Putting an End to Pests Ruining your Yard

[gegiroor]

I've seen latrine in my yard in last summer and wasn't sure which animal that was responsible for it. I bought a similar trap as the one shown below, put marshmallows in it, and have it ready for the culprit to walk in and grab the marshmallows. Few days gone by and after 48 hours, this raccoon found himself in the middle of that trap. I heard a noise around 4AM, and it has kept me awake the remainder of the night.

[youtube]watch?v=CUDmcXu94fo[/youtube]

I went to work that day, called wildlife agencies in my city, and what I heard was not what I've expected. I've been told you need to euthanize it and then give us a call and we will it pick up. What kind of stupid rule is that? Apparently, the wildlife agencies in my city don't want the urbanized raccoons be released to the wild, since it may have rabies and could transmit it to the healthy population in the wild.

I didn't kill it but took it away in my van's trunk and released to somewhere that is far from my house (about 30 miles away). Now, the problem has appeared again. An old AA neighbor - a very good man - explained to me it is probably a family of raccoon that use to hang around in the area, and since you put one of them away, the others are still coming back in your yard.

Btw, it only leaves its latrine in my yard when it is raining. It is somehow taking cover when the rain is heavy. I searched online and found mothballs to be one of the pesticides to deploy against raccoons. Well, the problem is, their smell is too strong ad dangerous for my younger kids in case they pick it up and put in their mouth, so while I may deploy them again, it is not a long-term, feasible solution for my family.

[youtube]watch?v=3A7DVtfFTiI[/youtube]

I was working on my second plan, then suddenly my wife and my younger daughter saw 3 days ago this big, dark, and stray cat that roams around the neighborhood, leaving her feces in my yard. Somehow, cats are much clever than raccoons, since this cat dug the ground, left her feces in there, smelled it, covered it up with sand, and then moved on

Now, I am not sure if the problem was caused by the cat in the first place - and that raccoon was unlucky and it was in the wrong place at the wrong time - or if the raccoon was the culprit and the cat was just at the wrong place when it needed to poop.

Whatever the case, I need solution to control these pests ruining my yard, and if you know a better plan, please suggest it!

One solution that my American co-workers suggested is it is the cat, and I need to shoot it to put the menace to an end.

I also found this solution that does not involve shooting and ending the animals life: [youtube]watch?v=5nnOibg6nYc[/youtube]

Whatever the case, I need to find a solution to put an end to this menace (not SNET menace tough)!

[LobsterUnit]

Sxb.dont compare the racoon to menace.
gerigoor,ma sidii hawdikii baad dabin dhigi?

Ps.in London,foxes are a menace.qashin collection day is like Christmas day for foxes.i believe there are more foxes than people in London.i think Somalis are laangaab compared to dawaco.

[gegiroor]

Sxb.dont compare the racoon to menace.
gerigoor,ma sidii hawdikii baad dabin dhigi?

Ps.in London,foxes are a menace.qashin collection day is like Christmas day for foxes.i believe there are more foxes than people in London.i think Somalis are laangaab compared to dawaco.

I din't get your point fella. I asked if others experience similarly and what did they do to get rid off the pests.

[gegiroor]

Sxb.dont compare the racoon to menace.
gerigoor,ma sidii hawdikii baad dabin dhigi?

Ps.in London,foxes are a menace.qashin collection day is like Christmas day for foxes.i believe there are more foxes than people in London.i think Somalis are laangaab compared to dawaco.

I din't get your point fella. I asked if others experience similarly and what did they do to get rid off the pests.

[EvolSyawla]

Did you hear a couple years ago, raccoons attacked an older lady leaving her home. I am pretty sure she died. Crazy huh. I think it was California, you can google it.

Good luck! Scary creatures lol

[TATI]

nvm.

[gegiroor]

Did you hear a couple years ago, raccoons attacked an older lady leaving her home. I am pretty sure she died. Crazy huh. I think it was California, you can google it.

Good luck! Scary creatures lol

Thanks EvolS.

They develop rabies, so once they have that disease, they go on the offensive on humans and other animals. They only know to stay clear from coyotes or foxes. Around the house, we're installing motion detector lights and see if that keeps them away. If it didn't, we will redeploy the mothballs. Co-workers have recommended that I buried the mothballs under some sort of sand, and that should do the trick. I will do both.

[gegiroor]

Installed the 2 motion detectors at the back and 1 at the front. We already have 1 at the front, so that makes it 2 at the front. I saw it lit last night several times, which means one of them detected a motion several times. Will check to see if they are feces in the yard.

I am gonna buy a hidden camera and install it there as well to ensure I capture the culprit that is ruining my yard.

If those measures don't solve the problem, then it is time for more drastic actions: I will have to shoot the culprit and get it rid off that sucker. I aint a good shooter, so it seems I will need to take some shooting sessions to make sure i don't take out one of my neighbors while trying to take out a a raccoon or a stray cat.

Hell, this thing ruined my yard, now it ruined my sleep as well!

[Niya]

Why don't you get a professional company to handle it and save your self the headache of dealing with a nuisance.

[Grant]

It's a lost cause if you keep food or garbage in your yard. Even water will bring them if everything else is dry. Be glad you don't have skunks. Those guys are easy to trap, but dangerous to get rid of.

I used to feed a ferral cat in the yard. That was a mistake. My problem ended when the cat got run over and I stopped leaving food out.

[gegiroor]

It's a lost cause if you keep food or garbage in your yard. Even water will bring them if everything else is dry. Be glad you don't have skunks. Those guys are easy to trap, but dangerous to get rid of.

I used to feed a ferral cat in the yard. That was a mistake. My problem ended when the cat got run over and I stopped leaving food out.

Grant, no food in the yard, and my trash can stays inside the attached garage, so neither cat nor raccoon is not able to come inside. I have somewhat good size garden and couple of trees in my yard. These pets are mostly active when it is raining. It is not a big issue during the winter. I've already gotten rid off one of the raccoons and since the problem did not go away, I am pursuing my plan B. This stray cat takes residence the bushes near my house and my neighbors. If nobody takes ownership of her, it will be first to get shot at. For raccoons, I will try other methods before shooting them is the last option.

@Niya, professional companies are rip-offs and will milk you until they can get maximum profit out of you. Besides, even if this problem is gone, few years down the road, this problem can resurface. That is why developing the know-how and how to deal with them is very important. If I sell the house and buy another one from the suburbs - which I intend to do when kids start going to high school - pest nuisance will always be there. Therefore, the more that I can do myself and learn the tricks, the better and cheaper it is for me.

[Grant]

Gegiroor,

If you are in the US, check with your local SPCA before shooting any cats. They will often trap, or assist in trapping, feral cats. Then it's their problem. In most jurisdictions it is a crime to shoot cats, at least within city limits and nearly always if it is a pet.

In the US west of the Mississippi, racoons, eastern skunks, opossums, etc. are not native and are usually treated as vermin. You still can't discharge a firearm within city limits, but in most states there is no closed season. My county's animal control people do not recommend relocating these animals. They prefer picking up dead bodies but don't make a lot of suggestions how that happens. So far I have just released mine in a county park not near me here.

I have three cats and they are never a problem. They bury anything nasty. It's the wild guys that defecate any and everywhere and leave it on the surface. My personal least favorite are the opossums, who are especially messy.

[Daff]

I had a gopher problem once, digging in the yard etc, i bought candy looking poison from HD, that was the end of it.

[Cherine]

Who the heck shoots cats? Are you outta your effing mind? Killing a cat because it behaves like how ilaahay intended for it to behave? Acuudubillah i am in shock.

[gegiroor]

@Grant, thanks for the great advice. I was advised by my co-workers that the way they get rid off feral or stray cats was to shoot them. The people who own the house before us had the same problem with raccoons. They used to shoot them and my neighbor told me he was afraid that the bullet might hit his dogs. I will check the rules on cats at SPCA. I wasn't thinking about checking with Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), but after you suggested, I will put breaks on getting rid of her until I know the rules. One of the main reasons I opened this topic was to get ideas on people who had deal with similar issues in the past, and it is an eye-opening to me on the different rules that involve depending upon the animal.

The local wildlife agencies suggested that i can euthanize the raccoons and give them a call. I will see first if I can keep them away without taking drastic actions. Thanks for the great tips!

@Daff, my wife suggested similar ideas to yours but we are first exploring non-drastic options. My preference is to keep them away without killing them. Thanks!

@Cherine, it may be better to contribute to the topic without being vulgar