Protecting your fruit from squirrel's and other critters

Whats the easiest way to dispatch a racoom?

Never had a raccoon problem until I had fruit. If you plan to eat fruit from your trees, you must reduce the vermin population - or feed them every year. This is a harsh reality of fruit growing.
@Mickster Drown them. Reset trap. Repeat.

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In a trap a big barrel of water. If that’s not an option then a 22 long rifle 40 grain hollow point does a good job.

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I imagine a large storage bin or black plastic bag that a trap would fit in and car exhaust would work. Then there is the disposal problem. I don’t know what the legality of killing or relocating racoons is since I haven’t done it.

Not a handgun? Guy just killed a 820# boar with a handgun, it ought to do for a raccoon

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People have killed large elephants with a handgun. A 22 handgun would certainly kill a coon.

The 22 long rifle is a cartridge not a type of gun. Both handguns and rifles shoot the 22 long rifle round.

Here is 111 types of 22 long rifle ammunition. https://www.midwayusa.com/22-long-rifle/br?cid=22516 I like the hollow point on coon. It expands more and is less likely to shoot clean thru and cause damage to unintended targets. I’m very careful about shooting coons in a cage. I don’t want the bullet bouncing around and hitting me or something else it shouldn’t.

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haven’t seen a squirrel in my yard for close to a month…none on my fence or even under the bird feeder. It’s kind of eerie…I know I put a dent in the population with the tube trap, but it wasn’t that many…maybe they got the message that they’re not welcom…wishful thinking, I know…

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Ah - this is why I don’t shoot at things with guns - rank ignorance

Do the tube traps work on squirrels without bait?

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Not sure how you would get them into the trap (tube) w/o bait…unless I misunderstand your question.

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I read somewhere that squirrels are attracted to tubes as hiding places or feeding places or something like that. Like cats and boxes.

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Set up my electric fence but will have to test to see if it’s functioning properly. Also i save the thorny bra he’s from any pruned citrus and strategically place them in the garden. Going to add liberal amounts of cayenne pepper around as an added deterrent but waiting for tonight’s light showers before i spice up the yard against the hated coons.

Anthony

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Never mind I got it, Thorny Branches.

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Lol i hate auto correct. Thorny branches somehow became “Thorny bra he’s”.

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Saw a sad sight in the orchard last night. It was a medium sized rabbit with a hind leg dangling. God I wish we could shoot in this place, poor thing. There is no question it escaped a coyote. Really surprised it got away. Its ears were bitten too. Don’t get me wrong I wouldn’t be upset if it was a squirrel. My orchard and gardens are rabbit proofed so they are harmless to me. Ugh :cold_sweat:

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A few days ago, a chipmunk got tangled in my netting. The only way to get it out was to cut that expensive net. I did cutting the net to the last thread that wrapped around the neck of that alive vermint.

Somehow I could not kill it. It did not seem like a fair fight to the chipmunk. I cut the last thread. It dropped to the ground and ran away. I should have dropped it in a bucket of water and walked away.

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That would make a nice youtube video. I always thought you were a nice person. Not many people would release a chipmunk.

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22 mag…

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Bill,
I TOLD the chipmunk if we meet again, there will be no mercy. Not sure if it listened but I mean it😁

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Oops I missed this question. I am rotating amongst three different sprays: Plantskydd, Deer Out, and Bobbex. It is important to rotate as they get used to a spray. It is also important to be spraying frequently. I have gotten better at using the minimal amount of spray to stretch it out - I spray a low-power stream at “deer nose” level, I don’t do a big wide spray like I was putting down a disease-control spray. Stretching it out is important, the stuff is expensive and if you don’t really stretch it there will be a temptation to not spray as often as you need to. The Plantskydd I mix thickly and fling drops on with a paint brush. These drops I still see a month later through a lot of rain. Then one of the other two can be put “on top” to protect the more recent growth.

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