You would think. Had a possum making a mess of my garage so my son and his friend decided to get rid of him. They had a pellet rifle that was supposed to rival a .22 LR that was recommended by the friends brother who is a licensed gun dealer and supposedly knows his stuff. Long story short, after 3 head shots, I put it out of its misery with a 9MM. Not calling you a liar my friend but I find it hard to grasp a pellet rifle taking out a racoon.
Davy Crockett hats? Besides coons bring more money than groundhogs.
Good question Bob, but I know many people who shoot them just to get rid of them. I'm not of that group. I've never had one (or more) create any specific problems with my garden, my home, my pets...thus my opinion might be different than others.
just to be killing something. The last guy that bragged about it paid a price. People may do it, but they sure as hell don't let me find out about it.
Coincidentally, this morning on my way out to work I got down close to the entrance to my street and three little baby raccoons rushed across the street in front of me. When they got to the other side the last one turned around and dropped down like you would see a cat do to watch me on my way out. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time.
Outside of the innumerable cool birds ( including a breeding pair of bald eagles, 2 breeding pairs of pileated woodpeckers, along with 4 or 5 other types of woodpeckers, etc.) I have an abundance of raccoons, possums, skunks, groundhogs, river otters, turtles, snakes, squirrels, coyotes, deer, turkey and all kinds of other wildlife right in my back yard. I don't kill any of them. When the raccoons were knocking my trash cans over I just took the 30 seconds to clean it up in the morning on my way out. I do chase them off the bird feeders occasionally. Which is a trip. They're like little kids. They'll run far enough away where you can't get them and then stop and look at you. I also chase stray cats out of my back yard. The groundhogs live on the hill above the river bank and aren't hurting no one. I feed them scrap veggies and fruits. Possums don't hurt anything. I don't eat any of them so I don't kill them. The coyotes in 23 years have been spotted in the neighborhood proper once ( I see them in the fields semi-regularly and I hear them all the time), but they rarely come down into the street or bother anything. I had a picture my wife took of one in my driveway once about 5 years ago. I'm glad they don't come down and ravage people's pets because then I would probably have to do something about it. People around here know not to be killing
That said, I ain't telling anyone here what to do, but I think since we are allegedly smarter than small, dumb animals it shouldn't be too hard to figure out a solution that doesn't involve killing animals who are after all just trying to feed their families. I don't think much of people that kill animals for the hell of it. Or sport. Or trophies.
What he said.
Your observation about noise may be correct, but not all airguns are louder than a .22. I have witnessed a subsonic .22 short bounce off the noggin of a raccoon, so I will shoot vitals when using slow stuff unless I have an easy shot at the off switch.I'm going out on a limb and assume that the fixation with air guns is tied to the belief they are silent or near silent. That would be a great reason to obsess over air guns if that was accurate. Unfortunately, while air guns exist that can cleanly kill a groundhog, they are going to be as loud or louder than a powdered propelled projectile.
Neck shot. Followed by another two at close range to make sure it was dispatched quickly.
stoppestinfo.com
Coincidentally, this morning on my way out to work I got down close to the entrance to my street and three little baby raccoons rushed across the street in front of me. When they got to the other side the last one turned around and dropped down like you would see a cat do to watch me on my way out. It was the cutest thing I've seen in a long time.
Outside of the innumerable cool birds ( including a breeding pair of bald eagles, 2 breeding pairs of pileated woodpeckers, along with 4 or 5 other types of woodpeckers, etc.) I have an abundance of raccoons, possums, skunks, groundhogs, river otters, turtles, snakes, squirrels, coyotes, deer, turkey and all kinds of other wildlife right in my back yard. I don't kill any of them. When the raccoons were knocking my trash cans over I just took the 30 seconds to clean it up in the morning on my way out. I do chase them off the bird feeders occasionally. Which is a trip. They're like little kids. They'll run far enough away where you can't get them and then stop and look at you. I also chase stray cats out of my back yard. The groundhogs live on the hill above the river bank and aren't hurting no one. I feed them scrap veggies and fruits. Possums don't hurt anything. I don't eat any of them so I don't kill them. The coyotes in 23 years have been spotted in the neighborhood proper once ( I see them in the fields semi-regularly and I hear them all the time), but they rarely come down into the street or bother anything. I had a picture my wife took of one in my driveway once about 5 years ago. I'm glad they don't come down and ravage people's pets because then I would probably have to do something about it. People around here know not to be killing
That said, I ain't telling anyone here what to do, but I think since we are allegedly smarter than small, dumb animals it shouldn't be too hard to figure out a solution that doesn't involve killing animals who are after all just trying to feed their families. I don't think much of people that kill animals for the hell of it. Or sport. Or trophies.
I understand where you stand and respect your stance, BUT, there is always a but, sometimes it is necessary depending on the circumstances. I worked for Game & Parks when a pair of racoons took up residence in the attic of my old home. I had tressles on my porch that they climbed and pulled off a piece of siding at a roof transition. Didn't know they were there until spring when the 2 young uns they had were doing laps in my attic. Due to the fact that can carry numerous diseases, I had 2 dogs, 1 cat, my trophy wife and daughter had a homebased daycare business and they had chased my daughter-in-law back to her car one night they had to go. The only option was, I was issued a nuisance license so that I could legally live trap them and turn them over to G&P and they decide their fate. Without that the law states that if you live trap any wildlife you must release them within 100 yds of where it was captured so that you don't leave it without its nest. Because I had captured Mom on Day 1, both kits together on Day 2, and Dad on Day 4 and it was spring they were able to release them all together at a wildlife reserve 200 miles away from my home. Just a couple of years ago, my dog was going bananas barking at my chimney every night at dusk in my new home. Looked up one day and saw 2 racoons in my chimney looking down at me. Found they were climbing a small tree close to mh house. Waited til they were foraging at about 3AM and cut down the tree. Problem solved.
I commend you for doing it the right way.
You need to check your local laws concerning trapping. In our state, you need to go the Game & Parks Commission and get a nuisance license issued (free of charge), and then turn the caught wildlife over to them and they decide the disposition (release or euthanized). If you don't turn them over to the proper agency its must be released within 100 yards of where it was captured and it will go back to its nest and become wise to your traps. In the case of ferrell cats which also were a problem in my old neighborhood they must be turned over to the Humane Society and unfortunately most are euthanized as it is almost impossible to tame them. My next door neighbor was putting food out for all the wildlife which was attracting them. This is also against the law. After 2 warnings she was fined a significant amount of money and she quit. Slowly the wildlife went elsewhere once the free food was no longer forthcoming. Wildlife and ferrell animals carry diseases and can be quite destructive. It costed me nearly $1,000 dollars to have the feces and large portion of my blown in insulation removed and disposed of after a pair of racoons wintered in my attic and had 2 young ones come spring.Many trappers build wooden boxes just big enough to slide a live trap into and completely cover it.
Peanut butter is a great bait. Just about every critter loves the stuff.
Be sure to take it far enough away that it can't find its way home.
I put three .22 rounds in a woodchuck about 2 months ago before it gave up the ghost. Not sure a pellet rifle would do the job in a humane way.
