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#46
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How to keep raccoons away
On Mon, 10 May 2004 16:56:11 +0000, Ignoramus15189 wrote:
I have enough critters to take care of (a 3 yo kid and 2 chickens and a fishtank). A dog to keep the 'coons away is a hassle, and, I cannot have a dog live inside the house due to allergy. OK. I am sure I can come up with a safe release procedure, such as, I would be in the bed of the truck, and release the raccoon from a lowered trap, or whatever. I relocated som opossums and it went fine. Placed the trap so when I opened it, the critter was facing toward some brushy cover. I would release them in a forest preserve. Unless you're sure it isn't prohibited, be stealthy about it. About an electric fence ... Assuming yours are standard raccoons, they'll raid the garden at night, so it wouldn't be on during the day. I wouldn't put one outside the chain link in an urban area in any event, but it should be possible to attach one to the top with some kind of angle brackets (pointed in). The raccoons would get zapped on the nose when they come over the top of the chain link. |
#47
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How to keep raccoons away
On Mon, 10 May 2004 14:41:03 -0700, Adam Russell wrote:
Now as to the matter of electric fences, when I was a child my grandpa told me to stay away from the electric fence surrounding the cow field. He never showed you how to take a stalk of timothy, start by holding the end and touching the other end to the fence ... then shortening the distace between your hand and the wire until you felt the electricity? He said it would kick me like a sledgehammer. He could have been pulling my leg, but I imagine that anything meant to coerce a cow would hurt a human. OTOH, a raccoon is not a cow. The question is open whether you could make a fence with enough jolt to keep out racoons but not enough to hurt 3 year olds. I personally doubt it. Dairy cattle are more sensitive than humans to electricity. "Stray voltage" that humans don't notice can decrease their production. My REC (rural electric company) will come out and check the barn if a problem is suspected. With any animal, you want them to touch their nose (wet and no hair) to the fence. A trick with bear is to hang bacon from the wire. I wouldn't have an electric fence positioned-so and/or on-when a 3-year old could get to it. But, worst case, it could certainly hurt, but I don't think harm him/her. An additional precaution is to use a battery operated fence to limit the amperage in case the tranformer malfunctions. |
#48
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How to keep raccoons away
Oh, for cryin' out loud....
I grew up on a farm, and as kids we grabbed the fence tons of times when we thought it was off. It hurt like hell, but it didn't kill us. Just sent us crying to mom. Ig..don't know what state you live in, but in PA the Game Commission will remove nuisance wildlife at no charge.... Jennifer "Adam Russell" wrote in message ... "Snooze" wrote in message . com... "Adam Russell" wrote in message ... Evolution in action. He'll either learn what futility is, or he'll actually educate himself on electric fences and not subscribe to ignorant hysteria. I'll bet he's even touched his tongue to a battery as a child, but somehow he thinks that should have electrocuted him. I'm pretty sure it takes more than 9v to scare off a racoon. So how much voltage would you use that would do the job but not hurt the child? I know you can die from as little as 50v. Even less if you got imaginative. Don't let your kids wear wool socks on a low humidity day...imagine what would happen if they discovered they can shuffle around the house and zap each other with a few thousand volts. A typical static electricity shock is about 2000 - 4000 volts. Of course a amperage involved is so low, that aside from the surprise, no damage is done. Ever taken a weak 9v battery and tapped it against your tongue? A fresh battery hurts a little, but a weak one gives a little tingling sensation. A consumer grade electric fence is harmless, it will give a mild shock, but nothing dangerous. I couldn't find the specifications online, so guestimating, if an electric fence transformer draws 120v A/C @ 1 amp, the output would be 4000 v A/C at .03 amp. That's just a mild shocker, pretty safe..if it was D/C on the otherhand is a different story. You dont know much about electricity it appears. Static electricity is completely different from transformer electricity. When you get a shock from static electricity it is 2-4k for only an extreme fraction of a second. I dont remember how short exactly (1ms comes to mind), but it is the brevity that saves you. As it swiftly runs out of electrons the voltage falls to zero. Power out of your wall does not fall off. At all. That 120v will deliver 1mA or 15A depending on the resistance of what you are powering and only limited by your circuit breaker or fuse. If you were to put a penny in the fusebox it could deliver 1000's of amps with no problem except that the wires would get hot. So putting it through a transformer will not reduce the amperage available to any safe amount. 4000v will kill you, and it matters not whether it is DC or AC. Now as to the matter of electric fences, when I was a child my grandpa told me to stay away from the electric fence surrounding the cow field. He said it would kick me like a sledgehammer. He could have been pulling my leg, but I imagine that anything meant to coerce a cow would hurt a human. OTOH, a raccoon is not a cow. The question is open whether you could make a fence with enough jolt to keep out racoons but not enough to hurt 3 year olds. I personally doubt it. |
#49
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How to keep raccoons away
Ignoramus15189 pontificated wisely
that: In article , The Rock Garden wrote: "Ignoramus15189" wrote forgot to say, trapping and releasing raccoons would be educational for my 3 year old son. Maybe not in the way you intended. First of all check out your state and local regulations, it may be illegal to trap and release game animals. Second, even if it is legal, you are merely transferring your problem to another area for someone else to deal with, and can very well also transfer diseases such as parvo, rabies and scabies along with the coon. Third, in the long run it won't even matter 'cause a new population will move in to take over the void left by removing the current residents. There are many (well, several anyway) ways to fence coons out of a garden; probably an electric offset wire around the bottom of the perimeter would be both the most animal and cost effective. Check out both the web site and order their excellent fencing catalog for ideas. http://www.premier1supplies.com/store/fencing.html I would not use an electric fence with a 3 year old kid in the house. Given that the racoons are nocturnal you would only need to turn the fence on at night when presumably your 3yr old would be inside. I can second the recommendation for Premier. Their customer reps are very helpful and knowledgable. I called when I was setting up fencing for our goats planning on getting a fancy combination of electric twine, HT wire, fiberglass line posts, metal corner t-posts and a solar-battery energizer. After asking what I wanted the fencing for their rep suggested electric netting, some plastic corner posts and an energizer with 9v alkaline battery. Saved me a bunch of money and I've been very happy with the system. Kevin Miller (rot13) http://www.net1plus.com/users/miller9 |
#50
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How to keep raccoons away
Ignoramus15189 pontificated wisely
that: I have a fenced backyard where I have a vegetable garden that is somewhat ransacked by raccoons. (or some other animals). It is fenced with a chain link fence, but they still sneak in. I am guessing that they get in between the fence and the ground. What are the practical ways of raccoon proofing the backyard. Maybe some wire stuff that can be added to the fence, or what? Can I simply buy a raccoon trap and transport a few away from my property? Shooting them is not an option due to our city code. Check out an airgun: Not the Daisy bb gun many had as a child, but an adult pellet gun (www.straightshooters.com). Don't know about where you are but here in MA firearms are highly regulated to the point I cannot use one on my 12 acres, but an airgun is not considered a firearm and has very little restriction. Check your local reg because some U.S. states and towns, as well as other countries, do restrict airguns significantly. Also be sure to carefully check your local hunting regulations. Many places, including MA, have an "exemption" to the hunting season rules that give property owners the right to destroy wildlife in the act of causing damage or threatening personal safety. Good luck. -- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- @ @ @ Please forgive my typos as my right hand is injured. @ @ @ char*p="char*p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}" ;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);} "It's never too late to have a happy childhood." Kevin Miller (rot13) http://www.net1plus.com/users/miller9 |
#51
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How to keep raccoons away
Are you sure it is raccoons? We have a fairly large veggie garden and
there are lots of raccoons around, but they don't damage the veggies. Des "Ignoramus15189" wrote in message ... I have a fenced backyard where I have a vegetable garden that is somewhat ransacked by raccoons. (or some other animals). It is fenced with a chain link fence, but they still sneak in. I am guessing that they get in between the fence and the ground. What are the practical ways of raccoon proofing the backyard. Maybe some wire stuff that can be added to the fence, or what? Can I simply buy a raccoon trap and transport a few away from my property? Shooting them is not an option due to our city code. -- -------------------------------------------------------------------- -------- @ @ @ Please forgive my typos as my right hand is injured. @ @ @ char*p="char*p=%c%s%c;main(){printf(p,34,p,34);}"; main(){printf(p,34,p ,34);} "It's never too late to have a happy childhood." |
#52
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How to keep raccoons away
On Mon, 10 May 2004 20:54:32 -0400, styxx374 wrote:
Oh, for cryin' out loud.... I grew up on a farm, and as kids we grabbed the fence tons of times when we thought it was off. It hurt like hell, but it didn't kill us. Just sent us crying to mom. Ig..don't know what state you live in, but in PA the Game Commission will remove nuisance wildlife at no charge.... Me too, Northern Tier. I did see them drive by with the bear barrel once, but I wouldn't hold my breath for them to remove anything else. http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/v...a=458&q=160709 |
#53
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How to keep raccoons away
On Mon, 10 May 2004 17:25:31 GMT, "Doug Kanter"
wrote: "Ignoramus15189" wrote in message ... In article , Doug Kanter wrote: "Ignoramus15189" wrote in message ... forgot to say, trapping and releasing raccoons would be educational for my 3 year old son. Is it an ego thing, or is there some other reason you don't want to enlist your local animal control people? I hate spending money on various contractors. Hiring contractors is an unbelievable waste of time and money. Are we on the same planet? I'm referring to your TOWN'S animal control department. I've never heard of those people charging a citizen for removing an animal. Where I live (a little north of Seattle, Washington) you have to pay for this service unless you can show they are injured or diseased. I had a family of 4 destroying my ponds last year and was told to either live with it or pay the cities subcontractor $300 to remove them. And keep paying about $75 per animal after that as new ones arrived to fill the created void. Tony |
#56
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How to keep raccoons away
I have no love for raccoons. They have killed too many of my pet ducks. They kill just for the fun of killing as they do not eat the meat. Dogs are fairly effective at chasing them but you want to make sure your dog is big enough that it will be the winner if it actually catches the raccoon. The Have-a-heart trap is good. However my idea is to submerge the trap in the swimming pool if you actually catch a raccoon. Dick |
#57
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How to keep raccoons away
"Sunflower" wrote in message ...
"Doug Kanter" wrote in message ... "Ignoramus15189" wrote in message ... forgot to say, trapping and releasing raccoons would be educational for my 3 year old son. Is it an ego thing, or is there some other reason you don't want to enlist your local animal control people? The process you're describing might be more educational than you think, but not for the right reasons. Your son might learn how boring it is to sit around holding your dick in an emergency room for 3 hours while they take care of victims of car crashes & gunshots. You didn't say how large your garden is, but if the 'coons are attacking just a few things, you could try sprinkling cayenne powder on the leaves and the soil around those plants. Works great for keeping cats out of the garden, or from scratching furniture. Animal Control here WILL NOT deal with anything but dogs and cats and the occasional potbelly pig. Raccoons are *wildlife* and therefore non-domestic and not their problem. If you have an injured one, the state wildlife guys will direct you to a vet and foster parent, but they don't deal with them either unless they're possibly rabid, and since that's not happened since sometime in the 70's, you just get told to call a pest control firm who'll charge you big bucks and still not solve your problem. If the original poster and his child are too stupid to install an electric wire like was recommended, then let him deal with no fish in the fish ponds and no veggies in the garden and several ER bites from trying to trap them. Evolution in action. He'll either learn what futility is, or he'll actually educate himself on electric fences and not subscribe to ignorant hysteria. I'll bet he's even touched his tongue to a battery as a child, but somehow he thinks that should have electrocuted him. *** Next time your aldermen or county council meets for budget deliberations, show up. When the animal control people put in for their appropriation, point out their dereliction of duty. Pack the gallery with your supporters if you can, with the press if they will send a reporter. Democracy in action.-Jitney |
#58
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How to keep raccoons away
"bill" wrote in message news:MPG.1b09eda2ef2138ea98970e@localhost... In article , says... "bill" wrote in message news:MPG.1b09865a96075c6c98970b@localhost... In article , says... snip I'm pretty sure it takes more than 9v to scare off a racoon. So how much voltage would you use that would do the job but not hurt the child? I know you can die from as little as 50v. Even less if you got imaginative. Voltage doen't kill you, current does. You get hit a lot of voltage when zapped with static electricity, but very little current. Yes but they dont use static electricity in electric fences, do they? Electricity is electricity. Lightning is static electricty, but I wouldn't want to get hit with it. No, there's a difference. A static charge of 1000v will (in most cases) dissipate so quick you barely hear the snap, where 1000v ac or dc will kill you more than likely. Now that I think of it some, it may be that they *do* use static electricity for fences. Looked up electric fence on the internet. What I read doesnt explicitely say static charge, but they are talking about powering it with a low voltage battery so that does kind of imply a short lived charge. |
#59
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How to keep raccoons away
Xref: kermit rec.gardens:277746 misc.rural:130959 misc.consumers.house:106060 alt.home.repair:474717
In article , says... "bill" wrote in message news:MPG.1b09eda2ef2138ea98970e@localhost... snip Voltage doen't kill you, current does. You get hit a lot of voltage when zapped with static electricity, but very little current. Yes but they dont use static electricity in electric fences, do they? Electricity is electricity. Lightning is static electricty, but I wouldn't want to get hit with it. No, there's a difference. A static charge of 1000v will (in most cases) dissipate so quick you barely hear the snap, where 1000v ac or dc will kill you more than likely. Now that I think of it some, it may be that they *do* use static electricity for fences. Looked up electric fence on the internet. What I read doesnt explicitely say static charge, but they are talking about powering it with a low voltage battery so that does kind of imply a short lived charge. Your static charge is DC. It's the same as the charge stored in a capacitor. It just happens to be created by friction instead of a battery or other mechanism. The zap you feel when you get charged up shuffling across a carpet then touching a door knob is just the electrons flowing from you to the door knob hence DC. It doesn't kill you because there isn't a lot of current flow for a long period of time. "Ampere. The unit of electrical current. Also milliamp (one thousandth of an amp) and microamp (one millionth of an amp). One amp corresponds to the flow of about 6 x 1018 electrons per second." So 1000v that only produces current flow for a millisecond is going to be felt, but that's about it because as soon as the current starts flowing there's nothing to keep it flowing and the voltage drops quickly. When you get hit with 1000v with a power source behind it that can keep the current flowing with out the voltage dropping your in deep doodoo. For the sake of argument, lets say your body equals 100 ohms of impedance: 1000v /100 ohms = 10 amps but since amps are a function of current over time and current flowed only for 1 millisecond you have to divide 10 amps by 1000 and get 10 milliamp equivalent. Enough to get your attention for sure. But rarely if ever fatal. See: http://www.t2.unh.edu/spring99/pg4.html for the effects of rising levels of current flow. The fences probably use a capactive discharge circuit. Bill |
#60
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How to keep raccoons away
"jitney" wrote in message Next time your aldermen or county council
meets for budget deliberations, show up. When the animal control people put in for their appropriation, point out their dereliction of duty. Pack the gallery with your supporters if you can, with the press if they will send a reporter. Democracy in action.-Jitney And you'll be laughed right out of the building. The AC people are hired. They do what they're told to do, they pick up what they're allowed to pick up. The aldermen are ELECTED. They are the ones who need to change the policy if the AC don't pick up wildlilfe. I used to be an animal control officer which usually means a glorified dog catcher. I was paid to pick up stray PETS. Because I also was a wildlife rehabilitator they said I could pick up wildlife but wouldn't get paid for it. Only reason I could legally pick up wildlife is because of my rehab license. Sue Northern Wisconsin |
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