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Thankfully it's too cold and remote here for racoons, however there are wolverines and bears, which are generally smart enough to stay away from humans. The biggest problem is bushy tailed tree rats. They can be as destructive as racoons. I've seen them chew through siding to nest in the fibreglas insulation, or chew into attics to nest. I use a Crossman Model 781 pump-up air musket that moves a pellet or b-b faster than 450fps depending on how many pumps. The .177 pellets are in a 5rnd clip and the b-bs are fed from a magazine. One-shot head-kills are effective. Tree-rats also harass birds which won't nest in their territory. Over the years I've created a 'black-hole' for tree-rats, and now the area is populated with birds and there are significantly fewer bugs, especially mosquitoes.
In the early spring bears sometimes wander near the house. The airgun is a good bear deterrent. A shot in the rump feels like a bee sting to them and they run away and won't come back. It's especially effective if you can shoot from cover and they only feel the sting without seeing you.
I agree that a crossbow is the most effective tool for killing raccoons [deer too] in an area where discharging a firearm would draw unwanted attention. For raccoon size animals I'd use a blunt tip on the bolt, one about the size of a 12ga shotgun slug. A pointed tip or a hunting broadhead will zip right through, and unless it cuts a vital organ it's a slow death. The blunt tip dumps the high kinetic energy of the bolt into the body and kills almost instantly by hydrostatic shock that stops the heart. That avoids having a bleeding animal lying in someone's yard attracting unwanted attention.
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“Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.” ― Robert A. Heinlein
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