I also have issues with these creatures.

Last year they did incredible damage to my ponds, almost destroyed one of them getting to the fish.

I live in Montgomery County, Maryland (next to D.C.). The state considers all raccoons rabid. When I called the humane society, they said if trapped, raccoons would be brought in and destroyed, not something I'm fond of.

My vet told me to call county extension office. I did this, and person made many good points. If raccoons have a food supply, they will continue to go back to it. There is little if anything you can do to deter them (I tried putting chicken wire over my ponds, weighing it down with heavy blocks and they still got the fish).

Another ceo point. Raccoons are nocturnal. If you see one during the day, there is a problem. If they don't run away from you, there is a problem (rabies?).

Since I and you have numerous raccoons, wonderful habitat, point was made that we probably will have to live with them. Not something I wanted to hear, but it sort of makes sense.

I am very concerned because I have three large dogs. They are never left outside much unsupervised, never when it's dark, but I really am somewhat frightened about the rabies issue.

Good luck!

SG

SG, thanks... I guess I have decided we have to "live with" (after all, it's their world, too, and I love being so close to nature) -- I'm just hoping I figure out a way to live with them that means I can also keep them from destroying planters! :) I didn't mind the holes in the soil too much but when the plants started landing on the ground and the rhodie was tipped over and lost a lot of buds, I decided it was time to look for better solutions.

I haven't seen them during the day, but we know they come at night to raid our suet feeder when we forget to bring it in (most nights we remember). I googled Ohio raccoons and found a bit of information -- because the populations have increased so much, the incidence of rabies is much higher than it used to be, around 35% here. That statistic surprised me so I'm glad you brought up the issue. It doesn't mean the raccoons are actually rabid, just that they carry the disease (not good news for dogs and other animals, of course).

I doubt that all raccoons in your area are rabid but it sounds like the state isn't taking any chances. If you supervise your dogs I don't think you need to worry. Raccoons are going to hightail it out of there if they hear/see your dogs, and shouldn't attack unless provoked or cornered, so you should be ok. I lived with raccoons on my property in Indiana for several years when I had a dog and cats and never had problems -- well, no problems with my pets -- there was the HUGE hole they tore in my roof one year, the darned critters!! Like you, I supervised my dog, and I eventually stopped letting my cats out, but the raccoons didn't want anything to do with any of us during the day. They were where ever they slept and wishing we would go away, no doubt! :)

It certainly is a complex issue, though, isn't it? I suspect the problem will get worse as we continue to invade natural areas that force animals into smaller and tighter communities.

Meanwhile, I'm going to go to the river bed for larger rocks to prop around pots so they can't be tipped over, and maybe I'll try a thicker layer of gravel on the soil of my pots. Any other ideas, anyone?

I'm against trapping -- it temporarily resolves the problem, but nature fills a vacuum, and other raccoons will soon arrive to take the place of the trapped and moved one -- and sometimes moving an animal to a new location results in its death because the animal is plunged into a new area that it isn't familiar with, and it may have problems with competition and predators. And if it's done at the wrong time of year, mothers can be removed from their babies. I know, the populations are high, but still, for me, I just don't like to contribute to that kind of thing.

I'm also hoping that as summer wears on this critter or critters will lose interest and not be so busy in my pots. Hope springs eternal! :)

We live in the woods with a well establish raccoon population and hundreds of pots of ornamental plants, plus an extensive in the ground garden. I learned years ago to live with raccoons you must not attract them to your plants. No food of any kind can be left outside. No fish products of any kind, such as fish emulsion fertilizers can be used or even be stored. They broke into my garden shed to get a plastic bottle of fish fertilizer, puncturing the plastic with their teeth. Al

Coons just dont like pepper, so just put a goog sprinkle of pepper on the soil in your pots about dark and next A.M. see if it doesnt make him go somewhere else to dig. Enough pepper in the right place will send most any animal on his way to dig.

I am so desperate, I am going to try putting pepper in my soil around one of my ponds. Thanks for the suggestion!!

SG

Pepper sounds like a great idea! Do you know if it does anything to the taste of the plants you put it on? We're growing herbs and will be growing a tomato plant or two... and while I like to season my food, I don't think I want it to come off the vine pre-seasoned. :) Thanks!

Are you sure it isn't skunks? They dig for grubs. I have both coons and skunks and they are both destructive. I have my best luck with spraying them with a hose. My spouse bought something that sprays water from the hose when motion is detected by a motion detector. It's helping but I have to spray them on my deck with a hand held hose. It's tricky when there are skunks because you don't want to make them spray!

Also, if raccoons have a source of food in the day time (ie. I feed the Feral Cats) they become daytime visitors and it does NOT mean they are rabid in that case.

When i fed cats outside i never saw a daytime raccoon only the night time bandits and i never had them go after the potted plants only the cat food and my water trough that had tadpoles in it.