Got Me Some Coons.......

[The Cobra]

They say the one of the worst home invaders is a family of raccoons, once they`re in you`ve gotta pay some big cash to get rid of them. I say.. HA!!!
I`ve been staying at my daughter`s for the last month or so and she had been victimized, as had her neighbors, by a horde of raccoons that had decided to make the new homes in the 10 houses on her quiet little crescent out in the county. They had eaten their way thru soffits and had gotten into attics and had eaten their way thru bottoms of decks, wood porches etc to get into crawl spaces. Exterminators wanted anywhere from $300 to $500 bucks to get rid of them but couldn`t promise them not returning. Ammonia won`t work, moth balls won`t work, you don`t want to poison them and then have to look for the carcass somewhere in your house.
So here`s what I did-----it cost some time, a little work and about $10.00..............and it worked!!!
The raccoons my daughter had first showed themselves and made their home in the soffits of her pool house, they got up into the rafters down into the pool house and literally tore all the patio cushions, inflatables etc to shreds. So, I could see the hole in the soffit, so I started on the opposite end of the pool house and worked my way to the hole in both directions. Over the soffit and between the rafters of any building there is that void area, it surrounds any building---that was their runway and their home. I took my portable compressor and brad nailer and I put 5 ..2" brads in each soffit between each set of rafters---that makes a bed of about 300 brad nails about 1 1/2" long all along their new home. When the family of coons came "home" we watched as they went up into the soffit. Squealing started immediately as they stepped all over the nails and everywhere they turned or jumped there was more nails to land on. They squealed for about 3 mins ran out of the hole----didn`t come back for 2 days so I closed the hole and nothing since. Cobra wins the first battle.
Battle 2...Out in the county many people have ranch style houses, no basements only crawl spaces with large low decks on the back of the house.....critters love these decks and get under them and can work their way into the crawl space to make their home. This was my daughter`s and another neighbors problem-----I took off all the "closed" (small holed) lattice they had around the bottom of the deck to keep the critters out LOL----then I bought a small air horn at a hunting-fishing store and went down in the crawl space with my daughter watching outside. I blew the air horn a few times and sure enough the raccoons didn`t like it and left the building---once they were out I knew they`d return so I picked up my trusty brad nailer, replaced the 2" brads with 1" brads. I turned the lattice backwards and put a brad in most of the joints that criss-cross (the X) of the lattice so the point of the nail stuck outwards about 3/4" once the lattice was replaced with the nail points facing OUT. When all was quiet the raccoons felt safe to come home and tried to work their way thru the lattice to get under the deck, let the squealing resume--------------HAHAHAHA Cobra wins battle 2 and the Great Raccoon War of 2011......No raccoons to report in 5 days.

Tried and true--it works like a charm and if they come back the nails will be there waiting for them. You can buy a box of 5,000 brads for about $10 well worth it.
Exterminator for $500 my buttocks.

[mclovin]

Did you get rid of that other pest to?

[jechill]

you can also get wolf sent and spray it around

[The Cobra]

Yup, heard of it...her neighbor tried the fox or coyote urine thing but it didn`t do squat. Besides, after all the damage they did it was fun seeing the little mothers get their feet and whatever else stabbed a few hundred times LMAO.

[The Cobra]

Did you get rid of that other pest to?

Yeah-----------but it cost a he__ of a lot more than $10-----------LMAO

[chicot60]

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/06/01/what-the-raccoons/

In this occasional feature, the National Post tells you everything you need to know about a complicated issue. Today, Jessica Hume examines the ongoing raccoon debate. They’re cute, abundantly common and cantankerous creatures who wake you up in the middle of the night with bloodcurdling screeches … and they aren’t going anywhere. When a 53-year-old man was arrested Wednesday morning for allegedly beating baby raccoons with a shovel in his backyard, the incident reopened the issue of how Torontonians should deal with these unavoidable animals.

Q First off, how many are there?

A It’s difficult to say. During the 1990s, Toronto had an average of 10 to 20 per square kilometre, according to the Ministry of Natural Resources. While updated statistics for the quadrupeds don’t exist, a Canadian documentary put the numbers far higher, at roughly 150 per square kilometre. Even that may seem conservative, depending on where you live. They may constitute wildlife, but Toronto’s raccoons prefer dense residential areas over parks — for the amenities, one assumes.

Q They broke into your garbage and recycling bins, stole your refuse and made messes. So you clamped locks on your garbage containers. How are our efforts to deter the scavengers working out?

A To put it simply, not well. In her documentary, Raccoon Nation, director Susan Fleming found that while their eyesight is poor, raccoons possess impressive dexterity. Their paws are equipped with receptors that enable them to open containers, doors and latches. But Ms. Fleming also found that raccoons respond to challenges by working harder to solve them. They are creative, determined and actively work at developing their intellect — if only all high school students shared those traits.

Q Raccoons are here because we paved over their natural habitat, right?

A Not so much, actually. Raccoons are originally a tropical species and have benefitted from urbanity as much as any of us. In the wild, raccoons live roughly five years. Raccoons in the GTA live an average of 12 to 15 years. Unaffected by rising rent costs, raccoon families tend to keep between 10 and 20 dwellings at any given time, enjoying hollow tree trunks, chimneys, sheds, attics and the spaces below porches. It was the raccoon population that arguably benefited most from the garbage strike of 2009 — their numbers skyrocketed that summer. And once a raccoon finds a feeding spot it likes, it will return over and over again. But raccoons have also suffered from modern life. Like their human counterparts, the garbage raccoons love to consume has resulted in something of an obesity epidemic.

Q If they’re so annoying, it must be safe to say everyone hates them.

A The Toronto Wildlife Center gets about 30,000 calls a year — about half of them raccoon-related. “Half the people hate them, but the other half love them,” explains Nathalie Karvonen, executive director of wildlife centre. Here’s the kicker: Ms. Karvonen says the half that loves raccoons goes out of its way to feed them. “If we don’t change our behaviour, there are going to be lots of raccoons in the city.” That behaviour probably shouldn’t involve the garden shovel. “You don’t have to beat up the raccoons,” says Nagu Anthonysraj, operating manager at 24Hour Pest Control. He recommends simple measures such as soap flakes or ammonia-based products to deter the beasts, who are sensitive to smell. Frequently suggested deterrents include bright lights and loud music, though they offer mixed results. Mr. Anthonysraj suggests not leaving food outside, keeping garbage and recycling containers in garages or other indoor areas until it is collected. And if home-made remedies fail, there are dozens of businesses willing to do the removing for you, including many that offer to trap raccoons in a humane manner before releasing them within a one-kilometre radius. Problem solved. Until the next raccoon family starts sniffing around.

[Terryl]

I just put 1/4" rat mesh behind the lattice on my decks, keeps all sorts of critters out.

My .22 cal takes care of everything else, (.22 is a quick fix, 12 gauge isn't)

[zoogor]

10 bucks aint bad old buddy but some times it pays to be a red neck like me and live in a hick town...a .22 cal rifle works real well on those things and shells are very cheap. lol
personally i dont kill unless needed but thats how mosts pests are dealt with around here.

[daryl1964]

Cayenne pepper works here and is cheap.....

[fonger]

peppers didn't work here in the subdivisions... rocks and mesh did the job.