I was about to purchase sheet metal for making cone baffles to stop critters from destroying my fruit crops, but I thought I’d ask the forum if anyone has a different opinion or idea. I also have read that a cone with an 18" radius is sufficient to stop raccoons and opossums…If someone has found an 18" radius as insufficient please let me know.
I was putting up electrical fence wire and put up a security camera to watch them get shocked…After realizing I was enjoying their suffering, I decided this sick puppy needed to mend his ways.
It would be interesting also to hear other forum member’s innovative ideas that have won them a military advantage.
I think electrical is most effective. It is what has worked for my FIL garden here in GA. They shouldn’t get shocked too many times, they would learn pretty quick from 1-2 shocks I would think.
Young raccoons and opossums are discouraged after 1 or 2 shocks, but the large old critters are at first stopped but after several days they just seem to decide to just barge through and put up with the shock…And once one barges through, the rest soon follow suite. I suppose if you use a powerful enough fence charge they will get the message, but I only used a Home Depot charger. At any rate, I put up the security camera to see how effective the electrical fencing was at keeping them out of my large persimmon tree, and if any were figuring out how to get through it…but after watching them get shocked multiple times my feelings of revenge were replaced by sympathy for these bastards. So I’ve designated 2 of my ten kaki persimmon trees, 2 figs, an apple, and a jujube as theirs…plus they have always had free range of my blueberry patch and mulberry trees and wild persimmons…Everything else I’m attempting to put up physical barriers (8" duct pipe works good on vertical tree trucks but I’m trying to come up with solutions for slanted tree trucks, which they navigate by getting a running start up the pipe).
Please excuse my ignorance…What is a FIL garden?
We have huge problems with raccoons and opossums here. An electric fence is the only thing I have ever found to effectively keep them out of the peaches. And yes, you need a powerful charger. I have a “50 mile” fence charger for about 100 yards of fence. The smaller chargers I tried either didn’t work or didn’t work for long. Make sure you have a good grounding rod too, as that greatly affects the power of the fence.
Anyway, I’m partially of the mindset you have. I’ll have some things non protected that the animals can eat and hopefully this will mean they won’t mess with the protected items.
LOL, i came up with something that stops coon sand possums in their tracks. As a failed political candidate i found a good use for my campaign signs. I simply make a square of signs to enclose the trunk at a point where they cannot simply leap into the branches. For some trees that is at the drip line. Toward the top of the signs I tie them with a giant loop of string to ass stability. I have watched coons and possums try to get figure it out. they can’t see beyond them, can’t climb them. I have been doing it for the past 3 years and so far it has worked great.
I had a single fruit on my Hood pear tree this year, so I decided to protect it with a cage made of 1/4" hardware cloth (I had made cages from aluminum screen before but the critters would just tear right through them). Lo and behold, it was gone! I searched for twenty minutes and finally found it in the woods about 50 yards from the tree. The wire cage held up though. I guess I need to start chaining the cages to the tree truck.
Last year I split a plastic garbage can vertically and but it around the trunk of a plum tree that the raccoons where eating from. I didn’t have problems after that. A mistake was not trying it again this year because they ate all my plums.
I concur that the only true method of discouraging raccoons from eating our fruits are electric fences…or a hot lead injection.
If my 60 mile fencer can throw a 5000v shock on about 10 miles of fence, and keep my cattle in the pasture, then it can throw more voltage on a shorter fence and discourage varmints. I have had good luck keeping raccoons and skunks out of my bee hives with portable electric fences as well. The fences were 4 hot wires spaced about 6 inches apart, and it was also effective at keeping bears away. If they can keep bears from bee colonies, they can keep raccoons from fruit trees.
If the old critters are making it in, you have you fence set up wrong. If your hot wires are far a part, they can 1/3 of the way in before they are shocked. Then then just jump forward to get a way from it.
We use a 16 in metal fence for the bottom. Then hot wires very close together. The metal fence is for the weeds!
