"General Schvantzkopf" wrote in message
. ..
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:55:01 -0400, Poe wrote:

JustTom wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:10:01 -0500, General Schvantzkopf
wrote:

On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:51:54 -0400, Poe wrote:

General Schvantzkopf wrote:
On Fri, 22 Aug 2008 11:22:27 -0400, Poe wrote:

General Schvantzkopf wrote:
My corn patch is surrounded by a wire fence but it hasn't kept the
raccoons out. I don't see any holes under the fence so I don't
know how they are getting in. Can raccoons climb wire fences?

I caught one last night in my trap and moved him to some
conservation land about 5 miles away. I've reset the trap and I
fully expect to catch several more, but from past experience it's
pretty much impossible to make a dent in the raccoon population.
Does anyone have any other suggestions?
Is it an electric fence? That's what I use, to shock critters so
they bugger off. Unfortunately raccoons are very good climbers,
agile, and pretty clever when it comes to overcoming obstacles.
Where I live, if you trap one it is illegal to move it, it must be
killed (though I have moved them, because I don't have the heart to
kill).

But to answer, yes, it probably grabbed the fence with it's little
hands and climbed right over.
How did you electrify your fence? Did you run a wire at the top of
the fence? The fence itself is attached to metal poles that are in
the ground, so it can't be electrified directly.

I'm sure that moving them is illegal in my area also but I don't
have the heart to shoot them, and I don't own a gun anyway.

The professional pest removal guys around here drown them. I once
hired a guy to remove raccoons who got into my heating vents - I had
to get rid of them before they died or went to the bathroom in there,
which would make my house germy and stinky, and be difficult to
correct. That's when I learned what they do, and it made me sick. The
guy told me to just get my own trap and when I catch a coon, throw
the trapped animal in my pond. That made me sick, I don't even like
to kill most insects.

My electric fence is a wire strung across a number of plastic posts,
and powered by a solar box that cost about $100. The fence is only
about 4' high, but that is at nose-level for the deer, and since I
installed it my garden seems to be off the menu! It was super easy to
set up, too.
Where did you get the electric fence? I just tried Home Depot and
Lowes and all they have are the electric pet collars, I don't think
putting a collar on a rabid raccoon is an option.

local: Tractor Supply, Southern States, etc.

Online: Kencove, Premier




I got mine at Tractor Supply as well, near Cleveland OH. The brand I got
is Zareba: http://www.zarebasystemsinc.com/

The one I got is solar powered, so I didn't have to run electric.

I just picked up a 3 Mile Zereba at Agway. I'll finish setting it up this
weekend. I was only able to get the ground bar down three feet, I had to
use a post hole digger to get that much, I hope that's enough.


In housing electrical code regarding a grounding rod, its permissible to
drive the rod at an angle to get full depth in the soil. I may be wrong,
but I believe the grounding rod in this case is simply a reference for the
digital pulsed system to what ground is. Not part of a personnel protection
system used in grounding system. Nevertheless, I still used the proper
copper wire gauge needed in such a system for connection to the grounding
rod, and appropriate copper clamp and copper securing bolt.

I used such a solar-powered system to deter my dogs from digging under the
fence. Its about 6" above the soil surface inside the fenceline. Can be
troublesome when used this way as it doesn't take much foliage, dead or
alive, to ground out the hot wire.
--
Dave

Mankind, homo sapiens, 3rd chimpanzee
or whatever you choose, is not separate
from nature. Stop living and thinking
that way.