish, I hunt, and have a B.S., Zoology/Wildlife Biology. Ain't at all too concerned about makin' any friends on this forum. Far more concerned about ignorance and uneducated attitudes like "man must become the predator".

Predation is not a consideration when you're the top of the food chain….seems perfectly natural to control the lesser creatures especially when they invade my turf.

"….ignorance and uneducated attitudes….." We'll see! You obviously do not know the group you address!

[wevans]

Why is it that the folks who say the dumbest crap almost always end up stating that they have a BS in something or other It's good that you don't want to make any friends, cause you certainly don't sound like you would be much fun to be around