1) I've heard of them doing so, though coyotes are a more likely suspect. Either way, you need to get rid of the coons, they only get worse with time

2) A live-trap will hold them for you till you are ready to deal with them during your waking hours, as its a real pain to dig a hole at midnight. Those caught at my place are usually disposed of with a .22LR hollow point.

Are the cats intact males? May sound obvious, but They do tend to wander. We have lost cats to coyotes, don't know about coons. They are tough and firece in a fight tho, will take on a dog and sometimes win, so if a cat was looking for a fight, I imagine 3 coons would give em one.

Opossum will kill cats without hesitation, and you often find them sharing the same territory with raccoons, but they stay out of sight moreso than raccoons. A livetrap may turn some up. In any case, raccoons are a reservoir of rabies and shouldn't be encouraged to hang around.

No, they are not intact males- it's one altered male and one altered female. And naturally I don't want poison out with the other cats.

We have seen opossums from time to time in the food, but the raccoons have been much more noticeable this summer. They are digging in the yard, they tear apart the feeders & scatter the parts around, etc. Subdivision is going in around us & I suppose the coons have lost a large part of their natural territory, which may explain their presence.

As for the cats, one of them was a wanderer but the other always stayed really close to home so I'm not too hopeful about it coming back.

Raccooons are notorious cat killers as are coyotes. Most opossums are too slow to kill a cat, but it has happened. I've also seen bigger cats beat the heck out of the opossums.

I really have a bad time with racoons getting my pigeons so I keep a trap set all the time and when I catch one I take it about 15 miles away and turn it loose.
I hope it isnt the same coon I am trapping over and over again.

Coons killing cats? I would have thought cats would be smart enough to "size up the enemy" and get out of the way. Another possibility - I had cats happen on poisonous snakes and get bit. She was really sick. Near about killed her. Maybe one of your cats wandered up onto a snake. I vouch for trapping the coons and disposing of them.

Traps might only work once. Raccoons can get wise to traps really quick.

Catch one and the others learn to stay away. OMG! He killed Kenny! That ba*&^!rd!

Setting several large traps would be good, get them all at once if possible!

There are good recipes online for raccoon and I think there is a fly fishing lure company that will buy the tails.

The best way to keep the coons from coming around is to stop offering a buffet. Take in the feeders at night and don't feed the cats where the coons can get to. Sorry for the harsh tone, I just don't know how else to say it and still make the point, I don't mean anything personal by it. Having outdoor cats just invites harm...but that's a big ol' tempest to stir so I'll stop now.

What Kristy said. Works for me.

Came over to this forum to complain about raccoons, or as we call them Snackoons, since they tear everything up and eat it if its not made of metal or plastic. I came out this morning and found - for the 4th time this summer, raccoon scat on my sidewalk. They have even used my deck as a dumping ground. What in the world kind of animal just poops wherever it happens to be? I've heard they were filthy animals but this is gross. They've torn up so many birdfeeders for us we have to bring them in every night. Any way to discourage them? We don't leave anything outside for them anymore.

I had to pay a guy to trap and dispose of a young coon that decided to hang around the house during the daytime. He was toast when I caught him climbing the back door screen. It was a very expensive deal - like $100 for one raccoon.

Oh BTW - Kristy is right. We used to enjoy feeding squirrels and having lots of bird feeders up. Not anymore.

I've had good luck with the large Havahart trap with two doors, one on each end. There were raccoons raiding a hummingbird feeder, so I used hummingbird nectar as bait: one part sugar to four parts water, in a little plastic cup. I caught four raccoons and two opossum with the trap in the same location under the tree. I take them 8 - 10 miles away, so it's not the same ones over and over.

They left me alone all summer, but now they're back. One destroyed all the nearly-ripe beefsteak tomatoes, so I used one of the tomatoes in the trap, right next to the garden. Bad idea - it ignored the trap, destroyed the little fence around the garden, and raided the cherry tomatoes, breaking a highly product squash vine and an eggplant in the process. This is war!!! Offered him some hummingbird nectar instead and got him last night.

According to the local expert (the guy at the feed store) the young ones are the biggest nuisance and they tend to search out high-energy foods when they're hungry (especially at weaning time), so sunflower seed and hummingbird nectar are right up their alley. He's right in that it's always the young ones I catch in the yard with these baits, and the adults apparently forage elsewhere. I somewhat regret taking the precautionary step of taking in the feeders at night, because that's what caused him to seek out the tomatoes. It's easier to trap them when you know exactly what they're after and where.

So sorry to hear about your cats.

Is it possible they were killed by cars? You mentioned subdivisions going up, which means more traffic on local roads.

Another possibility is accidental poisoning. We almost lost a barn cat that way... a farm field up the road was sprayed with herbicide, and the cat (a wanderer) immediately showed symptoms of poisoning. It almost killed her.

we have neighbors that feed them on their decks, thusly, they're pests. racoons tore out all our baby blue bird nests, ate mamma and the babies in 6 nests. someone else said to pick your battles-lol--i didnt pick this one-they did. they ate the plants on my deck, as well as leaving "deposits" everywhere.and as far as them avoiding traps--depends on how bad they want whats in the trap.we used the cage type--got all 4--and i sure wasnt going to release them to be someone else's problem.

DPallas - obviously you can't take your garden in at night :) You can weave a sheep stopper (electric wire) through your little fence though. That should help.

ceresone - your real beef should be with your neighbors. Besides encouraging that sort of behaviour, they are also harming the coons foraging instincts - not doing them any favors at all.

OH, believe me--i've told the neighbors about it! but- its hard to trap neighbors(i would if i could!)

We have a Havaheart trap and have trapped quite a few raccoons and possums. The raccoons are smart tho', looked out the kitchen window one night to the back deck, and there was a raccoon reaching thru the side of the trap to get the food. Clever lil dude, so I put some old cookies sheets on each side where he couldn't reach the food and caught the sucker the next night.
Donna

A raccoon raided our fish pond last night, and I don't think there's a fish left! I heard the noise and tapped the window to scare him away, but he just looked at me and was not afraid until I blared the radio at him. Then he waddled off.

Racoons will kill cats, mangle a dog and have a field day in your chicken house. Our neighbour complained about my dog barking at night - I'd been out with the flashlight and there had been four coons up the tree between our house. Yes, they are here looking for the scraps that the same neighbour throws out onto the beach. The racoons will do their business on the patios and their urine is very very bad if you have small children that play on the patio after they have peed on it. I forget the disease that they carry but you can find out by going into Yahoo. My DH and I do a lot of patroling at night and all night we see different racoon families crossing the streets. Also, I'd never seen a racoon out in the day time, all the time I was raised on the farm, surrounded by bush. Now, they are roaming during the daylight hours.

WARNING ABOUT RACCOON FECES!! It's not the racoon urine, but the feces can be deadly to humans, adults or children. There is an AIRBORN virus Baylisascaris procyonis. This roundworm is zoonotic, meaning it can pass from animal to animal (or human). It can cause a very rare disease called visceral larva migrans in humans and other animals. It causes severe or fatal encephalitis. Even bleach cannot kill. Fire seems to be the only way to safely dispose of it. Human infection by Baylisascaris procyonis is rarely diagnosed, but it is believed that many cases are incorrectly diagnosed as other diseases. The roundworm eggs are resistant to most environmental conditions and with adequate moisture can survive for many years. Young children generally become infected through accidentally ingesting eggs from soil, water, hands, or other objects that have been contaminated

Here is a link that might be useful: raccon feces

Hi. Two weeks ago one of our cats (we have two), my daughter's female cat, neutered, declawed, disappeared. That night she escaped into the backyard, which is very small, and we didn't notice she was missing. Later I heard kind of a noise of some bumping into a door and other little noise, I thouhg nothing of it because my adult children were out for the nigth. The next day my daughter looke all over for her cat, has been her pet since she was ten years old, and didn't find it, but, we found lots of cat's fur around in the backyard. I remember seeing a raccoon, close to my neighboor's back porch one month ago (she keeps her cats out all the time) and I know that we have an oppossum under our shed, but didn't make much out of it. I didn't know that these wild animals could kill or attack cats. Our pet didn't appear yet, shall I keep my hopes about her coming back or go with my feelings that she is dead? I have posted flyers around the neighborood but received two phone calls about cat seeing that looks like mine but no catches.

I am glad to see this thread. We have a raccoon that has been raiding the bird feeders on the deck and elsewhere and last night spotted it walking around the chicken pen (they are shut up in a coop during the night.) After a couple of failed attempts to shoot it (it flees when we open the door onto the deck) weÂve decided to live-trap it. If we trap and then shoot it, how should the body be disposed of? I would assume it should be buriedÂhow deep? How far from the house (we have 20 acres). Any other ideas?

We have 2 outside cats.
One night heard a terrible ruckus.
When I ran outside there was a HUGE possum attacking both cats in the garage. If I hadn't intervened they would probably be dead.

I'm an animal rights person who has done a lot of research on raccoons over the years. I've read a lot of good posts on this site, but I just wanted to dispel a couple myths I've read.

First, raccoons can kill any cat or dog. The posts that say "get a couple dogs" must realize that a raccoon will bite the dog's tongue when cornered and the dog bleeds to death. Their natural predators are cyotes, so if you want to make things really bad, just import some cyotes.

People who advocate poisoning them are playing with fire. Your dog or cat will probably find the bait first, then die a horrible long and painful death.

Having said I'm an animal lover, I also think in urban areas where raccoons have become overpopulated there has to be a reduction in their numbers; i.e. euthanasia. I live in Lakeview New Orleans where the raccoons had two years with mountains of debris, rotting food, and abandoned houses to thrive in. The problem in my neighborhood is unreal. We've had cats with their faces torn off, a little girl was bitten after she tried to pet the "cat with a funny face" - had to get rabies shots -
and dozens of other problems due to their overpopulation.

Here's an animal lover saying if the population has gotten out of control, trap them humanely and kill them quickly either with a 22 or drowning. If you have a large enough trash can, fill it with water and put the trapped raccoon in it.

Its a sad fact they are overpopulated on farms and in big cities, and few state or local agencies will get involved.
Exterminators make a great living trapping them and dropping them off six blocks away. I was quoted $600 to rid my property of approx. 8 raccoons.

My vet said the parasites and diseases they carry are in such dense quantities that dogs and cats can catch them just from sniffing the raccoons droppings.

Bottom line, if you feed them, or leave food out for your cats 24/7, or encourage raccoons in any way, you are asking for severe problems and perhaps the loss of your own pet.

Reading through this site, I am saddened. Funny how some of you say you are animal lovers and decide to like squirrels and other animals but think it's alright to be so horrific to raccoons. It's so hypocritical! Yes, they are very smart. VERY MUCH like dogs, in fact. They have to be savvy to survive. Of course, they get diseases, just as any of you would if you were on the run having to be in survival mode all of the time. If people felt this way about dogs some years ago TODAY your dogs would be living like raccoons. It could have turned out that raccoons were the beloved pets and dogs or cats were the enemy! We humans have taken their territory and we should be HUMANE enough to help all animals instead of deciding which ones are cute enough to feed and love and which we should poison, stab, shoot, drown... "The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treatedâÂÂ. Mahatma Gandhi
ALL ANIMALS NOT JUST THOSE YOU DECIDE ARE WORTHY!

We had a coon attack a dog. poor dog went on the screened porch at night and did not know a coon had scratched his way into where the dog food was. The dog was fine but we both learned a lesson. Coons WILL get through screens!

Lets leave Gandhi out of this... He was a nut anyway and philosophy that sounds nice won't save my chickens lives. If you have pets, livestock, kids that are being endangered by raccoons or coyotes, it's up to you to protect them. Squirrels don't attack my chickens, but raccoons do, so I don't care which one is more "cute"... but which one presents a bigger danger to my livestock, pets and family. Some of you nature worshipers have no logic. Mother nature is one mean and nasty mother. That cute raccoon would literally eat you alive if it could. It only cares about its stomach and human flesh probably tastes just as good as chicken to a raccoon. What about the way that raccoon treats a cat or a chicken? I say that the rights of my chicken mean more to me than the rights of some nasty opportunistic animal. At least they give me eggs.
And I'm not sure I agree with trapping either. Trapping and releasing only turns your problem into someone else's problem. There... so I probably won't have to spell out what I would do if I caught a raccoon messing in my backyard.

Coons, possums, and coyotes aren't the only things that will kill your cats. Owls also also kill kitty. I just bring my cats in at night where I know they are safe.

I love animals too, but when I got my animals I took on the responsibility of caring for them, which also includes protecting them. I don't want a bunch of disease carrying over-grown rodents getting in my stuff and hurting my animals. They get to live if they aren't "in my space." Same with poisonous snakes, rats, black widow spiders, etc.
And, yes, my havahart works nicely. It is the way to go, and you don't have to sit up all not doing guard duty on your property.

I have had racoon family and opossum couple that I watch on my land for years and I also have several outdoor cats and neither has ever bothered my cats especially not the oppossms. There are several people that will live trap and relocate the racoons. You know killing animals is easy but not very nice they are living creatures and just because we can carry guns doesn't mean we should use them on gods animals, that's why the world is falling apart( and global warming which we are to blame as well) if the worlds wildlife gets out of balance too much we will have even more problems that the ozone and animals are having a hard enough time trying to survive that and the constant building we do depleting their food which is another reason they go through garbages, etc. We are to blame for all the bad that is going on in the world, why make it worse. Humans have a great burden with the earth and its wildlife's care and we are failing miserably. What makes us any more deserving of life, more than they.Shame on all of those that kill instead of relocate. :(