enigma wrote:
"Paul E. Lehmann" wrote
in news:qr-
:
Anyone have and effective remedy against
racoons?
I have a backyard vineyard in town and they are
devouring my fruit. They are getting through
the bird netting like it is not even a problem
for them.
it's not. they aren't birds 
I have a "have a heart" trap and in the last
two
weeks have caught 4 of them. I caught two
earlier in the season for a total of 6 so far.
I
take them about 6 miles away. Is this far
enough? How large a family do they usually
have?
is trap & release legal where you are? it's not
in a lot of
places because it's both inhumane & dangerous
for the animals.
Not as inhumane as trapping and then shooting
them
in any case, no, 6 miles is not
far enough to move a racoon to prevent it's
return. minimum of 20. they have rather large
ranges, especially males.
a female racoon will usually have between 2-8
kits. they stay
with mom for a year, until the next litter is
born, then they're kicked out. some teenage
racoons stay in gangs for the next year until
they get to be 2 years old, but not all of them
do this.
is your grape arbor small enough to enclose in
a chainlink
dog pen (you can get extra panels to extend
length & width)? that would keep the racoons
out, as they aren't much for digging.
No, it is about 60 fee long and 60 feet in width
or you could get electric fencing... either
sheep mesh or
standed, with the wires at 6", 1' & 3' should
also keep them out.
lee
May be a good option but then again, I live in
town and I don't know about the legality of
electric fences either.