We have a family of raccoons who have adopted a place under one of our decks as their condo, and they harass our indoor cats and scare my partner. Would shooting them in the butt with a pellet pistol get rid of them or injure/kill them? (The raccoons, that is; not the cats or my partner.) I don’t really want to damage them but just to scare them away. I found some co2 powered pellet guns at a local sporting goods store but don’t know if the charge (600 fps) and pellet (.177 caliber) are too much for the task. I’d be shooting from ~ 6’ away.

Suggestions?

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Toyota is a leader only because their drivers block everyone behind them. Oh what a feeling.

Coon do not get scared away. You either kill them, or Havahart style trap them and relocate them. And not just a few miles away.

Shoot or relocate. Unless you can carry them in your car in such a way that them pooping/peeing won't be an issue, I'd have to lean towards shooting them.

Maybe Mr. Creepy can borrow you his truck to haul them away in .

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2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Be aware that there may be laws in your locale prohibiting the relocation of wildlife. Animal control has been very liberal about allowing me to release raccoons in areas that they suggest.

I bought a have-a-heart trap. The ones from harbor freight are not coon proof.

I just pop a lot of them in the back of the head with a .22. If you have to resort to that be considerate and make a clean kill. Flopping around and bleeding is not good.

Think of them as little bears. They are dangerous, smart and social.

One man's approach: My dog Toaster was attacked by a raccoon - YouTube

Someone named a dog "Toaster"?

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

When I was just kid, we had a racoon open the lid on the gargabe can, and just have a feast. Mom turned on the outdoor lights, hoping to scare away the 'coon. He judt looked up as if to say "thanks for the light"' and went right back to eating. Dad, and his shotgun put an end to it.

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1982 300SD " Wotan" ..On the road as of Jan 8, 2007 with Historic Tags

Don't fool with a pellet gun. It won't get the job done without a perfectly aimed shot. This is a job for a shotgun. If you're in the city where you can't make that much noise, use .22 shorts, but it will still have to be a well placed shot.

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I have a variety of pellet guns and firearms.

They make high performance pellet guns that could do the job but they are pricey and loud. A .22 short is as quiet as that pellet gun.

Even your typical ineffective pellet gun is pretty loud.

If you shoot the coon with a toy pellet gun it will run to safety under your porch and plot how to get back at you. Joke, sort of, funny for us, not for you.

You buy the trap and run it. Call someone to come get the coon when you trap one. Clean and effective but not free. Salmon flavored dog treats work really well. The stinkier the better.

They are coming, in disguise...

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Toyota is a leader only because their drivers block everyone behind them. Oh what a feeling.

Maybe a crossbow. You can get pretty close to the suckers. Pellet gun will scare them off but they'll come back. Probably doesn't make it through thick fur but barer skin might absorb a pellet under it.

I knew a guy in a rural setting with a large humane trap. He would drown them in a 50 gallon barrel. Watched him do it once. Kinda harsh - the little guy shook that cage pretty hard trying to get out. You could hear it knocking the barrel and see water sloshing out. The water needed to be almost full to cover the highest point.

Not sure if the others learn to avoid the trap. Probably good to hide it right away so the others don't see though they often go out together socially.

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The pellet gun might work if you're accurate enough. If not wanting to hurt them, I'd try a .22 at pretty close range, 20ft. or less, loaded with birdshot. If you can get them to vacate you'll need to take measures to prevent them from moving back in. Welded wire fence or something blocking access to under the deck. Raccoons are territorial and they will come back if they can.
We had a coon population explosion some years ago. I relocated a few. The last one I sprayed a dot of florescent pink paint on his back and took him to another drainage 5 miles away. He was back in 2 days. I began nightly hunts. 31 raccoons in as many days. A game ranger has told me that coons only have a 50 50 chance of survival when relocated as they have to fight their way in to the new territory.
If I were you I'd get a .22 for the same price as that pellet gun and practice with it a bit. You want head shots preferably as they have a bear-like layer of fat that makes body shots less than effective. One head shot will take them out where it might take 3 or 4 body hits and be less humane.
They are one of the chief vectors of rabies in this country and are bad tempered, destructive beasts.

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84 Euro 240D 4spd. 220.5k sold
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Thanks for the many comments.

This family of raccoons is in the ‘burbs and discharging a .22 or anything else that makes noise is outtta the equation. Even if I close off the area under the deck they have been around for many years. There is an over grown area next to my place.

Some time ago a deputy sheriff who lives near my place in the stix suggested shooting them with a pellet gun and that’s where I got the idea. Does anyone know if a pellet in their flank will cause permanent damage? Would steel bbs be less likely to cause blood positioning than a lead pellet?

I have no means or desire to relocate them if trapped and will not drown them.

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Toyota is a leader only because their drivers block everyone behind them. Oh what a feeling.

ive had more than one housecat killed by raccoons where i grew up over the years, and at least 3 full on break ins by the bastards. then you gotta chase em out, but you have to be extremely careful not to get attacked.
i recall using a shower curtain flapping and yelling to get one to retreat. damn thing was watching tv with me, had absolutely no idea it was there. turned around and there it was sitting in the doorway to the tv room calmly watching. scared the daylights out of me. this was very far from any exterior door.

ultimately, we found they were getting into the crawlspace under the house through a rusty exterior well hatch and coming up through the basement. killed one cat in the basement, another outside a few years later, and maimed a third that only had one eye after that. if your house has any chinks in the exterior, the raccoons will find it, cats ar no match, and anything but a bigger dog will be in trouble, but even then you dont want it bitten.

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Wounding the any Animal can just lead to a miserable slow death from Infection from them not being able to eat or drink from the illness caused by Wound/s.
So I don't think a Pellet Gun is going to give a clean Kill
.22 Yes.

I think Animal Control will lend you the Traps if you leave deposit. Once caught Animal Control is called and they Pic it up.

People get Traps from the SPCA in a similar manner and catch Feral Animals and get them fixed and realese them.

If a Crossbow was used the Bolt needs to have a Hunting type Arrow Head on it. Arrows Kill by Bleeding or hitting a Vital Organ. A hit with an Arrow may not kill right away.

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