Question:
Other than buckshot,fising large mouth bass is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice
Response:
Other than buckshot,fising large mouth bass is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice
This is an ongoing problem with many on this group.fising large mouth bass Unfortunately this is what racoons DO… it comes naturally. I’ve managed to deter them with a large dog. Our neighbors regularly have back porch racoon visitors who eat the food they put out for the stray cats. fising large mouth bass It was a Catastrophe. Now my Dogma’s Dead and my Karma’s out of alignment.
Response:
I don’t have a raccoons problem and hope I never do. I think that some security lights that are triggered by motion might deter the raccoons. I don’t thing they like lights.fising large mouth bass Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John This is an ongoing problem with many on this group. Unfortunately this is what racoons DO… it comes naturally. I’ve managed to deter them with a large dog. Our neighbors regularly have back porch racoon visitors who eat the food they put out for the stray cats.fising large mouth bass Now my Dogma’s Dead and my Karma’s out of alignment.
Response:
Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. Appreaciate any advice
You can’t outsmart raccoons,fising large mouth bass but you can get them into a Hav-A-Hart trap and relocate the little suckers. — Ted Lissauer 2204 Wildflower Trail Fisherville, KY 40023 Phone (502) 267-8131
Response:
You could try a lectric doggy fence from a feed store but they will probably figure it out. Paul
Response:
You could try a lectric doggy fence from a feed store but they will probably figure it out. Paul
While one of those ‘lectric doggy fences would probably work, attaching the required collar to the ‘coons is an exercise thats left to the readers imagination….
Response:
Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John
Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david
Response:
If you have some basic electrical ability,fising large mouth bass you can hook up something that is sensor activated. The sensor lights that many people have can be purchased as sensors separate from the lights. You can then wire any electrical device to that sensor. Lights do not generally scare off raccoons, so don’t bother with that fising large mouth bass. I suggest you try something that moves, or makes noise. I have been thinking about this because I live in the “boonies”, but haven’t had to come up with something yet. I would probably try some type of alarm horn (short duration) if I don’t mind ticking off the neighbors-they also make them waterproof 
You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great! There is also something called a deer hammer that I have seen. It requires a little water flow, and usually some bamboo. You suspend a bamboo tube between two posts like so PRE-SLAM: O O O O OX X Y XO Y X O Y X W DURING SLAM: X OOOOOOOOOXOOOOOOW Y X Y X Y X The X’s are the posts, the O’s are the bamboo tube, the W is a weight to make it balance right of center, and the Y’s are the anvil that the hammer slams. Get it balanced so the tube is pointing up left, and start putting water in the left end (the right end is sealed). Once the water fills past the center point, it starts to over balance and dumps the water into the pond. The movement and noise is said to scare deer, so it might work for raccoons. I would try it out of PVC for experimentation sake (cheap and available). If anybody tries any of these ideas, post it for the rest of us. Barry W. Doyle
Response:
” Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my ” pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right ” thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has ” happened. ” Appreaciate any advice, ” John Don’t use buckshot, it will scatter and put holes in your pond. A solid slug would be better suited. — /_ To Hit Your Target ___
Response:
Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david
I don’t know where you are, but here in Beautiful BC if they catch you shooting a raccoon you will be relocated to HerMajestiesPrisons. Probably the only effective way to keep raccoons out of ponds is to have an electric fence two strands 2″ apart 4-6″ high all around the pond. Also make your pond straight sided at the edges with a 3-4′ drop and no marginal plants. Other than that the only other option is don’t have a pond. — Gideon Singer “It’s A Magical World, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy… …Let’s Go Exploring !” Calvin’s Last Words 12/31/95 Where do you want to Warp today?
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david I don’t know where you are, but here in Beautiful BC if they catch you shooting a raccoon you will be relocated to HerMajestiesPrisons. Probably the only effective way to keep raccoons out of ponds is to have an electric fence two strands 2″ apart 4-6″ high all around the pond. Also make your pond straight sided at the edges with a 3-4′ drop and no marginal plants. Other than that the only other option is don’t have a pond. — Gideon Singer “It’s A Magical World, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy… …Let’s Go Exploring !” Calvin’s Last Words 12/31/95 Where do you want to Warp today?I was shocked at the racoon law you quoted. What is
the reason? Its honestly the first time Ive ever heard of this. Terri
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david I don’t know where you are, but here in Beautiful BC if they catch you shooting a raccoon you will be relocated to HerMajestiesPrisons. Probably the only effective way to keep raccoons out of ponds is to have an electric fence two strands 2″ apart 4-6″ high all around the pond. Also make your pond straight sided at the edges with a 3-4′ drop and no marginal plants. Other than that the only other option is don’t have a pond. — Gideon Singer “It’s A Magical World, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy… …Let’s Go Exploring !” Calvin’s Last Words 12/31/95 Where do you want to Warp today?
Gideon OOOOPS, I may have made one of those sweeping generalization. I live just to the south in Olympia,Wa. I had assumed there was an open season sometime on racoons. But maybe not anymore. Besides many urban areas prohibit shooting. And now i remember the guy at the game dept where i borrowed the trap told me OFFICALLY i could do what i wanted whith opposums but i couldn’t kill the racoons. david icon
Response:
I don’t have a raccoons problem and hope I never do. I think that some security lights that are triggered by motion might deter the raccoons. I don’t thing they like lights.
Larry: That type of light doesn’t work. First of all, the motion/heat detector doesn’t seem to activate with an animal as small as a raccoon or a cat. Believe me. I have both raccoons and cats in my yard, and the light doesn’t come on. Secondly, I have found that when there is a ‘coon in my yard and I turn on the outside lights, the little bugger doesn’t budge. Lights don’t scare them. I was at my father-in-law’s place on the weekend. He doesn’t have a pond, but he DOES have a great big old vegetable garden, with six or eight rows of sweet corn just ripening up (raccoon paradise). He ran an extension cord out to the middle of the garden, and plugged in a portable stereo. It’s on a timer to turn on around 8:30 every night. Some all-news channel with listeners calling in. His brother next door lost all his corn to the coons. Dad hasn’t lost any. Moral of the story: raccoons are scared of the human voice. Jo Anne — There’s no point in being a woman if you have to be specific as well. Charlotte Bingham
Response:
That type of light doesn’t work. First of all, the motion/heat detector doesn’t seem to activate with an animal as small as a raccoon or a cat. Believe me. I have both raccoons and cats in my yard, and the light doesn’t come on.
Most of the modern ones have settable sensitivity. I have one we call the “cat detector” because that’s all it’s ever detected. . . –
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Actually, I’ve gotten to where it’s almost irritating how often my motion lights come on and off at night cause of raccoons. Doesn’t make squat difference about them being around, they could care less. But the light coming on and off does wake me up. The only Raccoon solution I’ve ever found that appears to consistently work is covering the pond (mines only 6×8) every night with a frame chicken wire covering. A pain in the pond, so to speak, but the raccoons are at least not killing all my lilys like they used to. Dennis Smith – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – That type of light doesn’t work. First of all, the motion/heat detector doesn’t seem to activate with an animal as small as a raccoon or a cat. Believe me. I have both raccoons and cats in my yard, and the light doesn’t come on. Most of the modern ones have settable sensitivity. I have one we call the “cat detector” because that’s all it’s ever detected. . . –
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -If you have some basic electrical ability, you can hook up something that is sensor activated. The sensor lights that many people have can be purchased as sensors separate from the lights. You can then wire any electrical device to that sensor. Lights do not generally scare off raccoons, so don’t bother with that. I suggest you try something that moves, or makes noise. I have been thinking about this because I live in the “boonies”, but haven’t had to come up with something yet. I would probably try some type of alarm horn (short duration) if I don’t mind ticking off the neighbors-they also make them waterproof You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great! There is also something called a deer hammer that I have seen. It requires a little water flow, and usually some bamboo. You suspend a bamboo tube between two posts like so PRE-SLAM: O O O O OX X Y XO Y X O Y X W DURING SLAM: X OOOOOOOOOXOOOOOOW Y X Y X Y X The X’s are the posts, the O’s are the bamboo tube, the W is a weight to make it balance right of center, and the Y’s are the anvil that the hammer slams. Get it balanced so the tube is pointing up left, and start putting water in the left end (the right end is sealed). Once the water fills past the center point, it starts to over balance and dumps the water into the pond. The movement and noise is said to scare deer, so it might work for raccoons. I would try it out of PVC for experimentation sake (cheap and available). If anybody tries any of these ideas, post it for the rest of us. Barry W. Doyle
I use a similar device to prime an *automatic* syphon for my tidal biological filter. Instead of bamboo, I use an old plastic lemonade bottle with a pivot glued to it. I don’t have racoons but it does go with quite a wallop evry few minutes, my experience of possums in Australia suggests they would get used to it very quickly and come to watch it instead of TV! I sold one of my windpumps to a farmer a while ago and he says that the turbine is a superb bird scarer, just a thought, a few pin wheels, noisy, movement… Jim Jim Barr Machine Conversation, Bedfordshire England Best is the enemy of good enough Leaves Rustle….Blades turn….. Water moves
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There is a new motion detecting device on the market that does work for keeping raccoons, dogs and other critters away. Its called a Water Scarecrow. Simply put, it is a motion detector integrated with a pulse-type sprinkler. When the animal’s motion/heat are detected, the thing lets off a 3 sec. spurt of sound and water; then, after 7 seconds, it re-arms and will do it again. It works! (I used it, as well, to ward off Canadian Geese that were wandering in to my koi ponds from the 2+ acre pond I have on the other side of my house–they hated it so, they left altogether!). One problem: the two that I have did not work if they had to be aimed over the water itself: in other words, the motion of the water and temperature differential between land and water made the things go off every 7 seconds. So far, however (6 weeks) the thing is foolproof. Email me if you are interested to learn the manufacturer or mail-order source. They cost in the vicinity of $99.00 and, of course, need to be
Response:
snip You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great! There is also something called a deer hammer that I have seen. It snip Barry W. Doyle
Barry what is a bumble ball? Think the sensor ideal is good & maybe the deer hammer might work. But will the ? discouver no harm from the sound and ignore it? worth a try though david
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I am looking for ways to remove/limit the leech population in my 1/4 acre pond. The pond is 8 years old, clay bottom, 10 feet deep in the middle. This is the first year we have had leeches (probably brought in by ducks, geese or other visitors). Puts a bit of a damper on my skinny dipping. I have just stocked pond with a few large mouth bass and shiners as a first defense. Any other ideas?
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.. there are various medications that warn users to remove their inverts… try finding some like copper sulfate (it does harm plants) that can be used in bulk and will kill the inverts without harming plants or fish… you do know about using salt on them?…. Ingrid – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am looking for ways to remove/limit the leech population in my 1/4 acre pond. The pond is 8 years old, clay bottom, 10 feet deep in the middle. This is the first year we have had leeches (probably brought in by ducks, geese or other visitors). Puts a bit of a damper on my skinny dipping. I have just stocked pond with a few large mouth bass and shiners as a first defense. Any other ideas?
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… I specifically built my pond with vertical sides and deep shelves so that no racoon could fish off my “pier”… other that electric fence, they are too smart… I have had them as pets in the past.. needed a combination lock to keep them in their cage… Ingrid – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ” Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my ” pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right ” thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has ” happened. ” Appreaciate any advice, ” John Don’t use buckshot, it will scatter and put holes in your pond. A solid slug would be better suited. — /_ To Hit Your Target ___
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We have a much smaller pond than yours and I’m afraid that once you have leeches, it’s very difficult to get rid of them. We did limit them by adding salt to our pond. It would take a huge amount of salt in one of your size, though. We checked with all sorts of “experts” but could never find out what predator in the food chain actually would eat and/or kill the leeches. We’ve talked to state game officers and were told that they have had to close some lake front beaches because of the leeches and there wasn’t any real effective way of getting rid of them. Good luck. Lenny (Pittsburgh, PA area) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am looking for ways to remove/limit the leech population in my 1/4 acre pond. The pond is 8 years old, clay bottom, 10 feet deep in the middle. This is the first year we have had leeches (probably brought in by ducks, geese or other visitors). Puts a bit of a damper on my skinny dipping. I have just stocked pond with a few large mouth bass and shiners as a first defense. Any other ideas?
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A Friend of ours strung a low (about 8″ high) electric fence around his pond. It seems to work.
Response:
A Friend of ours strung a low (about 8″ high) electric fence around his pond. It seems to work.
# AMTEK has a product called Critter Gitter available at Petco for $80. They may even have a web page, I never checked. It has a wide vision motion detector [I think 180 in front plus down-in-front] that operates on a 9v battery. It detects motion/heat so you don’t have to worry about plants blowing in the breeze and it lets fly with a 120 dB siren with flashing lights. The sounds (there are 3 or 4) are different each time it resets. The detection range is something like 40′. I had so many hassles w/ raccoons [they were eating more expensive dinners than I was!!] that when I went into Petco and saw the raccoon on the packaging I didn’t even ask about the price. I’ve only have it for a few days but I haven’t had any nighttime guests/pests. also, it is about the size of a small transistor radio! If you need more info, just whistle. Phred
Response:
If you have some basic electrical ability, you can hook up something that is sensor activated. The sensor lights that many people have can be purchased as sensors separate from the lights. You can then wire any electrical device to that sensor. Lights do not generally scare off raccoons, so don’t bother with that. I suggest you try something that moves, or makes noise. I have been thinking about this because I live in the “boonies”, but haven’t had to come up with something yet. I would probably try some type of alarm horn (short duration) if I don’t mind ticking off the neighbors-they also make them waterproof You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great!
AMTEK makes a 120 dB sensor device w/ flashing lights for $80 at Petco which is about the size of a small transistor radio and operates off a 9v battery. Check it out, so much easier and esthetic than netting, electric fences, buckshot, etc. Phred
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Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John
Response:
Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John
This is an ongoing problem with many on this group. Unfortunately this is what racoons DO… it comes naturally. I’ve managed to deter them with a large dog. Our neighbors regularly have back porch racoon visitors who eat the food they put out for the stray cats. — Signed – Kellie My Karma ran over my Dogma. It was a Catastrophe. Now my Dogma’s Dead and my Karma’s out of alignment.
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I don’t have a raccoons problem and hope I never do. I think that some security lights that are triggered by motion might deter the raccoons. I don’t thing they like lights. — Larry Fitzpatrick http://www2.tpa.net/~lmlm – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John This is an ongoing problem with many on this group. Unfortunately this is what racoons DO… it comes naturally. I’ve managed to deter them with a large dog. Our neighbors regularly have back porch racoon visitors who eat the food they put out for the stray cats. — Signed – Kellie My Karma ran over my Dogma. It was a Catastrophe. Now my Dogma’s Dead and my Karma’s out of alignment.
Response:
Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. Appreaciate any advice, John
You can’t outsmart raccoons, but you can get them into a Hav-A-Hart trap and relocate the little suckers. — Ted Lissauer 2204 Wildflower Trail Fisherville, KY 40023 Phone (502) 267-8131
Response:
You could try a lectric doggy fence from a feed store but they will probably figure it out. Paul
Response:
You could try a lectric doggy fence from a feed store but they will probably figure it out. Paul
While one of those ‘lectric doggy fences would probably work, attaching the required collar to the ‘coons is an exercise thats left to the readers imagination….
Response:
Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John
Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david
Response:
If you have some basic electrical ability, you can hook up something that is sensor activated. The sensor lights that many people have can be purchased as sensors separate from the lights. You can then wire any electrical device to that sensor. Lights do not generally scare off raccoons, so don’t bother with that. I suggest you try something that moves, or makes noise. I have been thinking about this because I live in the “boonies”, but haven’t had to come up with something yet. I would probably try some type of alarm horn (short duration) if I don’t mind ticking off the neighbors-they also make them waterproof You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great! There is also something called a deer hammer that I have seen. It requires a little water flow, and usually some bamboo. You suspend a bamboo tube between two posts like so PRE-SLAM: O O O O OX X Y XO Y X O Y X W DURING SLAM: X OOOOOOOOOXOOOOOOW Y X Y X Y X The X’s are the posts, the O’s are the bamboo tube, the W is a weight to make it balance right of center, and the Y’s are the anvil that the hammer slams. Get it balanced so the tube is pointing up left, and start putting water in the left end (the right end is sealed). Once the water fills past the center point, it starts to over balance and dumps the water into the pond. The movement and noise is said to scare deer, so it might work for raccoons. I would try it out of PVC for experimentation sake (cheap and available). If anybody tries any of these ideas, post it for the rest of us. Barry W. Doyle
Response:
” Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my ” pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right ” thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has ” happened. ” Appreaciate any advice, ” John Don’t use buckshot, it will scatter and put holes in your pond. A solid slug would be better suited. — /_ To Hit Your Target ___
Response:
Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david
I don’t know where you are, but here in Beautiful BC if they catch you shooting a raccoon you will be relocated to HerMajestiesPrisons. Probably the only effective way to keep raccoons out of ponds is to have an electric fence two strands 2″ apart 4-6″ high all around the pond. Also make your pond straight sided at the edges with a 3-4′ drop and no marginal plants. Other than that the only other option is don’t have a pond. — Gideon Singer “It’s A Magical World, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy… …Let’s Go Exploring !” Calvin’s Last Words 12/31/95 Where do you want to Warp today?
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david I don’t know where you are, but here in Beautiful BC if they catch you shooting a raccoon you will be relocated to HerMajestiesPrisons. Probably the only effective way to keep raccoons out of ponds is to have an electric fence two strands 2″ apart 4-6″ high all around the pond. Also make your pond straight sided at the edges with a 3-4′ drop and no marginal plants. Other than that the only other option is don’t have a pond. — Gideon Singer “It’s A Magical World, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy… …Let’s Go Exploring !” Calvin’s Last Words 12/31/95 Where do you want to Warp today?I was shocked at the racoon law you quoted. What is
the reason? Its honestly the first time Ive ever heard of this. Terri
Response:
- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has happened. Appreaciate any advice, John Well John at least you can shoot the racoons. There is no open season on Herons! david I don’t know where you are, but here in Beautiful BC if they catch you shooting a raccoon you will be relocated to HerMajestiesPrisons. Probably the only effective way to keep raccoons out of ponds is to have an electric fence two strands 2″ apart 4-6″ high all around the pond. Also make your pond straight sided at the edges with a 3-4′ drop and no marginal plants. Other than that the only other option is don’t have a pond. — Gideon Singer “It’s A Magical World, Hobbes, Ol’ Buddy… …Let’s Go Exploring !” Calvin’s Last Words 12/31/95 Where do you want to Warp today?
Gideon OOOOPS, I may have made one of those sweeping generalization. I live just to the south in Olympia,Wa. I had assumed there was an open season sometime on racoons. But maybe not anymore. Besides many urban areas prohibit shooting. And now i remember the guy at the game dept where i borrowed the trap told me OFFICALLY i could do what i wanted whith opposums but i couldn’t kill the racoons. david icon
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I don’t have a raccoons problem and hope I never do. I think that some security lights that are triggered by motion might deter the raccoons. I don’t thing they like lights.
Larry: That type of light doesn’t work. First of all, the motion/heat detector doesn’t seem to activate with an animal as small as a raccoon or a cat. Believe me. I have both raccoons and cats in my yard, and the light doesn’t come on. Secondly, I have found that when there is a ‘coon in my yard and I turn on the outside lights, the little bugger doesn’t budge. Lights don’t scare them. I was at my father-in-law’s place on the weekend. He doesn’t have a pond, but he DOES have a great big old vegetable garden, with six or eight rows of sweet corn just ripening up (raccoon paradise). He ran an extension cord out to the middle of the garden, and plugged in a portable stereo. It’s on a timer to turn on around 8:30 every night. Some all-news channel with listeners calling in. His brother next door lost all his corn to the coons. Dad hasn’t lost any. Moral of the story: raccoons are scared of the human voice. Jo Anne — There’s no point in being a woman if you have to be specific as well. Charlotte Bingham
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That type of light doesn’t work. First of all, the motion/heat detector doesn’t seem to activate with an animal as small as a raccoon or a cat. Believe me. I have both raccoons and cats in my yard, and the light doesn’t come on.
Most of the modern ones have settable sensitivity. I have one we call the “cat detector” because that’s all it’s ever detected. . . –
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Actually, I’ve gotten to where it’s almost irritating how often my motion lights come on and off at night cause of raccoons. Doesn’t make squat difference about them being around, they could care less. But the light coming on and off does wake me up. The only Raccoon solution I’ve ever found that appears to consistently work is covering the pond (mines only 6×8) every night with a frame chicken wire covering. A pain in the pond, so to speak, but the raccoons are at least not killing all my lilys like they used to. Dennis Smith – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – That type of light doesn’t work. First of all, the motion/heat detector doesn’t seem to activate with an animal as small as a raccoon or a cat. Believe me. I have both raccoons and cats in my yard, and the light doesn’t come on. Most of the modern ones have settable sensitivity. I have one we call the “cat detector” because that’s all it’s ever detected. . . –
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- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -If you have some basic electrical ability, you can hook up something that is sensor activated. The sensor lights that many people have can be purchased as sensors separate from the lights. You can then wire any electrical device to that sensor. Lights do not generally scare off raccoons, so don’t bother with that. I suggest you try something that moves, or makes noise. I have been thinking about this because I live in the “boonies”, but haven’t had to come up with something yet. I would probably try some type of alarm horn (short duration) if I don’t mind ticking off the neighbors-they also make them waterproof You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great! There is also something called a deer hammer that I have seen. It requires a little water flow, and usually some bamboo. You suspend a bamboo tube between two posts like so PRE-SLAM: O O O O OX X Y XO Y X O Y X W DURING SLAM: X OOOOOOOOOXOOOOOOW Y X Y X Y X The X’s are the posts, the O’s are the bamboo tube, the W is a weight to make it balance right of center, and the Y’s are the anvil that the hammer slams. Get it balanced so the tube is pointing up left, and start putting water in the left end (the right end is sealed). Once the water fills past the center point, it starts to over balance and dumps the water into the pond. The movement and noise is said to scare deer, so it might work for raccoons. I would try it out of PVC for experimentation sake (cheap and available). If anybody tries any of these ideas, post it for the rest of us. Barry W. Doyle
I use a similar device to prime an *automatic* syphon for my tidal biological filter. Instead of bamboo, I use an old plastic lemonade bottle with a pivot glued to it. I don’t have racoons but it does go with quite a wallop evry few minutes, my experience of possums in Australia suggests they would get used to it very quickly and come to watch it instead of TV! I sold one of my windpumps to a farmer a while ago and he says that the turbine is a superb bird scarer, just a thought, a few pin wheels, noisy, movement… Jim Jim Barr Machine Conversation, Bedfordshire England Best is the enemy of good enough Leaves Rustle….Blades turn….. Water moves
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There is a new motion detecting device on the market that does work for keeping raccoons, dogs and other critters away. Its called a Water Scarecrow. Simply put, it is a motion detector integrated with a pulse-type sprinkler. When the animal’s motion/heat are detected, the thing lets off a 3 sec. spurt of sound and water; then, after 7 seconds, it re-arms and will do it again. It works! (I used it, as well, to ward off Canadian Geese that were wandering in to my koi ponds from the 2+ acre pond I have on the other side of my house–they hated it so, they left altogether!). One problem: the two that I have did not work if they had to be aimed over the water itself: in other words, the motion of the water and temperature differential between land and water made the things go off every 7 seconds. So far, however (6 weeks) the thing is foolproof. Email me if you are interested to learn the manufacturer or mail-order source. They cost in the vicinity of $99.00 and, of course, need to be
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snip You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great! There is also something called a deer hammer that I have seen. It snip Barry W. Doyle
Barry what is a bumble ball? Think the sensor ideal is good & maybe the deer hammer might work. But will the ? discouver no harm from the sound and ignore it? worth a try though david
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I am looking for ways to remove/limit the leech population in my 1/4 acre pond. The pond is 8 years old, clay bottom, 10 feet deep in the middle. This is the first year we have had leeches (probably brought in by ducks, geese or other visitors). Puts a bit of a damper on my skinny dipping. I have just stocked pond with a few large mouth bass and shiners as a first defense. Any other ideas?
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.. there are various medications that warn users to remove their inverts… try finding some like copper sulfate (it does harm plants) that can be used in bulk and will kill the inverts without harming plants or fish… you do know about using salt on them?…. Ingrid – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am looking for ways to remove/limit the leech population in my 1/4 acre pond. The pond is 8 years old, clay bottom, 10 feet deep in the middle. This is the first year we have had leeches (probably brought in by ducks, geese or other visitors). Puts a bit of a damper on my skinny dipping. I have just stocked pond with a few large mouth bass and shiners as a first defense. Any other ideas?
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… I specifically built my pond with vertical sides and deep shelves so that no racoon could fish off my “pier”… other that electric fence, they are too smart… I have had them as pets in the past.. needed a combination lock to keep them in their cage… Ingrid – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – ” Other than buckshot, is there an effective way to keep racoons out of my ” pond. I had a screen on top, weighted down, but the bastards riped right ” thru the screen and eat all my fish. This is the second time this has ” happened. ” Appreaciate any advice, ” John Don’t use buckshot, it will scatter and put holes in your pond. A solid slug would be better suited. — /_ To Hit Your Target ___
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We have a much smaller pond than yours and I’m afraid that once you have leeches, it’s very difficult to get rid of them. We did limit them by adding salt to our pond. It would take a huge amount of salt in one of your size, though. We checked with all sorts of “experts” but could never find out what predator in the food chain actually would eat and/or kill the leeches. We’ve talked to state game officers and were told that they have had to close some lake front beaches because of the leeches and there wasn’t any real effective way of getting rid of them. Good luck. Lenny (Pittsburgh, PA area) – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I am looking for ways to remove/limit the leech population in my 1/4 acre pond. The pond is 8 years old, clay bottom, 10 feet deep in the middle. This is the first year we have had leeches (probably brought in by ducks, geese or other visitors). Puts a bit of a damper on my skinny dipping. I have just stocked pond with a few large mouth bass and shiners as a first defense. Any other ideas?
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A Friend of ours strung a low (about 8″ high) electric fence around his pond. It seems to work.
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A Friend of ours strung a low (about 8″ high) electric fence around his pond. It seems to work.
# AMTEK has a product called Critter Gitter available at Petco for $80. They may even have a web page, I never checked. It has a wide vision motion detector [I think 180 in front plus down-in-front] that operates on a 9v battery. It detects motion/heat so you don’t have to worry about plants blowing in the breeze and it lets fly with a 120 dB siren with flashing lights. The sounds (there are 3 or 4) are different each time it resets. The detection range is something like 40′. I had so many hassles w/ raccoons [they were eating more expensive dinners than I was!!] that when I went into Petco and saw the raccoon on the packaging I didn’t even ask about the price. I’ve only have it for a few days but I haven’t had any nighttime guests/pests. also, it is about the size of a small transistor radio! If you need more info, just whistle. Phred
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If you have some basic electrical ability, you can hook up something that is sensor activated. The sensor lights that many people have can be purchased as sensors separate from the lights. You can then wire any electrical device to that sensor. Lights do not generally scare off raccoons, so don’t bother with that. I suggest you try something that moves, or makes noise. I have been thinking about this because I live in the “boonies”, but haven’t had to come up with something yet. I would probably try some type of alarm horn (short duration) if I don’t mind ticking off the neighbors-they also make them waterproof You might want to try a fan or something that moves – I wish I could hook up a “bumble ball” to this rig…that would be great!
AMTEK makes a 120 dB sensor device w/ flashing lights for $80 at Petco which is about the size of a small transistor radio and operates off a 9v battery. Check it out, so much easier and esthetic than netting, electric fences, buckshot, etc. Phred
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