.22 rifle works well! I had a serious problem with racoons 2 years ago. They trashed my pond and ate all the fish, pulled my birdfeeders out of the trees and pulled up plants that i recently planted. Turned out it was 2 male racoons doing all the damage. I put up with this for 3 months then i let my husband shoot them. They can be very destructive!! i have a zero tolerance policy now. I don't like to hurt any wild animals.... but when they get out of control it's the only way to deal with them. I have 1 racoon coming up this summer and emptying the birdfeeders everynite, i greased the trees the feeders are hanging in with vaseline. Now he can't get in the trees. The only other control is a male dog. Hope this helps.