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Old 21-01-2017, 10:05 PM posted to rec.gardens
brooklyn1 brooklyn1 is offline
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Default Racoons and squirrels eating avocados

On Sat, 21 Jan 2017 14:43:09 -0500, Frank "frank wrote:

On 1/21/2017 12:59 PM, Brooklyn1 wrote:
On Sat, 21 Jan 2017 12:15:45 -0500, Don Wiss
wrote:

On Wed, 18 Jan 2017 19:48:49 -0500, Frank "frank wrote:

A large Hav-a-hart will catch practically every thing when baited with
peanut butter. I've caught numerous squirrels and a few groundhogs and
raccoons but only the smaller raccoons will fit in the trap originally
bought for ground hogs.

For raccoons it needs to be the real large Havahart. I have one (now on
loan so I don't know the model or size) and despite being somewhat large
the raccoons were able to trip, but get out. I think the mom would go in
with the kits behind. When the door came down the kits kept it from closing
and all got out. So be sure the description has large raccoon in it.

I used marshmallows. They are cheap. They worked.

Laws vary. Around here you can trap and kill but not release but I
release anyway. I'm careful with what I trap as rabies is endemic here too.

Not much rabies around here. But you have to release far away. Preferably
with a river in between.

At one time I did successfully eliminate the squirrel population. After
some years they figured out how to get the feed from my squirrel proof bird
feeder. I tried everything. Then I decided to relocate the knowledge. Now
my Brooklyn row house has pretty much enclosed back yards. After many
dozens of relocates the block had no more squirrels. And it worked. The
next winter the squirrels that moved in didn't even realize that there was
food in the feeder.

I haven't put the feeder out in years. So I cannot tell what happened next.

Don http://foraging.com/ e-mail at page bottom.


This works much better than my Have-a-Heart, and the price is right.
I've not used it for racoons but it's caught many large possums:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...2254_200622254


My double door Hav-a-hart is 37 inches but these have one door. I think
the bigger one may be marginal for large raccoons. Price looks good.

I had a home made box trap made from wooden support frame and chicken
wire. Door was board on grooved slider and trigger in back of trap
would pull nail from slider to make it fall. I had to add a sliding
nail to lock the trap shut as critter could otherwise lift door. I
could diagram, but not hard to figure out.

All I caught was a skunk and was confused on what to do and had to go to
work. I had called an exterminator and he wanted $200 to remove at the
time (would probably be $500 today). Wife put on rain gear and removed
door and skunk got out but she had run and did not get sprayed.
The door got lost so I trashed the trap and got the Hav-a-hart now about
40 years old.


There are special traps for skunks. I get lots of skunks here but I
don't mess with them. They arrive at night to eat the dried cat food
I leave for the ferals, I wouldn't care only they turn the entire bowl
over and make a mess... the food falls into the holes in the mat and
even they can't get to it.
http://i66.tinypic.com/2v0ihrd.jpg
Joiner and Ebenezer are best buds, they hunt as a team.
Heated shelters and water:
http://i66.tinypic.com/r6xqvk.jpg
Even at well below zero Candy hunts in the snow:
http://i63.tinypic.com/21orcex.jpg
Ferals as kittens, all born in my barn:
http://i68.tinypic.com/syv97b.jpg
It's very rare I see a squirrel here.


Son used it in his house to get a squirrel trapped in his heatilator
type fire place. He removed a panel and squirrel got into baited trap a
day later.



These critters can cause real damage as another son had the same problem
in his town house where squirrel died and it cost him nearly $1,000 to
have squirrel removed and damages to fix the wall where they had to
break in to access it.


The best way to dissuade squirrels is to keep feral cats around. Feral
cats are big and strong, twenty pounds of solid muscle and designed to
be hunting machines. Cats do no damage to house or garden but they
sure make quick work of any rodents. It gets cold here in the
northern Catskills in winter so I provide heated shelters and heated
water bowls, but the cats more than earn their keep... and they are
gorgeous to watch their antics, they love to play in the snow.