shocking solution

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Let's call this the "John Randle sure fire way of keeping raccoons and/or squirrels out of your birdfeeder"

John writes,"The raccoons were getting so bold as to tear the cardinal ring off the feeder when they would climb the shepherd's hook and pull the feeder to them. So, what you now see half way up the shepherd's hook is a 15-inch section of black hose that has been split length wise so that it would slide over the metal shepherd's hook.

"I then used black electrical tape to cover the slit and then proceeded to wrap a 12-inch x 6-inch section off aluminum window screen tightly around the rubber hose and then secured the top and bottom with metal hose clamps. So you might ask, how is a 12-inch section of window screen going to stop raccoons, etc. from climbing the pole?

"If you zoom in on the bottom clamp you will see an insulated black wire (14 gauge stranded) that runs up from the bottom of the pole and slips under the clamp. The other end of the wire is attached to my Fi-Shock electric fence controller. As the animal (squirrel or raccoon or possum) climbs up the bare metal pole (which is grounded) and the front legs make the transition from bare metal pole to the wire screen they receive a strong suggestion that they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. The device has no effect on birds that may land on the screen."

The photo above shows the obligatory TN OSHA warning ... it is a good thing that raccoons can't read (yet)!"

The raccoon gets a mild shock, certainly enough to make him want to leave the area and a foiled raccoon never looks happy.

For more about the problem with raccoons in our backyards visit the farragutpress.







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rah-coonus wet

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Mid-morning and damp. Rain had fallen off and on all night. A last, slow drizzle was easing up and the clouds beginning to lift when I encountered the raccoon grooming her wet fur. Although she was 30 to 40 feet above the ground, I was upslope, which put us on the same level. Eye to eye, so to speak. But she paid me no mind and continued her morning cleanup.

As a general rule, raccoons are nocturnal. But having said that, you are apt to see them out and about during daylight in May and June.

Female raccoons birth their young in hollow trees high off the ground. At this time of the year they need extra nutrients and have to forage more often, even during the day, even in the rain with wet fur.

- Photo taken on mountain overlooking Gatlinburg, Tennessee

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