Racoons in my trees

[Carolmayer]

Is there something I can do deter them. I have dogs so it has to be something that won't hurt the dogs. They are not only eating the figs, but chewing the branches to make room to get to the ripe figs. They found them long before I even knew any were ready. I am in Toms River, NJ

[JCT]

Racoons are very smart and most deterrents will not work terribly long. Here's a couple of threads discussing the problem:
https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-h...fig-containers
https://www.ourfigs.com/forum/figs-h...rees-and-fruit

The most effective long term solution is trapping and either humanely killing or relocating (illegal in many areas) the animal.

[jrdewhirst]

Agreed. See below. JCT you were more succinct, so you managed to hit send sooner!

[Bellefleurs]

I wonder if this product works?

[m5allen]

No, this doesn't work

[Bellefleurs]

I didn’t have high hopes...

[ramv]

Agree, it doesnt work.

[jrdewhirst]

You won't like my answer. Trap. Trap. Trap. If you want a crop, you will have to trap. Even fences can be useless, since raccoons are such good climbers. And there are probably enough animals that you will fail unless you are persistent. Over the past two summers, I caught 12 each summer. This year so far only one. But more will come.

After you catch them, you can either (1) transport them far away, making them someone else's problem; or (2) kill them, which may be illegal, if that matters to you.

Another option is to leave your dogs outside at night. But I wouldn't recommend that if you have coyotes.

[Muse94552]

You won't like my comment but...relocating wildlife is illegal in CA. Leaving traps set overnight is also very likely to catch skunks yippee? I'm a long time trapper for benefit of neighborhood cats (TNR) and have observed most folks have a hard time doing it themselves for various reasons.

[jrdewhirst]

Muse94552 -- I agree totally, though here the ratio of raccoons to skunks is roughly 10 to 1. Ditto for woodchucks. Maybe 3-4 to 1 for possums. But yes inevitably you'll trap a skunk and need to have a plan. It's doable, but more elaborate.

[arachyd]

jrdewhirst yes, it is illegal to move them due to the danger of spreading rabies. My county seems to have at least a couple of rabies cases every year. A licensed hunter can take them if there is enough distance between buildings on other people's property and where the hunter shoots from. A licensed pest control company can take them. You might also look into whether anyone in the area is a licensed trapper. I never got into trapping so I'm not sure of the laws but it's probably more lenient than the hunting laws.

[TNJed]

Air rifle will terminate coons as well…

Could live trap but different set of issues IMO

[ammo1a1970]

Electric fence?

[KDAD]

I recently bought an electric fence for deer after waking up a few days in a row at 3am to chase them off. The fence was delivered and is still sitting in the box in the front of the house. The deer haven't been back since I ordered it...

[claret]

KDAD, those are REALLY SMART deer!

[Carolmayer]

Thank you for all your posts. I am going to set my ring directly on the tree to make sure I have the right critter, we do have foxes, not sure how they feel about figs. Once I know who the critter is I will try one of the methods recommended. Thank you.

[Muse94552]

That's an excellent start! You may find quite a variety of critters enjoying the figs.

[fisherman]

Rabid raccoons is a very serious issue. I know that rabies is endemic in raccoons in NY, not that far from you. Rabies can be spread through raccoons’ bodily fluids, like saliva. You do not have to be bitten to become infected. If the raccoons in your area are infected with rabies, you do not want to handle them- dead or alive.

[JCT]

I took this picture yesterday in the middle of my work building. This guy absolutely did not care that I was within 10' of him and he ignored my attempts to shoo him away. He didn't move on until a number of other people walked up.

[BrandonP]

Cool picture. If they were not so destructive, they'd be really cute!

[arachyd]

Be very careful around them. They are shockingly dangerous for their size and won't hesitate to attack you if they feel cornered.

[JCT]

arachyd I've seen videos of them going after people. I didn't get too close (maybe closer than I should have...) but this guy didn't care beyond giving me a bit of side-eye.

[Muse94552]

I have no clue as to the type of environment you are in, but in suburb/ open space interface around here- with coyotes, bobcats, skunks, coons etc etc I've been told the original 'predator lights'- are an excellent deterrent. These are two blinking red lights configured to look like coyote or puma eyes at night I guess. Available on Amazon. You probably have to move the lights around so the coons don't figure out they're not a predator.
You can also try a motion detector triggered water spray (aka scarecrow). But- I've hosed racoons and if I were not standing there I'm pretty sure they'd ignore it after a while. I'm not aware of any particular smell that repels a racoon....but DO pick up any dog food/water DISHES (even if they are empty) from outside, the fats in kibble leave enough residue on a dish to attract coons. And, water is always a treat
Good luck!

[American Infigdel]

Get a Bluetick Coonhound. Or a Redbone.

[arachyd]

Amen! I've got 3 blueticks guarding my figs.

[Neil]

One of the advantages to living in rural America.

[Salvatore]

I have a recent post on this, but here you go. Love mine.
Orbit 62100 Yard Enforcer, Check these out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=50mojJbBWy0&t=40s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1t52A4pNsU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pR3bCTwvJ0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUnnfk4MT50
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RfYQLlOn_s8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9hqVpzsTIc
Ok, This ones my favorite, I could watch these all day.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYY07NO7VNI

[davej]

That looks good!

[davej]

It is interesting that I have raccoons regularly visiting my yard at night but they have not yet noticed my figs.

[7seas]

It's only a matter of time. It could be a mess once they figure out the ripening figs.

[jrdewhirst]

Usually raccoons don’t bother figs until they are ripe. Consider yourself lucky so far, not safe.

[davej]

Yes, I suppose I am simply lucky and need to get my countermeasures in place. I don't even have any fig-addicted squirrels yet. My only raiders have been birds (usually cardinals) and chipmunks.

[jrdewhirst]

You often read stories with the basic theme "Yesterday I had 50 peaches. Today they're gone. All of them." But the fruit could be apples, pears, or of course figs.

[Skagitslim]

Get a Coonhound! I had one for 13 years, a coons worst nightmare