The other day, I noticed that something had been eating my corn. The cobs left strewn on the lawn were expertly stripped of their kernels. I had a feeling it was the work of a raccoon. I guess my suspicions were correct. I found this little guy in my Havahart cage when I came home from work today. I was surprised by how smelly he was and if you look closely, you can see the flies buzzing about him.
After I relocated him to the woods far away from our home, I picked the last dozen or so ears and pulled up the plants. All and all, I think our corn crop this year was a success. We were able to enjoy several meals during which Marc and I devoured up to three ears of sweet corn each and despite this setback still have enough for a couple more.
Lastly, I think I may just bait the trap again just in case Mr. Raccoon had hungry family members.
A friend of mine says that you have to plant pumpkin at the base of the corn. Raccoons don't like someting about it and the plant is suppose to keep them away. Such beautiful corn - I would steal it too given the chance.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you caught that naughty thief!
ReplyDeleteThe garden is very nice really there are good arrangement in varieties of species. In the garden is very nice that can be visit and more enjoy in this garden.
ReplyDeleteBut he seems so fuzzy and cute. Glad you could stay far enough away and not get bitten.
ReplyDeleteI don't know much about the legality of relocating racoons- in most states it is illegal, since they can carry so many diseases.
ReplyDeleteThe Raccoon attic guide has some good info, especially look at numbers five and six at the link below.
http://www.raccoonatticguide.com/trapping.html
Yay you caught the thief! And he left you some corn to enjoy. I hope he doesn't have many family members.
ReplyDeleteOh man, that's a bummer. That corn was so beautiful too. We tried growing it once and the deer ate the silks. So we stopped trying to grow it. We may try again next year once we put up a significant fence.
ReplyDeleteRaccoons are a pain. It is so sad to loose so much corn. Corn takes up so much space.
ReplyDeleteCongrats! You are becoming quite the trapper. Too bad it became necessary, and a real bummer about the corn. I wound up trapping four raccoons this spring before I got them all.
ReplyDeleteIs that some stray corn on his forehead?!
ReplyDeleteI think raccoons may just have a weak spot for corn. I know whenever I go camping, and we roast corn on the fire pit, we have to be really careful about what we do with the leftover cobs - they seem to attract the raccoons to the campsite more than anything else we might have with us. I've even woken up in the middle of the night to find raccoons dragging away the foil we used to wrap the corn.
ReplyDeleteWell, could be worse, it could have been a skunk! The damage we are all dealing with this year is unbelievable!
ReplyDeleteHe DOES look like a bandit doesn't he?
ReplyDeleteWe don't have raccoons here, just opossums and rabbits if you live in the country, but they do enough damage!
Glad you caught that guy. You sure are generous to relocate him. Hope there are no relatives.
ReplyDeleteCongratz on ridding yourself of that pesky coon.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was doing research into what could have been eating my tomatoes, I learned two things:
1. Raccoons apparently taste delicious when BBQ'd.
2. Rural folks get cranky when animals get dropped off in the country, "far away from your crop". I read several rants about how people leave dogs, cats, coons, etc. in the woods, where they just get sick and die slowly or get hit by cars. It's really kind of sad.
I think you did what's best for your corn, ultimately, and considering that coon poop is evil, you won't have to worry about that at all.
Glad you got the pest taken care of. We get them here too but for some reason they have been pretty good about leaving my garden alone. I have more problems with the rabbits than I do the raccoons.
ReplyDeleteI am down to 3 apples, most likely from squirrels, but I have not seen any critter in action.
ReplyDeleteYou certainly have had a critter filled summer!
Congrats...glad you caught him before he completely destroyed your crop
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comments everyone! Marc and I recently got our firearms safety certification. Unfortunately discharging one in a suburban setting is probably not the best idea. Most states make it illegal to trap a pest unless you dispose of it on your own property. Aside from drowning the animal in the cage, I don't see any alternative but to skirt the law and relocate it to the woods.
ReplyDeleteWowsers, what a catch! We see raccoons on our property all the time. I bet they are the ones that stole my grapes?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that everyone who would point out the potential legalities of relocating the coon drive faster than the posted speed limit as well :)
ReplyDeleteRelocating a wild animal is a bit different from dumping a domesticated dog or cat in "the country."
JMO.
In the garden there are good crop rotation and grow the very healthy and can be know that .
ReplyDeleteLovely and green garden. because there are surrounding green plant and interesting plant that can be enjoy in this garden.
ReplyDelete