Need Help Racoons and Sweet Corn!

[aokpops]

For 2 years my sweet corn patch got raided. I put up a small electric fence. The volts was about 2000 maybe I could touch it and feel nothing. I could put bare skin on the ground and touch the wire and feel a little poke. My patch is like 30 x 30 about 900 square feet I bought a 5 mile electric fence and soak the ground helpep maybe a little.

 

[Mad Professor]

Lead poisoning.

I chased the whole lot up a tree and .22 LR got them all.

Something is wrong with your fence.

 

[wildwes]

Sounds like a better fence charger would help, and better grounding. Depending on your soil, driving a ground rod in 6-8 feet can help.
I like 220 conibear traps for coons- put them in a bucket set with a can of sardines, or a can of wet cat food for bait and I can have a coon in every trap almost every night. Conibears will get your pet cats and dogs too though if you're not careful, and aren't legal in all states.

 

[Abbeville TSI]

A borrowed Havahart trap and 22 shorts fixed my raccoon problem...

 

[Seachaser]

Trapping. My raccoons would never go in a live trap. They make a dog proof Trap. Bait with marshmallows.

 

[aokpops]

I bought a new 2joul 50 mile charger. The old one was .02 joul 5 mile when check with a meter was 2000 volts on a good day. I tested the new with a volt meter went off the charts the meter only went to 7000 volts. Respect the fence.

 

[esshup]

I use the Z-Traps Dog Proof Traps. (DP Traps) I baited some with the commercial fish food pellets I use, and they worked great. Used some mini-marshmallows and had two of the traps set off but nothing caught. You could use cat or dog food too in the DP traps. They make a cover that goes over the trap to prevent the bait from getting wet, the coons take it off and still get caught. When the coons were bothering the neighbors chickens I set 5 DP traps, one live trap. I had 4 coons waiting for me in the morning two days in a row.

I recently had trail cam pics of coons keeping the deer away from the feeder, and one learned how to climb the leg to get food out. 8 DP traps caught 6 coon the first night. I re-set them today, after being gone for a few days and not setting the traps.

The coons can go to feed the vultures.

 

[sean donato]

Trap and lead poison.... 22mag drops them quick, I prefer conibear traps but the dog proof ones work pretty decent too and the neighbor doesn't ask if you've seen his stupid outdoor cat recently when you use them.... (he feeds the strays and one of them was using my wife's flower beds as litter box.)

 

[ATpro]

DP Traps works good, use them all the time. Got the soup can DP Traps, Z-Traps Dog type Proof Traps of different manufactures, but the best DP I have used is the Alcatraz DP. it's a push trigger not a pull trigger.

 

[Bill G]

I am amazed at the number of folks that have talked about using a 220. How many of you folks every got a unintended catch?

 

[sean donato]

I don't cry when a stray cat gets snagged, if that's what you mean. also don't have anything set if there isn't an issue.

 

[echomeister]

plant enough for you and the coons. It's the only way

 

[wildwes]

I am amazed at the number of folks that have talked about using a 220. How many of you folks every got a unintended catch?

I have gotten cats, possums and coons that weren't my intended quarry at the time. Nothing that I wasn't willing to write off as acceptable loss. I also only set conibears away from the house too though.

 

[Bill G]

Well I have been a trapper my entire life. I grew up trapping . My father and grandfather were both trappers and I learned a ton from them. I have tons of trapping stories but that is not what this thread is about. I will simply say I have never been nor ever will be a fan of conibears on dryland. When you place one you are asking to kill a unintended animal. There is nothing a conibear can do on dryland that a #2 double longspring cannot. I have released many a undesired animal from a #2. Can anyone say the same of a 220?

 

[Bill G]

Now back to the coon in the corn issue. You say your garden is 30x30 so you are looking at needing slightly over 120ft of fence. Go get some good chicken wire and fiberglass fence posts. Stretch is around it, electrify it and be done. The coons will scamper away, you will harvest your corn and the coons will be there to harvest when their fur is good this Fall.

If you want to drop the coin here is a fencer no coon will beat.

https://www.valleyvet.com/ct_detail...M_4k3QKkcwsyvbPi4wsQcxZuOfPqsBIxoCW_8QAvD_BwE

 

[ATpro]

Golden Malrin , just saying, lock up your pets, it's illegal but effective.

 

[northmanlogging]

well... once the sweet corn has dried you'll need equal weight of sugar, a very large barrel, plenty of clean water, and some yeast
Let that kick off for a few days until it stops making a foamy mess anyway.
siphon off the liquid into a stainless pot with a set of condensating apparatus, and cook it as 140-170 deg (3 different heats work good...)
then bottle the clear liquid in what ever glass containers are cheap and plenty full... mason pints and quarts are a good start, though I've seen folks use plastic kerosene jugs....
Oh wait... this is about masked furry bandits, give them a drink too, then share all the cats food, but leave some water out so they can warsh their mitts
OR your electric fence needs a deeper or multiple grounds, with a bigger power unit, and be diligent about keeping weeds away from the line, anything touching said wire will ground it out, weakening the charge.
But mostly share the clear liquid with the masked marauders (there is a few fairly important steps missing... just don't use any lead solder, salt dough for making seals... copper is fine but stainless lasts longer, and make sure everything is clean please)

 

[esshup]

I am amazed at the number of folks that have talked about using a 220. How many of you folks every got a unintended catch?

Never for me.

 

[esshup]

The Z trap DP traps are both push and pull. Between putting them around the neighbors chicken pen and where I store the fish food I am up to 23 this year.

 

[Bill G]

Never for me.

You never got a possum, cat, or dog?