Varmint using my pool to clean prey

[gkruske]

I would probably guess a cat....raccoons eat acorns/bugs/worms, etc. 90% of the time. Pretty rare that they are fast enough to catch live food. Same for possums.

I had to deal with ground hogs. House was vacant for 1.5 years, groundhog built a fine home under the long edge of the concrete pool decking. LARGE tunnel. Groundhogs are easy, though.

They're like people. They go home at night, to eat, sleep, and make babies. So, it's very predictable to know when to catch them. Unfortanately, they are pretty smart, and know what a trap looks like. Other than shooting them, you bury one end of the tunnel with pea gravel and dirt, then chuck in a large smoke bomb (sulpher/carbon monoxide), and fill in the other end of the tunnel while said groundhog is dying peacefully. You'll know that you got them if the tunnel remains buried. I've had to get rid of 3 in the past year.

Raccoons are nosy. Since the pool was closed up for that same period of time, not only did I open up a green pool, but ended up scooping up 2 bloated raccoons who wanted to get under the winter cover. Now, that scared the pants off of me.

I would set something up to see what's coming around. I'm thinking stray cat.

GK

 

[anonapersona]

1/4 baking soda

1/4 what? tsp? cup? baking soda

writing this down for permanent file

 

[AnnaK]

1/4 cup baking soda.

I've used that skunk wash several times over the years and it works like a charm. Even after a direct hit only one application was ever needed. I generally make a double recipe and add some water because the one bottle of peroxide isn't a lot of liquid. By adding water I can pour the concoction over the dog without having to touch him - except if he's sprayed in the face, then I do sponge it on. If your dogs wear leather or fabric collars you can soak the collar in the solution and get rid of the smell on it, too.

Be aware that the peroxide may temporarily lighten the dog's coat. My one shepherd, cream and black, was an avid hunter and the beneficiary more than once of the skunk wash. His cream fur turned slightly orange and the black saddle had a red tinge for a while. This does wear off with time. I know Goldens who became very blond.

This recipe is definitely a keeper for anyone who has skunk chasing dogs.

 

[geekgranny]

Peppermint oil? One of the few things I have not tried, and something I have on hand. Worth a try. We keep rat poison pellets under the hood of the outdoor cars to prevent expensive wiring damage.
I wonder what skunks would think of peppermint oil?
From a skunk researcher on dealing with sprayed dogs:
Mix outside in a bucket
1 qt hydrogen peroxide 3% concentration (get from grocery store)
1/4 baking soda
1tsp dish detergent
Mix it fresh, sponge onto affected pet (or person) avoiding the eyes, leave on 5 minutes, rinse well.
Repeat as needed.
Have not tried it ourselves yet, but it is supposed to counteract the active chemicals in the skunk smell.
Since these are inexpensive ingredients that we have around the house anyways, worth a try.

So you know about auto rat damage too. Hope you've only heard about it and not experienced it. What was so shocking is that we had parked the cars in the same place for 20 years and never had a problem. I was at a neighborhood party soon after that and found out that several other people had damage also; some of them long time residents who hadn't had problems in the past. Some of them didn't tell people about it because the critter being RATS. :lol:

Thanks for the recipe. I'll keep it handy and email it to my neighbor too. We don't like to use the poison because of neighbors' cats, major hunters, (who are called in before dusk - otherwise the coyotes and bobcats get them -regular thing - one neighbor lost two young cats this summer just after dusk) and other predators/scavengers ingesting the poison. I'm not sure what is used in baits but my Mastiff puppy, last month, ingested enough Bradford Pear (fake pears) to get a pretty nasty cyanide poisoning. He ate bunches of them over a three day period and became very sick on the third day. It was too late for inducing regurgitation and/or active treatment. We gave him supportive meds, Nexium and strong pain meds. The first week he cried and howled if he stayed down for too long so we had to make him get up and move around every hour or so. Took him two weeks to fully recover. That tree is coming down before spring. :!: :!: :!: :!:
geekgranny=alice

 

[amjohn]

Same here on the rats eating wiring- 20 years of parking in the same place and suddenly last year they did $400 worth of damage. I have hunting cats also, but have to put them up in the shop at night as well because of coyotes, local pit bulls, etc.
I don't like using the poison pellets, but the cats cannot keep up with the large amount of rats/mice/moles, etc. Plus we discourage them from getting up around the cars. My cats show no interest in the poison pellets, though, and they won't even eat dead mice. They prefer their meat still squeaking. They go out during the evening and catch rats, then release them in their shop for further entertainment/consumption during the night. We sat in the pool last night and watched the male go back and forth three times as he caught a field mouse and carried it into the shop to release, then came back for another. Must have been a fun night in the shop last night.
Anyways, back to the original issue of raccoons. Don't leave out food of any sort, trash, open food-smelling containers, etc.... that is what really brings them. Once they get started using the pool, I am not sure how to discourage them without ammunition. They are too smart to fall for most of the other tricks that other critters will fall for (sprays, noises, fake predators), and they are not afraid of cats or of most dogs (at least not in my area). They really don't even care much about people. Cheeky things.