I have raccoons!

[arcadian111]

I have raccoons. They mostly seem to be living in my attic and driving me insane.

Would this be something that the city animal control would take care of?
Actually come over and trap them and take them away?

Anyone else have any experience with this type of thing?

[Ted]

Hi Arcadian111.
Welcome to MY. :smt001

I have raccoons. They mostly seem to be living in my attic and driving me insane.

Would this be something that the city animal control would take care of?
Actually come over and trap them and take them away?Yes.
601-545-4500

Anyone else have any experience with this type of thing?Yeah, but not living in the house. Couple of 'em I had troubles with over the years - I just shot 'em and ate 'em.

[countrygirl]

I laughed at this one...I'm glad somebody else is having problems with critters rather than myself! I've had a snake in the house, a flying squirrel in the house, several hummingbirds and other birds in the house, plus several other critters that were close to coming in, but I don't think I've ever had a coon in the house. Good luck! I know that if squirrels are in the house, that insurance won't pay for any damage as they are rodents, but I don't know about coons. You need to call somebody to help you soon!

[58ford]

Take a weight (concrete block, piece of iron etc.) Tie a couple of dozen fish hooks to some strong monofilament & tie it to the weight. Smear the whole thing with peanut butter. Place in attic and check everyday. Club 'coons to death with a piece of re-bar or a baseball bat.

[Maggie-Doodle]

58 I HOPE you were joking! THAT was mean... :(

[petalmom]

Take a weight (concrete block, piece of iron etc.) Tie a couple of dozen fish hooks to some strong monofilament & tie it to the weight. Smear the whole thing with peanut butter. Place in attic and check everyday. Club 'coons to death with a piece of re-bar or a baseball bat.


Yuck :) who cleans up the mess after that? :)

[CircusRide]

Beats having the crabs.

[wilebill]

Shoot them and call somebody to fix the holes later.

[thrillseeker]

The animal warden of Petal knows me real well. I had foxes in our yard last year. It took 2 or 3 trips out to catch all of them. I wish I could have gone with him to release them. They were soooooooo cute but I wouldnt get too close.

[Ted]

Take a weight (concrete block, piece of iron etc.) Tie a couple of dozen fish hooks to some strong monofilament & tie it to the weight. Smear the whole thing with peanut butter. Place in attic and check everyday. Club 'coons to death with a piece of re-bar or a baseball bat.Here's a trick I learned from an old coon trapper. After they're caught poke the muzzle of a .22 rifle in 'is face and when he bites down on it pull the trigger. Use .22 shorts.

[Maggie-Doodle]

Here's a trick I learned from an old coon trapper. After they're caught poke the muzzle of a .22 rifle in 'is face and when he bites down on it pull the trigger. Use .22 shorts.


Ted, I am going to have to tell you the same thing I told 58, that is cruel. Shame on you...catch the little suckers and take them out into the woods and turn them loose. IF you were trying to find shelter for your kids and got them a nice cozy spot would you want someone doing that to THEM? :smt009 YOU of all people disappoint me with that answer! :kekeke:

[LipsofanAngel]

I'm not going to read the mean posts... and this won't help your situation, but I thought it was funny... my mother literally will feed anything or anyone that comes to the house! She's a human and an animal lover. She recently has put food on the back porch for a possum, and a racoon. She's says they're "cute" and doesn't want them to go hungry!

[Fire Extinguisher]

My Mom and her husband are trappers, if the city will not do something PM me and I will give you the number to call.

[CircusRide]

We had a coon show up under our carport. I killed him with a shovel.

[Fish-Bait]

Country coons and city coons don't get along too well. Country coons would kill off the city coons. You can't put the country back in a city coon......just won't happen.

[noway]

squirrels have taken over my house.. I really need to get that taken care of soon.. :smt086

[Fish-Bait]

We had a coon show up under our carport. I killed him with a shovel.

Castle Law was put to good use huh...lol.:-D

[Fish-Bait]

squirrels have taken over my house.. I really need to get that taken care of soon.. :smt086

Noway, you still haven't got rid of those tree rats? They are gonna' chew your house down man. You need to borrow my pellet pistol?

[noway]

Noway, you still haven't got rid of those tree rats? They are gonna' chew your house down man. You need to borrow my pellet pistol?

I know I know.. I need to come up with some cash and get the problem fixed.. You know the famous saying this time of the year.. When I get my taxes back.. :smt105

[Fish-Bait]

I know I know.. I need to come up with some cash and get the problem fixed.. You know the famous saying this time of the year.. When I get my taxes back.. :smt105

I know it all too well man.

[Tom B]

The best way to get rid of the coon's is to take a piece of lite bred and put a lot of mercurchrome(sp)on the bread.The way it works the merurchrome will give them the red a## and they will leave.:clap:

[Comments 2]

We had a coon show up under our carport. I killed him with a shovel.
Why??:(

[Ted]

Ted, I am going to have to tell you the same thing I told 58, that is cruel. Shame on you...catch the little suckers and take them out into the woods and turn them loose. IF you were trying to find shelter for your kids and got them a nice cozy spot would you want someone doing that to THEM? :smt009 YOU of all people disappoint me with that answer! :kekeke:

Why??:(Well, OK.

I understand you all's feelings and viewpoint on this so I'll expand on it a bit.

You/we really don't want raccoons in or around our dwellings.
They aren't like you see depicted on Wild Kingdom or in Walt Disney movies.
They are wild creatures and can't be domesticated.
They can be somewhat tamed, but never domesticated.
They will cause property damage to your dwelling - especially if they manage to take up residence in the attic or somewhere like that. I've seen a couple of RVs just about torn to shreds after a family of coons moved in.
They can't be house broken and will defecate and urinate all in an attic or garage. They will fill the place up with coon poop. The only situation I've ever seen that is worse is having bats living in an attic. It gets really nasty, really quickly.
They will constantly tear up the screen doors and window screens.
The last one I had to deal with absolutely, literally chewed up my back screen door and the woodwork around the door frame. It's an odd sized door and I have to build that screen door by hand.
Also, there is the potential for rabies. They can and will bite and they are well equipped to do so. Even a tame coon will bite on occasions. They can be very aggressive, especially if habituated and accustomed to close contact with humans. The likelihood of infection to yourself and household pets is, admittedly, vanishingly small but the danger is present nonetheless. The probability increases in direct proportion to proximity. Not worth the risk.

Now - I like coons. I think they're cute too. I like watching 'em. They're interesting and entertaining, but you really and truly don't want them around - or in - your residence.

One last thought - FishBait is, unfortunately and sadly, correct.
"City" coons can't be successfully transplanted to rural areas. They just won't survive very long. Anywhere they are released is going to be inside the home range of other, established, resident coons and they will starve to death from being constantly chased from one coons territory to another - or be killed outright.

[Michelle]

We have them in the attic at work. We trap them with sardines and set them free. We had one fall through the ceiling and leave bloody footprints everywhere.

[Maggie-Doodle]

Well, OK.

I understand you all's feelings and viewpoint on this so I'll expand on it a bit.

You/we really don't want raccoons in or around our dwellings.
They aren't like you see depicted on Wild Kingdom or in Walt Disney movies.
They are wild creatures and can't be domesticated.
They can be somewhat tamed, but never domesticated.
They will cause property damage to your dwelling - especially if they manage to take up residence in the attic or somewhere like that. I've seen a couple of RVs just about torn to shreds after a family of coons moved in.
They can't be house broken and will defecate and urinate all in an attic or garage. They will fill the place up with coon poop. The only situation I've ever seen that is worse is having bats living in an attic. It gets really nasty, really quickly.
They will constantly tear up the screen doors and window screens.
The last one I had to deal with absolutely, literally chewed up my back screen door and the woodwork around the door frame. It's an odd sized door and I have to build that screen door by hand.
Also, there is the potential for rabies. They can and will bite and they are well equipped to do so. Even a tame coon will bite on occasions. They can be very aggressive, especially if habituated and accustomed to close contact with humans. The likelihood of infection to yourself and household pets is, admittedly, vanishingly small but the danger is present nonetheless. The probability increases in direct proportion to proximity. Not worth the risk.

Now - I like coons. I think they're cute too. I like watching 'em. They're interesting and entertaining, but you really and truly don't want them around - or in - your residence.

One last thought - FishBait is, unfortunately and sadly, correct.
"City" coons can't be successfully transplanted to rural areas. They just won't survive very long. Anywhere they are released is going to be inside the home range of other, established, resident coons and they will starve to death from being constantly chased from one coons territory to another - or be killed outright.

I understand you would not want them in your house or attic...I know that is not good for many reasons other than the poop and pee but I would rather trap the little suckers and turn them loose somewhere...they may croak..who knows but I think they at least deserve a chance.

We get a couple of coons from time to time in our yard...I think they come out of Gordon's Creek...they seem to be fat. I imagine they go down there and eat fish/minnows. They don't usually hang around long because of my puppy. We have had possums too. They mosey on along too. I suppose we will just have to agree to disagree with killing the poor things. :)

[LipsofanAngel]

I understand you would not want them in your house or attic...I know that is not good for many reasons other than the poop and pee but I would rather trap the little suckers and turn them loose somewhere...they may croak..who knows but I think they at least deserve a chance.

We get a couple of coons from time to time in our yard...I think they come out of Gordon's Creek...they seem to be fat. I imagine they go down there and eat fish/minnows. They don't usually hang around long because of my puppy. We have had possums too. They mosey on along too. I suppose we will just have to agree to disagree with killing the poor things. :)
I agree- if there are ways of getting rid of a pest without killing it, then you should. If a coon is getting in your garbage outside? Hmmm... trap it, or maybe get a plastic garbage container with a secure lid. No more garbage in the yard, and the coon is alive.

[countrygirl]

Ted, I had a friend that had a pet coon when I way waaay younger. Pretty good pet...

[arcadian111]

I'm not going to read the mean posts... and this won't help your situation, but I thought it was funny... my mother literally will feed anything or anyone that comes to the house! She's a human and an animal lover. She recently has put food on the back porch for a possum, and a racoon. She's says they're "cute" and doesn't want them to go hungry!



I had seen one or two of them in the back yard before. They looked fat and happy! They never got into the trash and they really weren't a problem until lately. They've been so loud. They keep me up all night!

[Ted]

Ted, I had a friend that had a pet coon when I way waaay younger. Pretty good pet...Yeah. I've known a few pet coons. They're real interesting.:smt001

The one that was causing me trouble was a Katrina refugee.
It's Mama and three cubs showed up a day or two after and stayed around the neighborhood for about a week. Mama and two of the cubs moved on their way but this one stayed for some reason - which was OK until the third time I had to rescreen the back windows and screen door. The last time I added hardware cloth and the stinker started chewing up my screen door and the woodwork around the door frame.
Now, I didn't harm a hair on it's aggravating carcass. It got run over in the street before I could get the city to bring a trap. They were busy with other problems just then - like the rest of us.

[firefly]

We had a friend who put cat food out for his cat & the coons & possums would eat it. One time he caught a possum red handed eating his cat's food & he said that he thought that possum was gonna eat him alive! I am afraid of wild creatures like that because I know that they carry rabies!:ohnoes:

[TamHill]

The animal warden came for a snake in my yard and I suppose she would come for a coon. They have traps and can get them humanely. Humanely--a few posters might need to refresh their memories about that particular word. Sorry, but I don't find animal cruelty funny. It is too common and too many people work their tails off to try to help. Flippancy about it doesn't work for me. Sorry if I offended anyone. :(

[quicksilver74]

good grief bleeding heart animal righters. Coons are dangerous. You have been watching too many disney movies

[Maggie-Doodle]

good grief bleeding heart animal righters. Coons are dangerous. You have been watching too many disney movies

You my friend are just plain cold hearted if you would rather kill the critter than relocate it. Some people are dangerous too but you don't go around killing them just for the damn fun of it!

[Comments 2]

Well, there those of us who will relocate since we moved into THEIR territory. One night when my husband went out to walk the dog he discovered a coon in our garbage can at the back door. He quickly snapped the lid down and called to me to come quick...I was already in my nightgown. He said we had to take the coon, and our garbage out to a forest to let him out..."here, you get into the truck bed and hold the garbage can so it doesn't turn over" O.K., picture this me with my shirtail flying holding on to a coon and garbage. We got to the place he would have to call home, put him out with the garbage and when he ran out/off, we picked up our trash and headed home. We felt good but I don't know how the coon felt missing out on dinner.