another raccoon question

21 years ago

We live in the country on the edge of a large woods. A raccoon has been coming for a long time to raid the bird feeders and and cat food I happen to leave out.We are pretty sure he/she is now living under our deck,which is very close to the ground. We have found several holes leading there and under the mesh we have around part of it. Here's my question. For those of you familiar with raccoons and their burrowing,can they squeeze through little holes like many other animals? These are not large holes but large enough for a rabbit I"d say if he squished down a lot. I know it isn't a rabbit and my brain says raccoon but those holes seem so little for these masked furballs. I'll tell you this if it's a raccoon he can't be too happy because the radio is blaring away day and night right up against the bottom of the deck and of course the main feeders come in at night now. I put food out in the woods for him and he finds it..doesn't like asparagus though.

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Comments (7)

davek913
21 years ago
I've heard of raccoons getting stuck in someone's cat door, so if the holes are considerably smaller than that, I doubt it. They're pretty limber critters, but it would have to be a hole big enough for them to get their shoulders, ribs and pelvis through.

I've also never heard of them burrowing for shelter, but I'm no expert on that subject. One thing you should do with your mesh after you've determined whether or not someone's set up house, is to set it up so the mesh is sunken into the ground 4-6 inches or so. That would discourage most burrowers. It's a practice I'm sure many people in the forums have used to protect their gardens from raiders.
John_D
21 years ago
I've never heard of raccoons burrowing either. Could you have a woodchuck with an odd taste in housing?
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mwoods
Original Author
21 years ago
I Googled raccoons and burrowing and apparently they do. Whatever is under there is definitely nocturnal. The coon sits right where the holes are and this is the place where he crawls up onto the deck.A holly tree is right there with a bird feeder so I know he is in that place every night. Well,I'm not going to poison him or trap him and relocate him so guess I'll just have to outsmart whatever is under there.
John_D
21 years ago
Maybe he's trying to dig out another [food] animal?
FurryCritterFan
21 years ago
We had some raccoon feces on the deck a couple years ago; raccoons have sinced moved away (after my husband stopped feeding them nuts at nite/and they raided the feeders, took down the suspended suet block). I didn't like the p**p piles they left in areas of the yard and didn't want our dog getting roundworm or catchin' distemper. That's interesting that coons will burrow. Didn't know that either.
jillmcm
21 years ago
Other candidates for smallish holes under the deck - skunk (but you'd have smelled it), wood rat (generally nocturnal), groundhog (not sucha small hole)... I think that raccoons typically take over other animals' burrows, rather than make their own, if they are in a burrow.
cooncafe
21 years ago
i have coons which burrow through the insulation. pull electrical wiring out of socket. and if the head fits the body will follow. i have a 4 by 6 inch cat door and they go in and out at will. and i mean big ones. they also chew through almost anything. raccoons are the most destructive animals to a house which i have ever seen. maybe termites are worst but you don't mind killing them.