newtonc
Active member
Hello all
I just signed on.
I have been feeding birds for some time.Previous home was on an orchard so I fed many pest birds as well(not by choice).
Moved to North Carolina about a year ago.Great deck overlooking creek and wooded track.Great bird local.
Been feeding birds since we got here with great luck.No pest birds.Cardinals,Gold Finches,Woodpeckers and Humming birds.A few others as well but that's about what I'm getting.Deck is about 20 feet off the ground.And the only draw back is the mess the birds leave behind.So I hose it off a lot.
Until recently all was peaceful in our little reserve.
Recently a raccoon has been climbing up the deck and destroying the peace.Eating feeders and whatever is in them.Dumping out the hummingbird feeders.And...last night he STOLE my sunflower feeder!!It was metal about a foot long.Gone.I searched the property,and it is no where to be found.I have seen him and chased him off a few times now.I would shoot him but there are houses behind us!So that's not an option.And my wife would kill me if I awoke the kids(and her) with gunfire at night!!
I have set up a trap that he has been stealing the food from.I enclosed the back of the cage in cynder blocks this morning.So now he won't be able to reach in through the bars and steal it from the back.Now he has to enter from the front and trigger it and hopefully I'll catch him.
So I don't want to take in the feeders everynight.
I just want the peace back.
And putting up with the raccoon in not an option.
One of us is going.
And I'm aware of all the animal trapping and transporting legalities.
But does anyone have any other solutions to this problem??
Any tip would be helpful.
Thanks
Art
I just signed on.
I have been feeding birds for some time.Previous home was on an orchard so I fed many pest birds as well(not by choice).
Moved to North Carolina about a year ago.Great deck overlooking creek and wooded track.Great bird local.
Been feeding birds since we got here with great luck.No pest birds.Cardinals,Gold Finches,Woodpeckers and Humming birds.A few others as well but that's about what I'm getting.Deck is about 20 feet off the ground.And the only draw back is the mess the birds leave behind.So I hose it off a lot.
Until recently all was peaceful in our little reserve.
Recently a raccoon has been climbing up the deck and destroying the peace.Eating feeders and whatever is in them.Dumping out the hummingbird feeders.And...last night he STOLE my sunflower feeder!!It was metal about a foot long.Gone.I searched the property,and it is no where to be found.I have seen him and chased him off a few times now.I would shoot him but there are houses behind us!So that's not an option.And my wife would kill me if I awoke the kids(and her) with gunfire at night!!
I have set up a trap that he has been stealing the food from.I enclosed the back of the cage in cynder blocks this morning.So now he won't be able to reach in through the bars and steal it from the back.Now he has to enter from the front and trigger it and hopefully I'll catch him.
So I don't want to take in the feeders everynight.
I just want the peace back.
And putting up with the raccoon in not an option.
One of us is going.
And I'm aware of all the animal trapping and transporting legalities.
But does anyone have any other solutions to this problem??
Any tip would be helpful.
Thanks
Art
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