Strangers in the Night and Other Garden Marauders, Part II: Raccoon

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) Preparation Forum : One Thread

RACCOON

Greatest cravings: sweet corn, sweet corn and sweet corn; also melons and other fruits.

Signs: tend to pillage at night, very rudely. Cornstalks often bent to ground from efforts to get ears beyond immediate reach. Note: if only low-level ears are bothered, could be skunks. Raccoon-ravaged melons--small holes bored in them and scooped annoyingly clean by those all-too-dexterous paws. Might mess with your garbage cans and compost heaps too.

Best Barrier: Raccoons--Mother Nature's craftiest critters--intelligence, ability and near-maniacal persistance, says Dr. Q, electric fence is best solution. Dr. Q suggests using two strands of wire, one at 6", another at 12". Fiberglass posts--not so easy to climb. Use 6v car battery instead of house current (mishap with house current--could be fatal, car battery accident, not).

Solar powered systems are available. If not solar-powered, turn fence off during day (raccoons are nocturnal) to save juice, can use timer. Could be possible to turn off fence entirely after 2-3 weeks. Once coons get the message, may not come back. Prevent weeds or other vegetation coming in contact with fence--could short it out.

-- Old Git (anon@spamproblems.com), July 06, 1999

Answers

Believe it or not, my mother tried using a radio, and she claims that this works. It could be irritating to neighbors that are located in the vicinity. Anyone else try this one?

As for power, if you went solar, you could charge by day, play at night. Otherwise, you may want to stock up on batteries or spend nights having to crank the Baygen...

-- Tim (pixmo@pixelquest.com), July 09, 1999.


Moderation questions? read the FAQ