Re: [GSAS-Member] Deterring raccoons, was pond discussions

["Betty Goetz" <haika@drizzle.com>]

I wonder if those were river otters? I'd imagine river otters are more
agile than sea otters. I just know that my coworkers said they saw the
raccoons....but that's all second-hand information. I've seen tons of
river otters in Puget Sound but sea otters aren't very common. I know they
have been reintroduced along the coast on the Olympic Peninsula and one of
my old mammalogy buddies from Humboldt State was one of the folks
monitering the reintroduced population. But maybe the population has
exploded since then....gosh, I'll have to check onto that! Mink are also
relatively common....and pretty agile.

Betty Goetz - with the National Marine Mammal Lab right down the
hallway...time to talk mammals again

> I wonder if they where really raccoons or sea otters? I was at the
> marina in Port Townsend once, We had caught a 60 pound  Halibut and
> the bones and what not was out in the cockpit in a garbage bag. Just
> as we where heading to sleep a couple sea otters came on board and
> drug off the bag. I managed to get the bag out of the water with the
> main part of the skeleton and put it in a bucket in a hold to dump out
> in the deeper water the next day. The otters came back and where quite
> unhappy.... But they did get a share anyway.
> Cute buggers - I like them better than raccoons even though they can
> get onboard and mess up things a lot.
>
> Linda
>
> On Jul 14, 2008, at 1:19 PM, Betty Goetz wrote:
>
>> I'll be honest, those 50g stock tanks are pretty shallow. They
>> looked like
>> raccoon wading pools to me (weak grin). I 'might' get one for bog
>> plants
>> but I don't think I'll be putting fish in. I didn't think they were
>> deep
>> enough to provide any 'cover' for a fish trying to evade raccoon
>> paws so I
>> passed and got a larger tank. The 75g looks like the smallest at
>> DeYoungs
>> that might be good for fish, especially in raccoon country.
>>
>> Maybe it's all the Siberian husky smell, but I never had any
>> evidence in
>> 19 years of raccoons going for my goldfish at my old place. I never
>> had
>> space for stock tanks there, so used something similar in size to
>> whiskey
>> barrels and they were mostly placed near my front porch where they
>> dogs
>> spent plenty of time. And I did have plenty of evidence that they had
>> discovered my chicken coop...about 100' up on the hill from the
>> house! My
>> dogs never went up into poultry territory (except for the occasional
>> Siberian chicken raid), hence no dog smell deterrent.
>>
>> My coworkers have plenty of stories of raccoons swimming out to
>> anchored
>> sailboats in the San Juans, climbing up the anchor line and breaking
>> into
>> locked cabinets for food (and pooping all over deck), so I think a
>> determined raccoon needs something more substantial than netting,
>> but I
>> have no personal experience to fall on here.
>>
>> Betty Goetz - relying on Siberian husky power and DEEP stock tanks to
>> protect my goldies
>>
>>> I just got a little pond - thanks to Betty for suggesting the stock
>>> tanks
>>> at DeYoungs and Susan for the pond scoops!    All good, but the
>>> problem
>>> is: I have never in the four years I have been living here seen a
>>> raccoon
>>> in my neighborhood, until last night!!  The pond has been on the
>>> deck two
>>> days and they are already visiting it; I couldn't believe it.
>>>
>>> Does netting over a small pond keep them out of it?  It is only a
>>> shallow
>>> 50 gallon stock tank (about 12 inches deep), but it does have steep
>>> sides;
>>> is that enough to deter them or should I cover the tank/pond with
>>> some
>>> sort of netting??  There are just tadpoles in there now, but I
>>> definitely
>>> want to put fish in it soon, and don't want it to become the
>>> neighborhood
>>> raccoon feeder.
>>>
>>> Thanks, Connie
>>> (who has been learning a TON from all these great discussions!)
>>>  ----- Original Message -----
>>>  From: Tom Watson<mailto:onefish2fish@comcast.net>
>>>  To: 'Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member
>>> chat'<mailto:gsas-member@thekrib.com>
>>>  Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 10:02 AM
>>>  Subject: Re: [GSAS-Member] pond discussions
>>>
>>>
>>>  What keeps raccoons out of ponds are steep sides.  They can't put
>>> a paw
>>> in
>>>  the shallows to brace themselves when leaning out to snatch fish.  A
>>> shelf
>>>  along the edge would provide that place to brace themselves.
>>>
>>>  -----Original Message-----
>>>  From:
>>> gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com<mailto:gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com
>>> >
>>>  [mailto:gsas-member-bounces@thekrib.com] On Behalf Of Betty Goetz
>>>  Sent: Monday, July 14, 2008 8:17 AM
>>>  To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat
>>>  Subject: [GSAS-Member] pond discussions
>>>
>>>  Thanks for the pond discussions! I worked on my 2 larger stock tanks
>>> this
>>>  weekend. I wish my goldies would decide that Azolla tastes as good
>>> as
>>>  duckweed! I'm wondering if anyone has seen something that might
>>> work on
>>> a
>>>  stock pond edge to help grow marginals or bog plants?
>>> Hmmmmm....maybe
>>>  those plastic planters they make for deck railings??????? I really
>>> don't
>>>  want to fill up the edges with cement blocks to make staging zones
>>> for
>>>  pots.
>>>
>>>  Trish....your 4 goldies are doing great. They do seem to like flakes
>>>  better than floating pellets but are getting the hang of the things.
>>> They
>>>  are spending less time hanging out in the holes of the cement brick
>>> tower
>>>  I put in one end to stage some parrotfeather pots. Larry...thanks
>>> from
>>>  bring them up north for me! I know I wouldn't have made it down to
>>>  Enumclaw!
>>>
>>>  Raccoons & outdoor ponds - so far I've lucked out. All of my ponds
>>> are
>>>  above ground, which may help. Having lots of Siberian husky smell
>>>  (including one determined male who likes to mark the sides of stock
>>> ponds)
>>>  may help as well. I KNOW I've got raccoons around at the new place
>>> as
>>> the
>>>  neighbors have warned me. The chickens get locked in at night (weak
>>> grin).
>>>
>>>  Betty Goetz
>>>
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