another photo

We had a raccoon as a pet (in Orange County, Calif. of all places) and they are incredibly intelligent, and they got these front paws that are like hands. They will have no trouble defeating your skewer setup.

However, we currently have a family of them living next to my house in the storm drain, and they are content to swiping only one or two fruits, unlike the squirrels who will not share. I don't think they will be worth the expense of countermeasures. And despite their cuddly appearance, DO NOT mess with them; they are capable of shredding you to pieces.

My husband just reminded me of a story his father tells of putting trash in the back of a restaurant in "raccoon proof" trash cans. The first coon came and knocked it over and couldn't get in and he just lumbered away. Next thing you know he comes back with three or four of his buddies and they worked together to get the lid off.

I have to tell you that I actually bought a package of carpet tacks to put around my fence to keep the squirrels out. I finally realized that that was a futile effort. I bought a Kania trap instead.

My St. Bernard came in a bloody mess once while trying to defend "her" grapes (yes, she actually sat in their shade and ate them). After an altercation with the coons she was no longer tolerant of any critter in her yard. They made her mean to anyone but her family. Couldn't take her for a walk anymore as she would try to eat any little yapping dog that didn't know it's own size.

Wish I had advice but I agree with applenut.

Not sure if raccoon feel the same about it as skunks, but it would hand the guys you know a beer and have them 'tag' the space around your tree (male urine is magic for varmints)

I read of doing that with nails in a sheet of plywood to keep bears away from beehives. Let us know how it works.
Northwoodswis

Just a thought - I see another problem you may have - you have a metal structure/trellis/whatever it is very close by, and there is a wall behind that seems to be also close. Anything they can climb on, they will. If the roof is low enough, they will 'hang' off the eaves & try to reach. If there is anything on the wall that they could hold on to, they will.
It is constant battle with them. Try something that worked for me well (I don't have fruit trees, but they try to use parts of garden and/or roof for a bathroom):
I filled few saucers with Pine Sol, and placed around. Aparently they don't like the smell. I actually emptied 1/2 of bottle of it over the garage roof. They did not come back, but started using neighbours deck-right by the sliding door! So they also put out saucers of Pine Sol, it worked pretty good.
You have to re-apply after the rain. My friend did the same, it did work for them but they didn't feel it was enough. Now they are trying scattering moth balls around their (raccoons) favored places.
I know these are 'folk remedies', I tried few & Pine Sol worked best for me - so far.
Rina

Coons fit the definition of vermin for me. They flourish to extremely high populations around people, their feces is dangerous, sometimes harboring a disease that can cause blindness, and they are prone to rabies, especially when populations are unchecked and encouraged by the takings from humans.

They are also beautiful and intelligent animals that deserve to live on this planet as much as anyone- just NIMBY. I have too much easily available food for them, even if they only eat drops I don't want.

I trap them and kill them, which, I believe, does the species a service by partially making up for our intrusion that allows their populations to go unchecked. A pellet to the brain has to be much less painful than rabies.

Killing a pest that steals your fruit is certainly justified! You can also trap and re-locate. Keep in mind...there are many nocturnal varmits (like rats, opposums, etc) that are fruit thieves. Fight the good fight.....haha.

Well it didn't work, another guava gone that was about 7' off the ground, with seeds from the fruit on the leaves.

I think I'll try PineSol!

F.Y.I.
I have 3 dogs, 2 pitbull mixes (that bark at everything) and an old border collie mix.

This post was edited by kurango on Fri, Nov 29, 13 at 0:10

I have learned the hard way that what works one time may not work the next time and what works in one person's garden may not work in mine.

One simple trick that worked this past summer was to take the cheap plastic bird netting and make a floppy loose fence around the area of the yard the coons were causing a problem. I imagine their feet get tangled up in the netting so they give up and move off to some new corner of the yard. I think if you just placed it flat across the ground it would also work, but you have to block access completely to the area.

Keep in mind that if you are trying to be an "organic" gardener you can't use products such as moth balls and probably not Pinesol. Also know that trapping and relocating a wild animal is against the law in most states.

I have had a recent experience with my fruiting cactus, opuntia. I had 3 fruits on one plant and four on the other (first year plants) and one of the fruits was stolen and eaten right there. The skin of the fruit was left behind but the fruit was eaten. I thought for sure the rest would be goners but so far no one has dared to claim the rest of the fruits. Maybe planting fruiting cactus around will make them think twice before coming back???