The raccoons were really lucky last night. I've been easily distracted this
summer, and yesterday wasn't feeling that well plus dealing with family
visitors to boot.

Got up yesterday morning to TWO raccoons in my yard. One had gone up my
olive tree as the neighbor's dog was barking at it, the other ran across
the yard to another neighbor's. I knew there were 'coons in the area, but I
didn't know we had two. Neither had touched the ponds that day, but I guess
they were just casing the joint that morning for a night raid.

Then my (human) visitors came and by the time evening rolled around I'd
forgotten the (4 legged) visitors. DS told me sprinkler was on, what he
didn't know was I've been turning it up higher during the night. He had it
on the day setting.

So it was the 'coons' lucky night, the sprinkler, I assume, didn't go off
as they were on the far side of the pond, my biggest fish decided to sleep
under the lilies on the shelf, as other than that lily going to the bottom,
nothing else was disturbed. Not a rock in the pond, nor any of the
ornaments sitting on that side of the pond, dropped in the water. :-(

So today the 2nd sprinkler will be put in place on that far side and we
will be more diligent about setting them. If there is evidence of their
return, HOT WIRE will be installed.

Other than a king fisher taking goldfish, that I foiled with lots of fake
fish, this is the first koi I've lost to a predator. She was one of my
oldest, definitely the biggest & prettiest of the bunch of course. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

"~ jan" wrote in message
...
Other than a king fisher taking goldfish, that I foiled with lots of fake
fish, this is the first koi I've lost to a predator. She was one of my
oldest, definitely the biggest & prettiest of the bunch of course. ~ jan
=================
They always take your prettiest and favorite fish. It's enough to make you
want to buy a shotgun.....
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

"~ jan" wrote in message
...
..... Other than a king fisher taking goldfish, that I foiled with lots of
fake
fish, this is the first koi I've lost to a predator. She was one of my
oldest, definitely the biggest & prettiest of the bunch of course. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


Deep sympathy and empathy Jan. Donna

jan,

Sorry to hear this. My experience with "coons" is similar to my experience
with squirrels in that once they find a source of food they will keep
returning. And, no matter what you try they, will always come up with a
"work around".

JB

"~ jan" wrote in message
...
The raccoons were really lucky last night. I've been easily distracted
this
summer, and yesterday wasn't feeling that well plus dealing with family
visitors to boot.

Got up yesterday morning to TWO raccoons in my yard. One had gone up my
olive tree as the neighbor's dog was barking at it, the other ran across
the yard to another neighbor's. I knew there were 'coons in the area, but
I
didn't know we had two. Neither had touched the ponds that day, but I
guess
they were just casing the joint that morning for a night raid.

Then my (human) visitors came and by the time evening rolled around I'd
forgotten the (4 legged) visitors. DS told me sprinkler was on, what he
didn't know was I've been turning it up higher during the night. He had it
on the day setting.

So it was the 'coons' lucky night, the sprinkler, I assume, didn't go off
as they were on the far side of the pond, my biggest fish decided to sleep
under the lilies on the shelf, as other than that lily going to the
bottom,
nothing else was disturbed. Not a rock in the pond, nor any of the
ornaments sitting on that side of the pond, dropped in the water. :-(

So today the 2nd sprinkler will be put in place on that far side and we
will be more diligent about setting them. If there is evidence of their
return, HOT WIRE will be installed.

Other than a king fisher taking goldfish, that I foiled with lots of fake
fish, this is the first koi I've lost to a predator. She was one of my
oldest, definitely the biggest & prettiest of the bunch of course. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Sorry to hear this. My experience with "coons" is similar to my experience
with squirrels in that once they find a source of food they will keep
returning. And, no matter what you try they, will always come up with a
"work around".
JB

I'm hoping not. Course I feed the squirrels and lately I've found their
numbers diminishing since I changed to very few peanuts mostly sunflower
seeds. Perhaps they've found a better source? Works for me.

So far two nights without an obvious visit from the masked critters... but
I've heard it can take them days to go full circle on their territory.

The first raccoon visit I ever had back in 2000, made a mess of the pond,
but other than scraping the fish didn't get any. Put the motion sprinkle up
and never had a problem till now. So I am worried that they've been "fed".
Cars are their only predators around here I'm afraid. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Can I give you my water moccasin to keep them away? ;-)


"~ jan" wrote in message
...
Sorry to hear this. My experience with "coons" is similar to my
experience
with squirrels in that once they find a source of food they will keep
returning. And, no matter what you try they, will always come up with a
"work around".
JB

I'm hoping not. Course I feed the squirrels and lately I've found their
numbers diminishing since I changed to very few peanuts mostly sunflower
seeds. Perhaps they've found a better source? Works for me.

So far two nights without an obvious visit from the masked critters... but
I've heard it can take them days to go full circle on their territory.

The first raccoon visit I ever had back in 2000, made a mess of the pond,
but other than scraping the fish didn't get any. Put the motion sprinkle
up
and never had a problem till now. So I am worried that they've been "fed".
Cars are their only predators around here I'm afraid. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

On Mon, 14 Jul 2008 19:36:57 EDT, "JB" wrote:

Can I give you my water moccasin to keep them away? ;-)

If it's trained to stay away from me and only attack raccoons, I'd consider
it. ;-) ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

And something else I forgot. DH has been using my baby monitor as a one way
radio while working outside taking down a tree. Of course it never got put
back so I could listen to the pond area, another lucky for the raccoons
that night. Currently it is back in place. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

"~ jan" wrote in message
...
The raccoons were really lucky last night. I've been easily distracted
this
summer, and yesterday wasn't feeling that well plus dealing with family
visitors to boot.

(SNIP)

------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

My experience is that just as you begin to relax again, they return. At
first sign of a raccoon visit, I get out my trap, and then when they do
return, I trap one after another and relocate to a local park in the
Rockies. After a few weeks of cartching nothing, I place the trap back to
the garage.

John Darnielle
Zone 4b

On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:38:58 EDT, wrote:

My experience is that just as you begin to relax again, they return. At
first sign of a raccoon visit, I get out my trap, and then when they do
return, I trap one after another and relocate to a local park in the
Rockies. After a few weeks of cartching nothing, I place the trap back to
the garage.
John Darnielle
Zone 4b

I must be slow to relax. :-\

They were back last night. I was up at 4am to do a check. Only way I knew
they were back was one plant was at the bottom. Nothing else disturbed, no
fish taken. I think that 2nd sprinkler scared them off as they weren't
expecting that. Since it looks like they came from the street side rather
than the backyard we've got a new surprise for them. A 3rd sprinkler that
will hit them as soon as they come under the gate.

What do you bait your trap with, and don't you catch a lot of neighbor's
cats? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

~ jan" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 15 Jul 2008 10:38:58 EDT, wrote:

My experience is that just as you begin to relax again, they return. At
first sign of a raccoon visit, I get out my trap, and then when they do
return, I trap one after another and relocate to a local park in the
Rockies. After a few weeks of cartching nothing, I place the trap back to
the garage.
John Darnielle
Zone 4b

I must be slow to relax. :-\

They were back last night. I was up at 4am to do a check. Only way I knew
they were back was one plant was at the bottom. Nothing else disturbed, no
fish taken. I think that 2nd sprinkler scared them off as they weren't
expecting that. Since it looks like they came from the street side rather
than the backyard we've got a new surprise for them. A 3rd sprinkler that
will hit them as soon as they come under the gate.

What do you bait your trap with, and don't you catch a lot of neighbor's
cats? ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Never a cat or squirrel. I bait the trap with an impossible to resist
concoction of blueberries, ketchup, saltine crackers and peanut butter. :-)

I use to try sleeping next to the window, then when they made the
characteristic "trilling" sound I would wake up and dash out the back door
at them like some kind of scary beast and watch them scamper up a tree. I
would then hose them down with the hose, but a few nights later they would
return, the whole family. The trap solved that. I would catch one after
another, they never seemed able to avoid the trap or learn from their
recently trapped brethren. Been doing this for 5 years now, they seem to
strike every other year.

John Darnielle

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:18:02 EDT, wrote:

Never a cat or squirrel.

How about a skunk?

The trap solved that. I would catch one after
another, they never seemed able to avoid the trap or learn from their
recently trapped brethren. Been doing this for 5 years now, they seem to
strike every other year.
John Darnielle

I had someone send me a picture of 2 raccoons at her pond. Best guess she's
2 miles away from me. Same ones? Can't say, but it got me looking into what
was legal here. Apparently we _can_ trap them w/o a permit, but you can't
let them go, unless your property is quite a few miles wide. I guess you're
expected to kill them, something else one can do legally if they're
destroying crops or domestic animals.

And.... as I continued reading, even after 8 years of the sprinkler working
for me, they can get use it and the best suggestion.... not nets, but hot
wire. We went to the local ranch & home and gathered supplies.

One more night of hoping the 3 sprinklers hold them off. Son will work the
wire and then I'm baiting it with peanut butter on tinfoil. No accidental
touching, but full mouth contact. OUCH! I know I'll sleep better... at
least tomorrow night. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

A skunk would be a disaster, never caught one. Can they climb a board fence?
Hmnn. I suppose I'd try to throw a blanket over the trap, with a slit in the
blanket so I could grab the top handle, then somehow transport the trap to a
truck bed for its ride out to the country. Then a bath.

Let us know how the electrical trick works!

John Darnielle

"~ jan" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 00:18:02 EDT, wrote:

Never a cat or squirrel.

How about a skunk?

The trap solved that. I would catch one after
another, they never seemed able to avoid the trap or learn from their
recently trapped brethren. Been doing this for 5 years now, they seem to
strike every other year.
John Darnielle

I had someone send me a picture of 2 raccoons at her pond. Best guess
she's
2 miles away from me. Same ones? Can't say, but it got me looking into
what
was legal here. Apparently we _can_ trap them w/o a permit, but you can't
let them go, unless your property is quite a few miles wide. I guess
you're
expected to kill them, something else one can do legally if they're
destroying crops or domestic animals.

And.... as I continued reading, even after 8 years of the sprinkler
working
for me, they can get use it and the best suggestion.... not nets, but hot
wire. We went to the local ranch & home and gathered supplies.

One more night of hoping the 3 sprinklers hold them off. Son will work the
wire and then I'm baiting it with peanut butter on tinfoil. No accidental
touching, but full mouth contact. OUCH! I know I'll sleep better... at
least tomorrow night. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us

Wire, tinfoil and peanut butter work wonderfully for deer. Good luck
with coons.

Jim

On Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:42:08 EDT, wrote:

A skunk would be a disaster, never caught one. Can they climb a board fence?

Nope, skunks are lousy climbers, they prefer to dig under if they can. So
you're safe.

Hmnn. I suppose I'd try to throw a blanket over the trap, with a slit in the
blanket so I could grab the top handle, then somehow transport the trap to a
truck bed for its ride out to the country. Then a bath.

My son & husband were telling me that myth busters did a test with caged
skunks, apparently they wanted to collect the spray. ??? After 13 skunks
they gave up, as none would spray. I'm quite sure if I caught one, it
would... isn't that how it goes, when you don't want it to happen?

Let us know how the electrical trick works!
John Darnielle

Will do. DS did a wonderful job, neat and hardly noticeable, and total cost
was only $55 w/tax. Cheaper than a motion sprinkler. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us