David E. Ross wrote:
On 9/26/2007 1:46 PM, Paul E. Lehmann wrote:
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.

Racoons consumed my entire crop of table grapes, one vine each of
'Perlette' and 'Black Monukka'. They did not touch the grapes until
they were ripe.

I was advised to tie paper lunch bags around each bunch just before they
were complete ripe. This is supposed to protect the fruit from both
racoons and squirrels.


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?

I have a medium Havahart (brand name) trap for squirrels. I release the
squirrels in a state park about 5 miles away, on the other side of an
8-lane freeway. There are pleanty of hungry coyotes and hawks in the
park.

I was told that I need a large Havahart trap for racoons. If I catch
any, I can take the trap to the local animal shelter (which won't accept
squirrels). The shelter will relocate racoons that are a problem.

In any case, I no longer have my grape vines. The entire slope where
they were planted had to be stripped and regraded because of a
slope-failure in a rain storm. Most of the rest of my garden is also
gone, chewed up by the grading equipment. The repairs will be done
by Friday (so I was told). In the meantime, I heard a rustling in the
back yard one night about 6 weeks ago. With a large flashlight, I
checked and saw a large racoon and three small ones; they found nothing
but desolation.

Replanting should begin in the next week or two. I have rooted cuttings
of 'Perlette', 'Black Monukka', and 'Flame' to put on the slope. While
the whole slope had to be repaired, it did not really move where the old
grape vines were growing. Grapes have tough, deep roots. Thus, I am
adding a third vine.

It will be about three more years before I again worry about racoons.

You can catch small raccoons in a Hav-a-hart large enough for groundhogs
but it takes their largest trap for big raccoons.

Last animal bothering my trash cans turned out to be a female skunk with
4 young ones. I described that elsewhere but imagine mother in trap
with kids that will not leave. I was able to get her out without
getting sprayed. Now trap is back in shed and I got garbage cans with
locking lids.

Frank