Broken branches, bagged fruit on ground or half eaten while still hanging, etc… I know there are Racoons and some Opossums around… Likely culprit? “Lead poisoning” best solution I assume…
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I remember that, horrible feeling!
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I’m plotting out an electric fence for the same reason. Don’t suspect anything else will work.
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It will probably give you the most satisfaction. Making something out of the hide might give you more. Maybe mount the head on a pike as a warning to other raccoons.
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The orchard space is fenced but to avoid weeds shorting it out, the bottom strand isn’t super low. High enough a coon could walk under most likely. I’ll have to do something about that I suppose… or come up with an “alternative” solution…
Thanks.
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Ahh good info for me. My area is small and mulched so I hope to avoid the grass issue.
Well the issue here is more that the fence perimeter is on very uneven ground. It would be difficult to get an electric fence to follow the contour, staying low enough to keep one out, but high enough to not lay right on the ground. I may look at adding some plastic fencing below the bottom wire just to keep out “ground varmints” like this. A little glyphosate along the fence row will also take care of any grass/weed issues…
At least deer are so far respecting the fence. I need to add some tinfoil + peanut butter to the fence and “train” any new ones in the area… That this is not an area where they want to be! (wonder if would help with racoons? Hmm…)
If it’s like around here, “lead poisoning” won’t work because there’s too many to kill them all. The first few years I lived here I trapped and killed dozens of them, and I didn’t even make a dent.
Electric fence has worked well the last 3 years though. Make sure you have multiple strands down low to the ground.
About what height from the ground are each of your wires? I was thinking about 3 or 4 inches from the ground for the low wire and maybe 6 inches above that for a second.
I’m trying to control groundhogs, possums, and ‘coons. Mostly possums.
We lost 50+ chickens in 2 nights to raccoons in the last week. We have declared war on all raccoons.If you will pm me I will share with you an efficient solution.
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Electric fence as of now has worked well keeping raccoons and opossums away from my fruit. Last year I had several night invasions by now. My set up is minimal at best with just one wire about 6" off the ground. I will probably add another wire at 10" from the soil later on. I run a cordless weed eater under the wire as needed to keep grass from grounding it out. The charger is set on a timer and only runs at night. I think that setting it up before the fruit ripens is important. My muscadines will soon ripen which will be the real test.
The uneven soil line was an issue for me also and I had to use more poles to get the desired results. I had some 3/4" pvc that I cut into about 16" sections. It was extra work but if done well you can use the same setup for several years.
Creative, I like it… I used plastic-coated metal “tomato” stakes between t-posts. Supplement that with a few inexpensive “posts” like this and maybe I could get the fence low enough to deter them. Thanks.
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On our E-fence setup, we have wire woven fence that is 16 inches tall at the bottom. Then 3 inches above the wire fence the 4 hot wires begins up to 5 ft. The grass has to be real tall to reach the hot wire. I too have changing slope/bumps. On the 16 inch tall wire fence, you can use pliers to kink the top/bottom few wire to allow the fencing to curve up or down. Heavy tent stakes can be used to hold the bottom in place in tricky spots. In big dips, I pounded in short R-bars pc and tossed rocks to fill to void.
I weed-wack every few weeks. The key to E-fencing is to hit the thief in the nose. If on their back, they are inside after they jump. So far no violations in 2 years. They do learn to stay away.
It’s easy to forget about your fence being effective, not shorted. As soon as the fruit we have started looking tasty, we inspect and use a tester often.
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here is a photo of the fence I have. Also, a good gate is needed.
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Opinions on solar chargers?
I don’t have power in my orchard and like the idea of solar. Was looking at the Gallagher S series.
I had given thought of plastic fencing the first so many inches up but if they were hanging from it entirely, they may not ground and get shocked. Like the idea of metal there much better… Looks good, nice fence!
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Looks great Paddy
That is a really nice setup. How big of an area do you have fenced in.
For the lowest electric wire around my fruit area, I use plastic tent stakes that have a hole in the top. I thread them onto the wire and then distribute them every six feet or as needed. That way the wire will stay about 3-4 inches off the ground. It is a bit of a pain to string them onto the wire, but once in place it works quite well. If you need to move the wire to weed whip, you can pull out the stakes fairly easily if the ground is soft, not so easily if it is dry and hard.
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