Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Raccoons and Fish Feeders - How To Keep Them OUT!

I don't think the discussion became heated, but then again that may just be me, as I was not then, nor am I now, upset or angry. If we, as a forum, cannot discuss the "difficult" issues at hand without letting our emotions take control, then we are left with avoiding any subject matter that does not invoke a warm and fuzzy feeling inside.
This is not meant as a criticism, or complaint, but rather an observation. Self-moderation is paramount.

Anyone who followed the recent thread concerning fish escaping from an overflow, and the possible repercussions downstream from this, can tell that I am very concerned with the impact my actions, or lack of actions, may cause. I want my kids to be able to enjoy our property with their own kids one day. To that end I strive to be a good steward of my land and it's resources.

I have 5 ponds on my land, and on occasion I find myself with a muskrat problem. The season for muskrats starts Nov. 15th. If I can see their runs in July, do I wait for the season to open, or do I grab a few conibears' and a .22 and get started now? Is it feasible to apply rip-rap along the perimeter of all 5 ponds? No. To me, muskrats are a nuisance animal. I will deal with it. My neighbor to the north has a creek, complete with muskrats, but no ponds. What he does have is a HUGE stand of sweet corn that he sells to the local markets. I'm talking a couple acres here. he doesn't consider muskrats a nuisance at all, but he despises the raccoons that decimate his corn nearly every night. On the other hand, I don't have any problems with raccoons.

To the west of me lies a river bottom planted in field corn. Earlier this year I was shown a large area that had been trampled down and destroyed. I have since heard that several more areas have been damaged. Deer prints are everywhere. Can he fence this acreage? No. On the other hand, he has no issues with the muskrats or the raccoons, just as I don't mind the deer.

A nuisance animal can mean different things to different people. I think each situation is unique and requires it's own solution.

If this response oversteps the bounds of acceptable behaviour, then by all means please remove it.

SP that was fine - no problem. This thread was just barely over the edge and far better than some. We try to head off any problems before they start.

ALL - Bob has given specific instructions for us to avoid any topic that may start a personal argument. Some topics are banned because they start arguments , often heated ones (global warming for example). Those type threads solve nothing and cause 2 types of problems. One they make the individuals involved (posters and readers) mad (you can't judge emotion and feelings well in writing) and less likely to keep involved in the Forum. Two they have a very negative effect on the type readers we want to attract or keep involved and they tune out while at the same time they attract people with an agenda and an argument to make. The result is a lot less friendly atmosphere and a lot more angry posters. Not what Bob wants. There are a bunch of Forums out there to engage in those topics if you like. I hope that explains a little behind the approach.

I have raccoons climbing all over the feeder, and thought about removing some this summer. Then I looked at the fur futures, and decided to wait until the fur was prime. I figure that if they can get fatter on the AquaMax, why can't they help to pay for more?

Tony, tell your nieghbor that 'rats are supposed to be in the $7-$8 range this year, so it might be worthwile to set a few traps for them. Just wait until they get prime - the price on blue hides is roughly half of the fully prime prices, no matter what the size of the 'rat.

Some of the confusion, at least among the Indiana folks, may be lack of information concerning the law. Call your conservation officer and you will likely find out that muskrats and racoons causing damage can be taken any time as long as the carcasses are disposed of properly. Deer deprivation permits are readily available to farmers as well. Your on your own if you start shooting hawks to protect your hobby chickens.

Do hobby chickens taste like pork?

I don't know. Raccoons ate my last flock of "hobby" chickens.

My apologies if I played a role… Sprkplug, you lightened up my day with visions of peering into a wooden box to see if the inhabitant is skunk or coon. This:
is absolutely classic! Thank you for the much needed laugh. (Do we know the same people??)
Kelly – you nailed it completely with this: A point well taken – I just get frustrated when I am regulated due to a few bad apples… BTW, the photo that you posted on page 1 is what nightmares are made of…

In terms of the raccoons, a quick story: The last thing we did was stock up on feed prior to the delivery of a couple dozen sheep. As we just had a nice 30x40 workshop built, I had the feed loaded inside. The next morning, I went in to check that all was good to go and every bag had been systematically opened and rummaged through - 1000# of feed destroyed. Of course, rocky left his paw prints in the dust. Turns out that not only can they scale the side of a 2 story to eat Koi from a balcony deco-pond (previous thread), but scaling the roll up door and squeezing through that 4-6” gap was easy. I went back to town for feed, grease (greased the door), and trash cans like I should have done the day before…. Typically, I know better but I had not given it any thought that day.

Long story short, I'll go the prevention route first and purchase one of the 2 feeders esshup mentioned.

A client thought he'd put feed in a metal trash can by the feeder to make filling it easier. He neglected to tie the lid down. It also rained that night.....

I brought a ratchet strap over the next week when I put a bag of AM600 in the can. Those durn 'coons are smart!!!!

Catmandoo - Maybe those raccoons now taste like chicken?

Everything tastes like chicken if cooked properly. Or at least that's what I am told....

I don't know about tasting like chicken, but I'll bet there's a few in these parts that taste like aquamax....

Scott, I've heard the same thing on muskrat hides. Now if I can only remember where I stored those fur stretchers 30 yrs ago!

FCTex, you haven't experienced all life has to offer until you've walked up on a fully enclosed wooden box trap with it's door closed. 50% anticipation and 50% pure dread. Standard procedure in our family was to circle said trap 2-3 times, then nudge it with your foot while listening intently. No noise required that you lift one end, checking it's heft to see if there was, in fact something in there and not just a false alarm. If you were alone, you moved right into the extraction phase. If, by some chance, you had a buddy, or cousin with you, who was interested in this technique, then you might shake the box, thereby "priming" the animal for it's removal by said cousin/buddy. At this junction I preferred to move well off to one side, under the pretense of having a better shot at the fleeing animal, should it somehow escape the grasp of the extractor.
Instructions would then be issued to gently lift the end of the box trap containing the entrance, slightly raise the sliding door, and reach in and grasp the animals hind legs and, with a firm grasp, withdraw it while simultaneously raising the trapdoor completely. I should mention that the traps were constructed so that the narrow confines prohibited the animal turning around, so the hind legs were always presented for grasping. Curiously, this major design flaw also meant that the business end of a skunk would be in a perfect position to extract revenge for it's overnight incarceration.

If everything went as it should, there would be a rabbit in the trap, and a quick rap on the ears with a 2' piece of broom handle meant the excitement was over.

However, if what was withdrawn turned out to be, say, pretty much anything other than a rabbit, then the excitement had just begun. There might not be fresh game for supper that night, but there would be plenty of laughter at holiday gatherings for years to come.

Sprkplug, I just spit out my coffee! LOL – thanks. You definitely have a way with words…

Tony, mine are still hanging in my parents garage, and the wooden ones are sitting on top of the rafters just under the wire ones. The 'coon stretchers are there too. I still have my hickory trap pack basket too. I'd hate to see what one of those would cost today! Hawbaker's was my catalog of choice back them.

That goes back a ways. Maybe that is what our 'coon suffering friends need. Hawbaker's Coon Lure

Heck, I'm just a babe in the woods. You remember them too?

Cat - I wonder if Aquamax is cheaper than Hawbaker's "coon blend"?

Does anyone remember FUR, FISH & GAME Magazine? I still have over 10-yrs worth of issues from the 70's. Periodically, I enjoy scanning through those well-worn pages and reminiscing. Esshup and SprkPlug, as a young lad I used to dream about trapping in the northeast (especially IN, OH, NY and PA).

Jeeze wig, you say that like its a good thing... sounds like a poor cook to me.

Jeff-

Oh yeah, I well remember FF&G magazine. when I was a kid I had a stack that I got from my uncle. The format was unique when compared to the other "outdoor" magazines of the day. Very spartan, no flash, just the meat spelled out in black and white. They had a penchant for the unusual subjects, snapping turtles, bullheads, squirrel hunting, trapping muskrats... right up this country boy's alley.

I seem to remember an advertisement in the back for waterproof cannon fuse....... that, and some calcium carbide, did wonders to toughen up the hide on my backside after one particularly memorable backyard experiment... I'll bet that croquet ball is still circling the earth in a low orbit. Yep, it may have achieved escape velocity, but I couldn't run fast enough to get away from dad!

Scott, you better make sure those stretchers are still there, and not hanging on the interior wall of a Cracker Barrel restaurant somewhere...

Those darn pickers!

Nope, they're still there. I wish that I had the 200+ conibears that some bat turd stole from the stream that I was trapping in the late 70's. I think I only have a couple dozen left.

F-F-G? Heck, I still get it. It really hasn't changed much, and is still very inexpensive for a subscription.

Dang, all this talk reminds me that I really, really need to dye and wax a bunch of traps. Unfortunately, I need to modify a bunch of them to comply with the new regs (leg-hold traps, offset or laminated jaws, etc.).

Man.. I haven't thought about boiling traps in a LONG time.

Nowadays, the only trapping I do is strictly out of neccessity. The past two years my water has been so low that the rats' moved on anyway. I did see a couple runs this past spring, before the drought struck.

I probably won't get too rusty, or out of practice... they always come back.

Well it looks like the coons have found my feeder as well, and I had to bring it home this weekend in hopes to fix it.

I know the cheap hanging feeders are cheap and I guess I should not expect much. But mine has worked for over 2 years now, and the only reason it will not throw food is do to the coons breaking the cheap plastic piece that throws it.

So my thoughts are why are these not metal like on the deer feeders?

Can one find one of these or fix it?

Am I just going to have to buy a new one and just stop complaining about GOD's creatures?

Please help me out as I only have a month or so left now that it has cooled off, and I have a ton of food I need to use before it goes bad.

I wonder if I could do something on a smaller scale like Kelly did on his large feeder with the 5 gallon bucket?

Thanks