I thought the raccoons had moved on, but a few days ago, they decimated my water hyacinths. And just now, in the middle of the day, I have one in my maple tree.
I didn’t think they came out during the day. Aren’t raccoons nocturnal? As of right now, I still have all of my fish, but I’m worried. My pond isn’t deep enough to protect them from raccoons.
July 17th, 2006 at 6:15 am
Not to alarm you, but daytime roaming raccoons can be a sign that they are rabid. Be careful with you and your kids!
July 17th, 2006 at 6:18 am
I’d call critter control!!!!! We sometimes heve raccoons too, and boy are they mean, and messy.
July 17th, 2006 at 6:43 am
I agree – call critter control. They are usually nocturnal and they do sometimes carry nasty diseases – I don’t intend to scare you – but I do have a healthy respect for raccoons seen during the day because we had a rabid one here a few years ago. Better be safe. I’m not sure you have to worry about rabies out there (we’re on the east coast) and it could just be they are thirsty, but your animal control officer should know more about their behavior.
July 17th, 2006 at 8:10 am
Chickenwire around the edges of a pond can be effective at deterring Racoons. We have a barrel pond and stapled the chickenwire around the edge with sharp bits aimed up. Haven’t lost a fish since.
July 17th, 2006 at 8:58 am
My parents have a raccoon that is often seen in the daytime. It has been hanging out in their area (they live just north of Seattle) for quite a while with few problems. However, asking a specialist about it sounds like a good idea. Let us all know what you find out! 🙂
July 17th, 2006 at 9:08 am
Poor thing looks so inocent up there in the tree. I hope he isn’t a problem. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
July 17th, 2006 at 10:51 am
It may be time to call animal control…
July 17th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
My daughter had one playing in her pond the other night. She was so relieved when all of her cats got home … but not until 2 am… she was worried sick until then. So far,no problems although one was playing on her front porch several months before that!
July 18th, 2006 at 5:35 am
The picture you made reminds me of one a friend of mine took last year while we stayed at a campsite here in Germany. Those racoons were not so nocturnal either… Here is the link to my post http://journal-of-a-mouse.blogspot.com/2005/07/first-picture.html
July 18th, 2006 at 9:01 am
The look on his furry face tells me it is personal. Have you done something to offend raccoons recently?
July 19th, 2006 at 11:21 am
I agree, watch out! We had two ducks a few years back. Every night I would march them into a wire cage and lock it, so the raccoons wouldn’t get them overnight. One morning, I sent my youngest out to unlock the cage to let the ducks out, and he came back in tears. There was only one duck left in the locked cage. Bits of the other remained. The raccoons had killed the other one and eaten it while it was still inside the locked wire cage! Raccoons also attacked and killed a puppy that my daughter had taken out for a late night bathroom break. Be Careful!!
July 20th, 2006 at 3:25 am
Perhaps an electric fence? Cheap, easy to install and will keep everyone out of the pond!!!
HA HA