Each year we have to defend the food for the birds because we have families of raccoons living ‘somewhere’ around our property. We hoped that we could simply all share the birdseed, but this has never been the case, even when we’ve put out extra, expressly for the raccoons, off the deck.
They come onto the deck, eat EVERY SINGLE SEED plus trash the feeders many times. This combination is expensive for us and frustrating, because we’re TRYING to provide seeds for the birds, plus occasional squirrels.
“Raccoons vs Lewis” season is starting early this year. We’ve noticed the feeder being empty each morning for the last three mornings. Yesterday my husband put out the humane trap and baited it.
This morning we had evidence that a raccoon had 1) emptied the feeder, 2) gotten into the trap, and 3) eaten the bait, broken the cup holding the bait, and then tore out the back of the trap to get out!
So now we’re definitely fighting a wily, strong, and smart raccoon!
My husband took the trap out to the shop this morning, reinforced the back of the trap after repairing it, then brought it into the office so I could help him get the new cup screwed in securely. It is now baited and set again.
Round 1: Raccoons 1 Lewises 0.
We’ll see what happens in Round 2.
creativeartworksblog 
Good luck. The raccoons won here last year. After five nights of my hummingbird feeders empty and on the ground, I gave up. Didn’t even bother feeding winter birds this year, If you figure something out let me know.
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I’m sorry, but don’t blame you a bit for giving up. We ‘relocate’ the raccoons we trap, driving them out about 5 miles behind our home and letting them out near a stream. Some years our battles are more fierce than others.
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