Racoon Sleeping in Barn

[Walter W Smith]

Just recently a racoon had decided to sleep in our barn at night. He seems to like curling up on the hay, much like the cats. Any suggestions on how to persuade him to not sleep in there any more? We keep the barn door cracked for that cat, so shutting all the doors is not an option.

[Mallard]

Coons are nasty, disease carrying critters.
They'll poop all over your hay, eat your cat food and generally make a disgusting mess of your barn.
If yours is a female, she may have babies in your loft and will do anything to protect them. Do not try and move her yourself.

I will get flamed for this...but...
We live-trap coons.
We do not relocate them.

If you are not comfortable with this opton, call your local pest control place and have them remove the coon. And relocate it far, far away.

[Nes]

Dog?

There isn't much you can do that wouldn't also upset the cat (like a sprinkler)

[Platinum Equestrian]

My doberman/german shepherd kills them when they come on our property. Would you like to borrow her?

I always feel sad because they have the sweetest faces and feet... but I know they are not good to have around because of the potential for disease, etc.

[Bluey]

When we tore down our old race horse barn, that the termites had eaten practically off, in the bunk house wall, inside the insulation by the roof, there was this enormous, the fattest coon I had ever seen, asleep, hybernating, I think.
As I bulldozed that wall down, he woke up, blinking his eyes slowly and waddled away grumbling under his breath something unprintable, I am sure.
We never figured how he got in there.:confused:

Coons are extremely destructive, will tear a hole in a roof, door or wall in half an hour, if they smell horse or cattle feed they want to get to.
Around here, they are, along with skunks, our main rabies reservoir for wildlife, so we don't really want any of them around where our horses, pets and humans live and work.

Maybe it is time to get a "hav a heart" type trap and "dispose of properly"?

[Twiliath]

Raccoons are #1 Rabies carriers. Get rid of it any way you can. Permanently. I've had 'coons tear holes in my new barn roof to get back in.

[mkevent]

My brother had a family of racoons living in his attic a while back. The exterminator told him to play loud rock music in the attic and they would leave- I guess it's worth a try!

[2ndyrgal]

He's sh*tting there which you will notice as soon as it starts to warm up. Ask me how I know??? Adult raccoons must be relocated up to seven miles away if trapped, or they will soon be back. Last years momma coon and litter of three lived in the attic over my tack room, still stinks to high heaven when it's muggy and hot (I'm going to have the roof replaced and when I do, I'm cleaning it out (no human access). Trapped them all over a three week period (nasty, big, aggressive, except the runt, who just looked pitiful at sis and I on a sunday morning when we could not get "the raccoon guy aka Division of Wildlife Dude", so we had to relocate it ourselves, drove about 15 miles, found a place by the road with rock formations (little caves, raccoon sized) all season stream and woods. Let the little bugger loose, he paddled around in the big pool looking up at us, climbed out, shook himself, went into a little rock cave, peeked out and seemed to say "ok, well, no free catfood, but plenty of crawdads and stuff, ok".
This year's pregnant momma found trying to use the same spot to raise her young...
Shot dead on her way into the hole and was breakfast for the buzzards. I don't care if they come in and eat the cat food and leave, but I cannot abide coon scat on my hay and all over everything. Yes they are cute (DH is a crack shot, but just can't shoot one in the head (too cute), so it's usually my job.
The mutant possum's are his department. Yuck.

[Amwrider]

They are not only rabies carriers but also Parvo-virus carriers which can kill dogs.

[Bluey]

They are not only rabies carriers but also Parvo-virus carriers which can kill dogs.

And distemper.
We had one many years ago acting odd, the game warden sent it to be checked for rabies and it came back distemper.

Since we can't vaccinate wildlife, we really should not let them live too close to us and our domestic animals, if at all possible.

Keep cat food where wildlife can't get to it and so come around for meals.
We can't help horses not being tidy eaters and dropping grains and pellets around.

[danceronice]

At home my parents deal with them with a live trap and a .22. Also possums same way. (Our resident skunk, who traps himself on purpose to eat the marshmallows, gets let off with a warning. He doesn't spray, except that time Stupid Cat JUMPED ON THE TRAP, just traps himself, eats the bait, then hangs out waiting for someone to let him out and he waddles off back to his den in the sand pit.) We did try relocating once as an experiment (spray-painted an X on its back to identify it if it was trapped again) and it didn't come back, but it was too much of a hassle. Another coon was so growly and snarly and generally a brat in the trap our neighbors who run coon dogs wanted to keep her for scent training and to snarl at their dogs. She went off to live in a rabbit hutch at their place. But otherwise they get the long ride to the far end of the hay field for the "other" bird feeder (the one the crows and vultures come to.)

There IS a rabies vax for coons that can be given orally and some states are experimenting with scattering pellets for local populations, but I wouldn't rely on that. Much as I really can't handle shooting cute fuzzy mammals, there's really only one way to get rid of them.

[Foxtrot's]

When 'relocating' them, please don't take them to a place that does not have an infinity supply of the critters. It would be pretty uncivil if you dropped them off in an area that was, for now, clear of coons. We don't have any here, although they are a few miles away and we plan to keep it that way. I even phoned the critter care society and told them to stay away from my area and was told - in no uncertain way - that they knew what they were doing!

[cvl]

The barn where I board had a momma raccoon with babies nesting in the hayloft. They tried keeping a bright light on up there at night, which didn't work. They then put on a loud radio at night and both she and the babies were gone PRONTO. And they have not come back. Maybe that would work for you?

[Bluey]

The barn where I board had a momma raccoon with babies nesting in the hayloft. They tried keeping a bright light on up there at night, which didn't work. They then put on a loud radio at night and both she and the babies were gone PRONTO. And they have not come back. Maybe that would work for you?


I don't blame the coons, some of that radio music would turn a pacifist violent.:eek:
Don't know what it would do to the horses.;)

[Sing Mia Song]

We live-trap coons.
We do not relocate them.


Same here. There are enough raccoons in the world, and if one is a problem for me, it'll be a problem for someone else if I relocate it.

It's not fair to the resident population of raccoons to introduce a new (possibly disease-carrying) individual, and it's not fair to the trapped raccoon to toss him/her into a strange area where it doesn't know where the food sources are.

I haven't had a raccoon problem since I stopped leaving cat food down. The cats got a 20 minute opportunity morning and night while I was in the barn feeding, and then the cat food got locked up and the dishes put away. The cats have since become indoor/outdoor, so they no longer eat outside.

[andylover]

racoons are also a danger to dogs.. lost my rhodesian ridgeback a few years ago due to coonhound paralysis. it is transmitted via coon saliva. this is outside of the normal rabies and distemper issues.

[2foals]

Actually, in our state it (and I'm guessing others) it is illegal to relocate wildlife. If you were to relocate a disease carrying animal, it could possibly cause much wider spread of that disease.

For those of you who do relocate raccoons, just think of the reasons why you are doing it--they are disease carrying pests who endanger your animals and damage your facility. And you are going to risk giving that problem to someone else?

[2ndyrgal]

the guy from the Division of Wildlife, fish and game guy does. Or maybe he just TELLS us he does and gives them a swift end. My trap comes back empty, ok by me.

[JSwan]

It's usually illegal to trap and relocate wildlife. It's also inhumane - releasing an animal into unknown territory where it does not know where to locate shelter, food or water - and where another of its kind may have established its territory. Very sad.

I'd try the rock music or other nonlethal methods if you don't mind having it around. A dog will discourage a coon but a coon will also seriously mess up a dog if it gets pissed off.

I think coons are terrific animals, I really like them, and don't like to use lethal methods to control them.

But if I had one living in the barn it would get to meet Jesus. And I'd treat the carcass as if it harbored rabies. (double glove, double bag, pour bleach on the blood spot - get it tested if that option is available in your area)