Una wrote:
Racoons are very smart. My FIL has an ongoing battle with them. He uses
a baited small animal live trap, and keeps needing to re-engineer the
trap because the racoons figure out how to release the catch and escape
from it.

If, of course, they were really, really smart perhaps they wouldn't get
themselves _in_ the trap to begin with...

--

Cheri wrote:

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 17:24:30 GMT, "JoeSpareBedroom"
wrote:

"Dan_Musicant" wrote in message
. ..
On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:17:59 -0500, Norminn

wrote:

:Get a humane trap from animal control. Decide what to do with
the
:animal after it is in the trap. My mom used to relocate possum
and
:racoons. You can do it )

OK, I may go this route. Again, I'd have to do it until at least a
day
passes with no footprints. I've never relocated a varmint before,
but I
figure I can locate a free trap here in Berkeley, where we
celebrate the
human conscience... sometimes to a fault.

Dan


Call your animal control department. They may be able to ID the
footprints,
which may enable them to recommend the best bait for the trap. They
may also
loan you a trap.


In many places it is illegal to relocate animals without a special
permit. The fines are pretty high.

In CA it is illegal, and since he's in Berkeley ( I assume CA) so if
you're going to relocate an animal, make sure you don't tell *anyone*
especially in that town where they practically arrest you for being a
Republican. ;-)

Cheri

He could give whatever he traps a bath...

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:21:53 GMT, M Q
wrote:

an_Musicant wrote:
:
: On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:17:59 -0500, Norminn
: wrote:
:
: :Get a humane trap from animal control. Decide what to do with the
: :animal after it is in the trap. My mom used to relocate possum and
: :racoons. You can do it )
:
: OK, I may go this route. Again, I'd have to do it until at least a day
: passes with no footprints. I've never relocated a varmint before, but I
: figure I can locate a free trap here in Berkeley, where we celebrate the
: human conscience... sometimes to a fault.
:
: Dan
:
:
:You may (or may not) want to talk to:
: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/animalservices/
:
:Looks like Bezerkeley city council is opposed to trapping:
: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/animals...0Wildlife.html
:
:You may want to talk to animal control anyways. See what they
:suggest.

I just called them and this is what I was told:

1. They won't go into my attic or crawl space.

2. I can block off the entrance suitably, but leave it open until 11:00
PM. Then close and lock it. He tells me that any animal living under the
house then, be it a racoon, possum, feral cat or even a skunk (it's
obviously not a skunk), would be "out foraging."

Problem solved. I asked him how I would know for sure the animal wasn't
still under the house, and he just wanted me to take his word for it
that it wouldn't be at 11:00 at night. I asked him if I would hear
something if otherwise, and he said yes. He was sounding in a hurry to
end the conversation. Anyway, I guess this is the thing to do.

Dan

On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:21:53 GMT, M Q
wrote:

an_Musicant wrote:
:
: On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 11:17:59 -0500, Norminn
: wrote:
:
: :Get a humane trap from animal control. Decide what to do with the
: :animal after it is in the trap. My mom used to relocate possum and
: :racoons. You can do it )
:
: OK, I may go this route. Again, I'd have to do it until at least a day
: passes with no footprints. I've never relocated a varmint before, but I
: figure I can locate a free trap here in Berkeley, where we celebrate the
: human conscience... sometimes to a fault.
:
: Dan
:
:
:You may (or may not) want to talk to:
: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/animalservices/
:
:Looks like Bezerkeley city council is opposed to trapping:
: http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/animals...0Wildlife.html
:
:You may want to talk to animal control anyways. See what they
:suggest.

I just called them and this is what I was told:

1. They won't go into my attic or crawl space.

2. I can block off the entrance suitably, but leave it open until 11:00
PM. Then close and lock it. He tells me that any animal living under the
house then, be it a racoon, possum, feral cat or even a skunk (it's
obviously not a skunk), would be "out foraging."

Problem solved. I asked him how I would know for sure the animal wasn't
still under the house, and he just wanted me to take his word for it
that it wouldn't be at 11:00 at night. I asked him if I would hear
something if otherwise, and he said yes. He was sounding in a hurry to
end the conversation. Anyway, I guess this is the thing to do.

Dan

There was just a program on TV today - Nat Geo? - about trap/release
possums and racoons. Said they do forage at
night and that after trapping, they release them just at dusk so they go
on their way with minimum distress. The program,
which I didn't watch in it's entirety, was about racoons killing lots of
pet cats. Pet owners outraged and upset, but not
enough to keep pets indoors. Hmmm....

Norminn wrote:
Dan_Musicant wrote:

Years ago I sealed up all the entrances to the crawlspace, but last week
I noticed that one had come off. Argh! I wasn't about to just seal it
back up because I figured that with the cold weather coming on
(Berkeley, CA, not freezing, but quite chilly in the winter), some
animal was probably under the house.
I figure before I seal up (this time with a door and latch), I have to
get whatever animals out of there. I started by putting some strained
dirt over the ground just below the ~18x24" opening, smoothing it
carefully to reveal any footprints of an animal going in or out. Next
day, sure enough, footprints, maybe about the size of a small cat (but I
figure it wouldn't be a cat, but who knows?).

I tried a trick I'd heard of and put an open container with some rocks
in it (to keep it from tipping over) with ammonia and a rag, to disperse
noxious and offensive fumes, right in back of the opening, so the
animal(s) would have to pass the concentrated fumes when going in/out. I
figured that after a day or two the animal(s) would find friendlier
accommodations. After two or so days of this, footprints are still in
evidence.

What can I try to expell the varmint(s)? I figure I can maybe work up a
one way door of some kind, but it seems tricky.
Dan


Get a humane trap from animal control. Decide what to do with the
animal after it is in the trap. My mom used to relocate possum and
racoons. You can do it )

That .22LR semi auto pistol is a real good tool for relocating
possum and racoons.

They never come back.

"jJim McLaughlin" wrote in message
...
Norminn wrote:
Dan_Musicant wrote:

Years ago I sealed up all the entrances to the crawlspace, but last week
I noticed that one had come off. Argh! I wasn't about to just seal it
back up because I figured that with the cold weather coming on
(Berkeley, CA, not freezing, but quite chilly in the winter), some
animal was probably under the house.
I figure before I seal up (this time with a door and latch), I have to
get whatever animals out of there. I started by putting some strained
dirt over the ground just below the ~18x24" opening, smoothing it
carefully to reveal any footprints of an animal going in or out. Next
day, sure enough, footprints, maybe about the size of a small cat (but I
figure it wouldn't be a cat, but who knows?).

I tried a trick I'd heard of and put an open container with some rocks
in it (to keep it from tipping over) with ammonia and a rag, to disperse
noxious and offensive fumes, right in back of the opening, so the
animal(s) would have to pass the concentrated fumes when going in/out. I
figured that after a day or two the animal(s) would find friendlier
accommodations. After two or so days of this, footprints are still in
evidence.

What can I try to expell the varmint(s)? I figure I can maybe work up a
one way door of some kind, but it seems tricky.
Dan

Get a humane trap from animal control. Decide what to do with the animal
after it is in the trap. My mom used to relocate possum and racoons.
You can do it )

That .22LR semi auto pistol is a real good tool for relocating
possum and racoons.


Yeah, but when (not if) you miss, you can end up relocated, and next thing
you know, you're some crack dealer's bitch while you're waiting for your
lawyer to get you out of jail.

On Sat, 22 Dec 2007 09:37:24 -0600, Lar wrote:

an_Musicant wrote:
: On Thu, 06 Dec 2007 20:21:53 GMT, M Q
:
: :Looks like Bezerkeley city council is opposed to trapping:
: : http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/animals...0Wildlife.html
: :
: :You may want to talk to animal control anyways. See what they
: :suggest.
:
: I just called them and this is what I was told:
:
: 1. They won't go into my attic or crawl space.
:
:I may of missed one of the posts that had the animal ID'd, but I get
:calls on all the animals listed below except for skunks getting into
:attics quite often. Was at one Thursday where the possum was climbing
:the wooden fence, jumping about a foot to the gutter of a detached
:garage, getting into that attic where a breezeway attached to the garage
:then following the inside of the breezeway into the house. Most of the
:activity heard is between the first floor ceiling and second floor, but
:there is possum crap in the attic above the second floor so it is making
:access there also.
:
:
: 2. I can block off the entrance suitably, but leave it open until 11:00
: PM. Then close and lock it. He tells me that any animal living under the
: house then, be it a racoon, possum, feral cat or even a skunk (it's
: obviously not a skunk), would be "out foraging."
:
: Problem solved. I asked him how I would know for sure the animal wasn't
: still under the house, and he just wanted me to take his word for it
: that it wouldn't be at 11:00 at night. I asked him if I would hear
: something if otherwise, and he said yes. He was sounding in a hurry to
: end the conversation. Anyway, I guess this is the thing to do.
:
: Dan
:
:That time frame is just a general rule, for example, Mr possum comes
:from under a house just after dark and only has to waddle next door 30
:feet away to the neighbor's patio who keeps a full bowl of food out for
:fido or the area stray cats....possum gets a quick full tummy, is able
:to look around a bit and then get back home before 9:00 ...gets to hang
:around the home a few hours with time to play the video games, watch the
:tube a bit then waddle out again in the early morning for another snack
:and hunt down a possible future Mrs possum....mother nature will make a
:liar of you every time. If you have an obvious opening that you can get
:to, place a few pieces of masking tape across the opening, don't close
:it totally with the tape. Any animal activity will tear the tape away.
:
:Lar

Um, yes, I'm concerned. Last night I went ahead with the Animal Services
representative's suggestion, but I altered it somewhat. My thinking was
that last night was the shortest day of the year. In fact, Winter began
just 1/2 hour before that guy recommended shutting the access. That's
about 6 hours after dusk! I figure that since the day was the ultimate
short day, I should shut the access/exit a couple of hours earlier than
typical. So, around 9:15 PM, I did the deed, jamming a piece of plywood
into the opening, the same piece that had come loose. I intend to make
an actual door there, hinged, with a latch to insure security in the
future, but in the meantime, the playwood should suffice so long as it
doesn't fall off again. Of course, it's possible an animal precipitated
the plywood coming off in the first place, I wouldn't know.

In fact, the guy just behind my house has a couple of dogs and may well
leave food out there for them that an animal can readily eat. That might
mean the animal(s) would get back under my house less than an hour after
nightfall.

From the footprints I was seeing in the sifted dirt I leveled at the
access/exit point, my best guess is a feral cat. It's possibly a racoon,
but I didn't see the telltale claw marks racoons leave. Still, in that
dirt, I can't be sure. That's why I wanted to put mud down and paper, to
get accurate footprints, but I never got to that stage.

After I closed things up last night I started thinking and I had doubts.
Thing it, last night happened to be not only the shortest night of the
year, but it was definitely the coldest so far. At 9:15 PM it was 40
degrees out there. I'm wondering if the animal would stay under the
house in the unusually cold conditions, or else, as you suggest, if it
had an easy time of finding food for some reason, it may have ducked
under the house for comfort and security. Therefore, the
representative's assurances that the animal would be outside aren't
giving me confidence an animal (maybe more than one!) isn't trapped
under the house. Worst case scenario I figure is I start smelling
rotting corpses and I have to go under there with a flashlight and
plastic bags find the corpse(s) and bag up the rotten meat. Ugh!

I'm hoping that if there's live animal(s) under the house now it/they
will make a commotion rather than just die.

Dan