I now have the urge to kill.............

[manatee1947]

After watering my garden through all those 110+ heat index days, a series of thunder storms have come through in the last week or so. Unfortunately, the high wind broke over my sweet corn. It was bent over but still attached to the roots. I went out this afternoon to see what can be salvaged and walked down the rows, I found probably 150 + ears on the ground, stripped out and mostly eaten.................Coons,,,,,,,.They wiped out my chickens 6-7 years ago , and since I have not had much to attract them I guess. Meanwhile I have watched "Over the Hedge" with my grandchildren one too many times, one forgets what savage little beasts they are. I have overcome my initial rage (one- because you cannot just go out in the daylight and find the little buggers) and have determined to wait until December. Furbearer season. They are going to pay for my loss with their hides.... literally. Walt Disney, what have you done to us?

[BUGEYE]

How can you do that to Rocky raccoon?

[ironglow]

Coon hunting is a grteat sport..with or without a dog..

[Bugflipper]

You should be ashamed. Hasn't our government taught us anything with the welfare program?  We should be used to giving things away before we get it.
 Luckily I caught my corn after the first night the deer nibbled on it. Put it up and for good measure they ate all my green bean plants the next night.  They will give me a little bit more food than I gave them, so not a bad trade off.

[hillbill]

it is disheartening i know.ma nature has seemed to do everything she can to wreck my garden this year.its been so dry my corn was so worthless the coons would not even bother with it.last year my corn was gettin wrecked by coons. i made a dirt hole set on the edge of the corn, caught 1 coon and it ended.then in the fall i thought i would go ahead and particapate in trapping season again and wipe them out.i set 4 or 5 traps on the creek behind my house.i caught so many kitten coons in a few days i didnt have time to skin them all and pulled my traps.i was astounded at the number of coons there actually was.they were delicous tho!

[Conan The Librarian]

Show no mercy! Take no prisoners! This sounds like a job for subsonic hollow points.

[magooch]

All this talk about shootin coons is stimulatin.

[Hodr]

On the other hand, save and dry damaged corn, in the winter when pelts are prime and food scarce dried corn can bring a coon into a trap..
 
Hodr

[Mohawk]

Seeing how the drought is a record one, I tend to give a little latitude to the critters. In low times, we all deserve a pass. 

[Dee]

I'd give'em a pass too. Pass the coon please, and the biscuits too.

[ratdog]

i would give them 12 guage number 4 buck it works good.or a good bunch of coyote traps .dig a few holes around like ditch banks place a chicken egg back in the hole put trap in front of hole partially covered.steak chain to re-bar or fence .you can catch foxes coons cats skunks easy the skunks are real fun to get out of traps.you might catch the neighbors cat like i did.

[blind ear]

Yep, Manatee, a food tray hung on the side of a tree in front of a window with a comfortable chair and a table to rest on. You can get even in a hurry. A good pellet gun will do the job or 22 shorts in necessary. I had a cleanin out 2 years ago and the coon numbers arn't back to troublesome levels yet. Have a fine crop of pears, that is what got me riled at um, thay ate 3 trees full of pears.   (It is time for them to find me again) ear

[guzzijohn]

At least you had some corn. We have been so dry that my whole corn crop was three ears that we got and I saw two cobs that the coons got. We watered daily but the stalks never got over about three feet tall. Better luck next year.
GuzziJohn

[LanceR]

I don't know what the trapping laws are where you live or whether your laws allow you to trap critters to protect your crops but if you do an internet search for "dog proof coon trap" you will find several options for traps that will catch and hold a coon but which you don't have to worry about catching the neighbors pooch in.  Dogs won't put their paws into the trap but a coon will since he can grasp things and pull them out of holes  Make sure you use a hefty stake to secure the trap.  Coons can dig and pull with the best of them.

The dog proof traps work a lot better on trap shy coons than box style live traps and you don't need to do the same kind of staging a traditional trap set needs. 

#4 buck is a whole lot bigger than you need for coons and has more safety issues than you need to have.  Depending on the choke and distance anything from #2 to #6 shot will get the job done.  For 35 yards or less #4 shot works for me through a full or modified choke without too much ricochet worry or worry about a pellet carrying 300 yards to the neighbor's place.

Lance

[DDZ]

The best coon medicine for keeping coons out of a sweet corn patch is fly bait. You can buy it at Agway. You just sprinkle some of it in a pan, pour in some grape soda, and set the pan or pans around the sweet corn patch. They love it, and generally they won't make it more than twenty feet from the pan. Don't let your dogs drink it, or anything else that has a sweet tooth.     

[highwayman]

i have a 15''x 15''x 42'' live trap that takes care of coons. i get a list at the start of winter time of people who want them and tell them to be ready.

[LanceR]

The best coon medicine for keeping coons out of a sweet corn patch is fly bait. You can buy it at Agway. You just sprinkle some of it in a pan, pour in some grape soda, and set the pan or pans around the sweet corn patch. They love it, and generally they won't make it more than twenty feet from the pan. Don't let your dogs drink it, or anything else that has a sweet tooth.   

The three most important things to keep in mind when trapping or poisoning animals are the target species, the target species and the target species.

Using something as indiscriminate as poisoned water is asking for problems, especially since we are talking about a kitchen garden.  You would be taking an awfully big chance of killing a family pet or domestic animal and the indiscriminate killing of wildlife is unlawful in every state.  Using a live trap, particularly one that specifically targets the species, is far the better idea. 

In a litigious society where folks can become millionaires by suing others at the drop of a hat the use of an uncontrolled poison would also be asking for a law suit to go with the potential criminal record.

Lance

[DDZ]

Live Trap??? I'm not talking about a few coons, where you set out a few traps and your problem is gone. Anyway after you live trap them, do you let them go, kill them, or drive them down the road and let them go so they can eat the other guys sweet corn?
When there are a large number of coons just waiting until your sweetcorn ripens enough to eat it, by the time you live trap them, you can kiss your sweetcorn goodbye. Unless you really don't care if all your costs and labor growing sweetcorn amounts to nothing. 
If someone set out poison for coons and let their pets get to it, they either don't care about their pets or they aren't to bright.

Trapping in the fall can remove a few coons, but it sure isn't going to save your sweetcorn in mid summer. There will always be coons to replace the ones that are removed. Raccoons are like small bears. They will eat just about anything, and they will travel a long way to find a sweetcorn patch. So some people that grow corn have a choice to make. Don't grow corn at all. Grow corn, and keep the coons from destroying it, or grow corn to feed a herd of coons. If I grew corn I know what the choice would be. 

[gr8ful]

I recomend coni-bears set in a square bucket with some marshmallow fluff smeared on the back of the bucket, coons check in but they dont check out, but if there are dogs around go with a Dukes DP(dog proof) they catch pretty good and the only by-catch I have had was a rat.