Kitty using my yard as a potty=smells=what do do?

[calmloki]

Good reason to get your eyesight checked....

YouTube - Sears Optical Raccoon Commercial

Great ad - we are visited by Momma rocket and her annual brood of rocketeers, dumb opposums, and random skunks day and night. A week or so ago the gal went out on the back porch at night and was all set to pet one of the kitties when her brain kicked in and she realized that our cats don't have tails quite that fluffy. It was Flower, black and white and reminiscent of spaghetti sauce in eau de skunkiness.

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Good reason to get your eyesight checked....

YouTube - Sears Optical Raccoon Commercial

I love this commercial. I often let my little dog out into the fenced yard at night and wait for him to come back to the door and bark to be let in. At least my vision is not so bad that I would let a raccoon in instead. A couple of years ago I heard my dog barking his head off in the dark and I rushed outside to investigate. I found he had treed a possum...quite possibly one who had designs on moving in. Anyone else but this near-blind woman and myself talk baby talk to their little sweeties?

 

[Sarah in SC]

That commercial is awesome. One of our favorite stories about a dear friend who lived with us on and off at the beach was when he accidentally closed a raccoon up in the house thinking it was one of our cats. It was the middle of the night and had some major hijinks trying to get it back outside.

 

[NW-Bound]

Though I have not encountered them, I know raccoons are bad news. Nothing cute like some people imagine...

What's worse than a raccoon? A whole pack of them... They have been known to gang up on house cats to hunt and eat them...

 

[Purron]

Anyone else but this near-blind woman and myself talk baby talk to their little sweeties?

Guilty

 

[Purron]

What's worse than a raccoon? A whole pack of them... They have been known to gang up on house cats to hunt and eat them...

OMG - bbbamI, where's that "freaking out" thingy

 

[WhoDaresWins]

Though I have not encountered them, I know raccoons are bad news. Nothing cute like some people imagine...

What's worse than a raccoon? A whole pack of them... They have been known to gang up on house cats to hunt and eat them...

I don't live in the country but there is a wooded area out back bordering a public golf course. I will have to be on my toes when the pooch goes out.

 

[Martha]

Funny. I was just reading about how raccoons prey on egrets and other large birds.

 

[Tesaje]

There are a number of products available in big pet stores that are animal repellents, some for indoor use and some for outdoor. I'd spray that on the perimeter of your gravel area (reapply after rain) and like tooFrugal says, spray him/her with the hose if you see the cat squatting.
I think ammonia will kill the odor, mix it in a sprayer with water and hose down the area. There is a pricier product, called Nature's Miracle, that I've treated fabrics with good result.

No, no, no not ammonia. Urine contains ammonia so it will only make it worse. Ammonia smells like a litter box to cats.

Lots of Vinegar might help enough outdoors. The Nature's Miracle and the like use enzymes and they need to stay wet on urine for hours to work so it is probably a waste of money in that area.

Is the gravel rounded? Pea gravel is essentially like litter. Sharp stuff tends to deter cats. Fairly large stones would be more of a deterrent than small stones. Mouse traps are good to scare them off. The motion sensor sprinkler is good. Deterrence is the best strategy.

 

[Dimsumkid]

moth ball crystals work on most animals since their sense of smell is so much stronger than ours

 

[travelover]

Though I have not encountered them, I know raccoons are bad news. Nothing cute like some people imagine...

What's worse than a raccoon? A whole pack of them... They have been known to gang up on house cats to hunt and eat them...

I couldn't figure out how raccoons were getting into my bird feeder, past the baffle plate around the base pole. One night the motion sensor light flipped on and I saw momma boosting her babies over the baffle and then them tossing down the seed.

Criminals start young.

 

[NW-Bound]

I have read that raccoons are smart creatures. Their dexterity allows them to operate door knobs and latches. Someone even suggests that it is not fair that they didn't get picked as human pets, like dogs and cats. Well, there's rabies, and the parasites in their feces... Raccoons as pets, anyone?

 

[TooFrugal]

Though I have not encountered them, I know raccoons are bad news. Nothing cute like some people imagine...

Our friends who lived on a ranch called them mini grizzly bears. We had one try to rip through our tent when we were camping and asleep inside in our sleeping bags.

 

[megacorp-firee]

DW had the same problem in her garden. She started to spread hot red pepper powder (bought at the Korean store in bulk) and it worked. However after a few days of heavy rain she discovered that the cat came back and she had to do it again. However, now the cat is 'gone' or has found another litter box.

 

[Tesaje]

I have read that raccoons are smart creatures. Their dexterity allows them to operate door knobs and latches. Someone even suggests that it is not fair that they didn't get picked as human pets, like dogs and cats. Well, there's rabies, and the parasites in their feces... Raccoons as pets, anyone?

Dogs and cats get rabies and have parasites. That's why we vaccinate and worm them. Can do the same for raccoons.

Don't know if raccons can be bred into domestication like dogs & cats were. Domestication changes temperment into a more docile animall.

 

[travelover]

...........Raccoons as pets, anyone?

When I was a kid, one of the neighbor boys "adopted" a baby raccoon. It was delightful as a kitten but after maturity turned into a monster that no one could control - like so many wild animals as pets.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Had a neighbor do the same. Neuter/spaying of domesticated animals helps to prevent some of the more undesirable wild animal traits. Had another neighbor with a de-scented skunk. Also a fairly nice pet, but still, why not just get a cat.
The raccoon could be walked on a leash and had a big jungle gym type of enclosure in their back yard.
I should mention that both of these were adults. No one was foolish enough to let children handle these animals.

 

[Texas Proud]

Our friends who lived on a ranch called them mini grizzly bears. We had one try to rip through our tent when we were camping and asleep inside in our sleeping bags.

My wife and kids were camping a few weeks ago.... and they raided the food... took anything they could rip open, like bread, cereal etc... I think she will keep it in the car going forward...

 

[haha]

Guy really and truly is eggheaded! Kept waiting for the coon to have an up close and personal discussion with him regarding opening the door. Imagine my disappointment.

Coons are rough. I had a pit bull that wouldn't back down from anything. One morning I let him out without looking around the yard. He shot off after a coon. Somehow they got tangled in my fence- my dogs jaws clamped on the coon's ass, the coons jaws clamped on my dog's ass.

I grabbed a shovel and started pounding on the two of them and the fence. Nobody would let go, so I got the hose. That did it, and the coon took off into the swamp.

As a kid I saw coons tear up hounds, so they may look cuddly but they are biker nasty. I give them lots of room, though that seems pretty easy here in the city.

Here's one for ya. Ever seen a possum play possum? I have, compliments of this dog. He caught a possum in the yard and in spite of their very formidble teeth he mauled it. I brought him in, and went back out to see what kind of shape the possum was in. He looked dead and I couldn't see any breathing. Fortunately for him the ground was hard, so I decided to get the hose and wet a spot so I could dig him a grave. I went inside for a half hour or so, and glanced out the window once or twice. Finally I got my shovel and dug a hole, then came back to get the possum and he was gone.

Ha

 

[rescueme]

Interestingly, I have friends who have taken raccoons trapped in their hav-a-heart traps and relocated them.

I thought captured coons south of the Mason/Dixon line were just considered "dinner" .

Now I do understand "snipes" are a different animal...

 

[calmloki]

Coons are rough. ...
Ha

Ran a big coon off the back porch as it was having cat food dinner - shouting and door slamming from me. Startled it and it scooted about eight feet, then turned and stood up on it's haunches facing me and whuffed "really? C'mon then!" Now mind, that coon was way out of it's weight class, but it slowed me right down - I came to a stop and went with a "my place!" bark and a purposeful, but respectful, step toward Rocky. Coon left then, dignity intact. Most wild things don't want to fight but are willing if necessary. Coons seem more willing than most.

Last night watched a conflict between dumb possum and a little Flower over rights to a container of spoiled sour cream. Think possum was too dumb to leave till I slammed the door, then it scooted, Flower fell off the porch and then struggled through the flower vines to the sour cream - a process made much more difficult by keeping her tail in the locked, upright and fully bushy position.

Cats and coons don't bother each other at all here - lots of food, the cats move right away if the coons want to eat. Have seen the coons pass the cats within inches and watched cats sitting on a bench laying down watching the coons eat their food from a 16" distance.

 

[TromboneAl]

Combination locks. Racoons are cunning, but they have no head for numbers.

 

[NW-Bound]

...it scooted about eight feet, then turned and stood up on its haunches facing me and whuffed "really? C'mon then!" Now mind, that coon was way out of its weight class, but it slowed me right down...

Out of its weight class? I am not so sure.

Well, if it were an African honey badger weighting 30lbs, most people would run!

Honey badgers LOVE to hunt cobras and puff adders for snacks. They can even defend themselves against lions, and have been named Most Fearless Mammal by the Guinness Book of Records.

 

[Purron]

Badgers!!!!!!

 

[calmloki]

Flower came for dinner tonight. Pretty kitty and such a fluffy tail - this is about 3 feet from the open back door - the flash didn't even startle her: