Raccoons everywhere! How dangerous is this...

[Lance]

Just found this forum and I'm glad I did!
Lot's of great discussion here...

We just moved into a new house with our rabbit Thumper
and there are Raccoons everywhere!

They nest under the balcony, under the porch, and
under the storage area.

We heard from the past resident that the raccoons actually used to come
inside the house on a few occasions and spend time on the roof - not good
since our rabbit Thumper runs free in the house most of the time and is alone
in his cage in the house at night.

We have been very careful not to have a door/window open unless we are in
the same room as the rabbit, and we have also been harassing the raccoons
when ever they come by.

I have also attempted to block their favorite spots to no avail.

We started hitting them with brooms, and trying to scare them with a bb
guns, but they are stubborn!

Last night I hit one off the balcony and it feel 10 ft and was quite stunned
(and probably hurt).

I felt terrible at the thought that it might be injured, but at the same time I
feel my rabbits life is probably at risk if the raccoons don't get scared off.

Now I feel that getting rid of these guys is NOT going to be easy.

We're either going to have to start really hurting these guys, or investing
serious time and work into blocking off areas (although we are renting, so
these efforts may be limited), or probably both.

Before I do that, I wanted to ask you guys.

Are raccoons really a threat to our rabbit?

I worry that if they got in the house they would eat Thumper in no time, but
maybe I am just being paranoid.

Our rabbit is 6 1/4 lbs and fully grown, but the raccoons are quite a bit
bigger (some are fat and huge!) and they are really nasty.

Just wanted to check for your advice first. I'd be happy to co-exist
peacefully with the raccoons except for this issue, and I really don't want to
hurt them if it is unnecessary.

Thanks in advance for you advice!

-Lance

 

[pinkyblare]

Just found this forum and I'm glad I did!
Lot's of great discussion here...

We just moved into a new house with our rabbit Thumper
and there are Raccoons everywhere!

They nest under the balcony, under the porch, and
under the storage area.

We heard from the past resident that the raccoons actually used to come
inside the house on a few occasions and spend time on the roof - not good
since our rabbit Thumper runs free in the house most of the time and is alone
in his cage in the house at night.

We have been very careful not to have a door/window open unless we are in
the same room as the rabbit, and we have also been harassing the raccoons
when ever they come by.

I have also attempted to block their favorite spots to no avail.

We started hitting them with brooms, and trying to scare them with a bb
guns, but they are stubborn!

Last night I hit one off the balcony and it feel 10 ft and was quite stunned
(and probably hurt).

I felt terrible at the thought that it might be injured, but at the same time I
feel my rabbits life is probably at risk if the raccoons don't get scared off.

Now I feel that getting rid of these guys is NOT going to be easy.

We're either going to have to start really hurting these guys, or investing
serious time and work into blocking off areas (although we are renting, so
these efforts may be limited), or probably both.

Before I do that, I wanted to ask you guys.

Are raccoons really a threat to our rabbit?

I worry that if they got in the house they would eat Thumper in no time, but
maybe I am just being paranoid.

Our rabbit is 6 1/4 lbs and fully grown, but the raccoons are quite a bit
bigger (some are fat and huge!) and they are really nasty.

Just wanted to check for your advice first. I'd be happy to co-exist
peacefully with the raccoons except for this issue, and I really don't want to
hurt them if it is unnecessary.

Thanks in advance for you advice!

-Lance

EEEK where do you live?is there any local authority you could phone to get them to drive them away? as in force them without hurting them? dont know anything about racoons afraid but thought i would reply welcome by the way
:wave:

 

[Santa]

:wave: Yes I believe raccoons can be dangerous to rabbits - however this is largely a UK based forum (although there are some members from other places such as North America ) and we don't have raccoons here so it's probably a bit difficult for anyone to give you much constructive advice on how you can best stop them from getting in. Good luck!

 

[Lance]

Thanks for the replies so far!

I live in California in the redwoods so they are all around the area where I
live - as a result they are used to humans and not easily scared. I imagine
most folks in the US wouldn't have this problem either...

I guess I was mostly just looking to see if others would as be concerned
about this as I am - the previous owners didn't mind as much but then they
didn't have a rabbit!

Just to clarify they don't seem to live here full time but seem to move around
- I think they follow the trash schedule because they seem to come to nest
here on trash night! Ugg....

If they feel comfortable coming here all the time I figure it's only a matter of
time before they venture into the house somehow - not a risk I'm willing to
take!

I think I'm just gonna keep hitting them with brooms and bb guns until they
finally get scared, and try to wall off their access points a bit better.

I guess an exterminator would just kill them all, so I suppose I shouldn't feel
to bad if some of them get hurt during the process...

There kinda cute when there not hissing at you.

Btw, I was reading some of the rainbow bridge posts - condolences to all.

We just got our rabbit last year who seems very healthy (ok maybe a bit fat!) - didn't
realize how lucky we are.

 

[linda.b]

I dont have a raccoon prob living in the UK, but being an animal lover I would'nt condone "hitting them off a balcony" as I would then worry it was really in pain or was a mum with babies.Not sure if they pose a threat to rabbits but I would be more inclined to make sure windows were secure with maybe mesh or something so buns can run about safely and raccoons can go about their business as after all, they are just trying to survive. We in the UK have problems with foxes etc and most of us remedy this by making sure the rabbits enclosures are safe not terrorising the wildlife!:lol:. JMO.