Hey Ya'll!  Need some advice on how to go about riddin' myself of an OVER ABUNDANCE of raccoons, without harming 'em.  I've got outdoor cats, I'm trying to keep fed, but the 'coons are chasing the cats off, and eating their food. And this is during daylight hours, too!!!  Does anyone know how I can scare off the 'coons, without having to resort to the "air-soft" method?  I don't want to hurt them, I just don't want 'em eating up what little resource I have for the cats.  (And just so you know, the cat's belong to the owners of the house that I am now the caretaker of, and they share in the cost of the food for the animals.)  Any humane ideas, would be greatly appreciated!

Ride Free 
Tweek

Live trap. I've had to do that every spring up here. The get into our bird feeders. After they're caught ya need to relocate them far away. Of course you may end up catching one of the cats every now and then.
Peanut brittle (not butter) is excellent bait. Tuna is good as well. Good luck.

Peace

Jimmy has the right idea Live traps work and just relocate to another area. I loaned my traps to my neighbor and he caught 3 within a week. Tuna worked for him

Live trap sounds like the most humane plan. But I'm thinking if you use tuna you might spend lots of time letting the cats out of the trap !

According to the homeowner's, the infestation is so prolific, that they used to trap and kill. I can't do that, but I appreciate any and all ideas. You guys rock. Now, I just gotta figure out, where the heck I'd move 'em to. There's a patch of woods right off the back yard, and methinks they would find their way back, soon enough...ughhhh.

Ride Free
Tweek

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but as long as your leaving food out for the cats the raccoons will never cease to be a problem. Raccoons are smart little buggers and the only way to get rid of them permanently is too remove their source of food/catfood that you are leaving out. sorry for the bad news my friend

+1 on that.  Your post reminded me of the lady who was the previous owner of my home.  She had a huge birdfeeder in the front lawn.  Every summer, the bears would raid her birdfeeder.  She would freak out about having these bears in her front lawn, and call the local DNR station about them.  They would come out here, remove the bears, and tell her she needed to stop putting all that birdseed into her feeder.  From what the neighbors tell me, she never figured it out, just kept heaping birdseed into her feeder and getting alarmed when the bears showed up. 

Thanks Ya'll. Yeah...I pretty much knew it was gonna be a struggle. The 'coons are a ravenous lot, and having a source of food, will prolly always attract them, I was really more surprised that they'll come out during the daylight hours now. I was hoping they'd stick to their nocturnal schedule, so I could at least feed the kittee' clan during the day. Best I can do, is skeer 'em off. The only problem with that is, they are gettin' bolder and bolder. They don't run right off like they used to....Oh well, maybe when they hear the new roommate's dog barking, that'll
do the trick, huh?

Ride Free
Tweek

The Rev is right I had to dispatch 2 Racoons on my farm when they walked down past our horses and headed for the house in broad daylight when my girls were little and playing in the yard. I took no chances with them and would do the same today. Just be careful with them Tweek and call the local animal control officer if you have any more trouble.

Personally I prefer shooting them between the eyes with a CB cap but other options that have worked at least a little.

The previously mentioned live trap. At least around here you can borrow one from the Humane Society. - Take them away, take them miles away, preferably to an upscale neighborhood.

One time had a honkin' big skunk wander into the yard when I was dressed in a suit & making preparations to go someplace important. - Kids were about & I was worried about rabies, - Turned a hose on it and kept it on it, eventually it wandered off

In Ohio they will fine you if caught relocating them. Check your local laws before doing that. Here we use Have-a heart traps but the only good thing about them is you can release any critters you like having around.

Tweek old love I'll call in and fix those pesky little buggers for ya.Since I came home with my Daniel Boone hat all my mates want one too..We can get 50 bucks a piece for them and I'll go ya halvesies..CHEERS BOOF

just like cats...waterhose....put the food out for the cats..when the coons show up...water spray to the face..water must be on high enough to sting........don't stop til they turn and run off.......do it every day!!!..don't slack, they are very smart...you will train them..and they will go find an easier meal.......

I think I'm being serious here......how about a scarecrow with a water hose in his hand after a few moments of actually blasting them with high pressure. I'm still not sure if I was serious or not...LOL
Dragon

Ahhh yeees, the proverbial water boarding....maybe water is the way to get them to do my bidding. Muahaaahaaaa!!!
Thanks, Ya'll, I'll give that a try. As for any rabid animals, I keep my pistol at the ready for any of them.

Ride Free
Tweek

Tweek hate to hear about the racoon problem. I have a friend who did a study on racoons for UGA. He did the study in the glades and found even after relocation of 13 miles they found there way back to the known food source in less than two days.

Dang...I think Ya'll might be right about the rabies.... Had one this morning, come up the back steps, right up to the door, and just sit there lookin' in. This is a screened in porch/deck with a waist-high plyboard all the way 'round, and tough clear plastic on the bottom of the screen door....and now I know why. The owner's told me they had a critter problem, and that their brother used to just shoot 'em. Dagnabbit, I was hopin' for a more peaceful solution, but lookin' into the eyes of that one this morning, I'm now locked and loaded. This thing "looked" like it
had rabies. And it looked like it'd bite the crap outta me, if I got between it and the cat food....
So, I guess now what I need to know, is what the hell do I do with the corpses? And BOOF, I just ain't got the
stomach for skinnin' no animal. Sorry. Daniala Boone, I ain't...lol

Ride Free
Tweek

Tweek old darl y'all aint using big enough gun..My old Enfield 303 kills em,skins em and cooks em all in one handy action..I shot a few coons when I was up in upstate NY..Make sure ya top those little bastards coz shit they get mean when ya just wing them..I still reckon we can do a deal on hats..Cheers BOOF

Was not planning on logging on this AM, must shovel snow but you are scaring the h' out of me

Tweek my bold lassie, if you think they have rabies do not shoot them anyplace humans or dogs traffic about. The last thing you want is to contact blood & saliva. - If they are in too close to use the hose fill a squirt gun with ammonia, industrial stregnth, if you can get it & squirt them in the kisser - Mace or pepper spray would probably work too but would not kill germs

If you send suspected rabid critter to the happy hunting grounds the sensible thing to do would be to call the county health department but since dispatching a raccoon with a firearm within municipal limits probably puts you in violation of about 6 municipal, 8 state & 2 Federal laws, sensible is out; instead put on disposable gloves & use a shovel to put it in a plastic bag. Drop it on a highway way outside of municipal limits & let the crows take it from there (birds can't get rabies)

Wasp spray in a can will shoot with powerful force up to 20 feet. Our local police recommend keeping a can in the house and in the car for self defense purposes. I imagine it will work on 4 legged animals as well as the 2 legged ones!

My ex father-in-law had a racoon problem and was relocating them. He would spray their tail with bright orange spray paint so he could identify if it was one he had recently sent packing. Gave him an idea of how far to take them. I think he figured 20 miles. If you have to cross a river to do it, its a bonus. :-) good luck! *hint* this might also work for that pesky roommate problelm you're having. Lol