Somebody here was absolutely correct...

[miguynmkoi]

Unfortunately the raccoons are back.  Maybe a couple of months ago I thought we had winds strong enough to blow all my lily pots over in my kiddie pond.  All the 2" to 3" feeder fish I had in it were all still there when I re-potted the lilies and changed the muddy water.  Someone here said it sounded like a raccoon raid.  I said there were no raccoons seen here in many years. 
Never say never.....

Well last night I heard noise on the roof section outside my bedroom window.  When I opened the drapes, SURPRISE!  Two big shining eyes looking right back at me was the biggest raccoon I have ever seen.  It so startled me that I screamed louder than I ever have in ages.  Probably scared the ka-jeebies out of it too.  It ran off climbing up onto the main roof of the house.  Likely it was on its way to the warm solar panels above.

I could barely sleep last night imagining all the damaging things that raccoon could do to my ponds.  Mostly worried for my fish.  This morning I put chicken wire over the barrel tubs with lilies and goldies.  Need to figure out how to cover the kiddie pools and main pond full of my precious babes. 

Exactly how do raccoons go about fishing for fish?  I hope I don't attract these masked marauders back to the neighborhood!  No one would thank me for that!

[Jerry]

I have not seen one locally in 35 years, but I am told my neighbors Malmute was just beat up by one.  Now I can worry about the pond!

[Kittyzee]

Racoons love water.  They are always in the streams and creeks locally feeling around with their hands for snails and little morsels.  Their hands must be very sensitive to touch because as they are feeding, they rarely look down at what they are doing but are gazing around at their surroundings.  I don't know if racoons actually fish, but if they are in your pond and your fish are tame and curious and unafraid, then they are food to a racoon.   

[Esther]

They don't go under water for the fish I don't think.

Jerry, watch out because Dale a Californian on another forum has some nasty stories to tell from this winter. He has a 6' solid fence around his property and the raccoons had no problem getting into his pond several times and making a mess of all his lilies and the pond too. He says they come down from the hills.

[Mikey]

Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!  Don't even whisper the "R" word.  I never saw them here either for some 25 years and then about three years ago they appeared.  They have come back at least two times. 

[CT]

They will take your turtles as well.

[Derrick]

Paint ball gun with glow in the dark paint...good for all sorts of nasties. They hate the sting and hate the marking it leaves. They learn pretty quick.

Derrick

[Julles]

In my turtle pond, which has sloping sides, 'coons (and cats, too, I'm convinced) just wade in.  There are overturned pots for the fish to hide in, and they're fairly heavy.  But the 'coons just take their time, uproot everything, overturn the pots, and are good at getting every fish. 

Last time, out of seven fish, they got five.  And dint' even bother to eat them ... just an eyeball here, a half a head there, and left the bodies of the fish in the pond or on the shore nearby.

And, yes, they will get your turtles, too, especially the babies and they will also dig up the unhatched eggs.  Now when I notice a fresh nest, I dig up the eggs and move them to a protected pen, and all my babies stay in there, too, as it has a tight fitting hardware cloth mesh cover.

[karen J]

We've been wondering why our finch feeder keeps ending up on the ground, empty. Last night we saw her- a very large raccoon. I don't know why in the world she would want to eat thistle seeds when we've got a pond full of fresh fish! She also took or bundt cake (made of seeds) right off the bird feeder.

[miguynmkoi]

The raccoons have been in my kiddie pools again and tipped all my repotted lilies    All the water plants sitting freely in the pools waiting for the roots to fill in were pushed over and scattered....who knows if the goldies growing up in them are still around  :'(

I'm wishing my fish aren't so friendly.  We've stayed out in the evenings and just put our fingertips in the water and all the fish come for a nibble hoping for food.  Straight sides don't count for much if raccoons just need to reach in for a bite!

If I could shot straight enough to shoot paint balls....I know I would end up with a mess.  I live in a suburban tract home with all the concrete and painted wood fencing that doesn't mix with fancy colors. 

I can't imagine the horror if I found turtle body parts in my yard!

I use to think "R's" were the cutest things when we would see them while we vacationed in the mountains.  I've lost all affection for the the "R" word.  Aside from not ponding there isn't much I can do to prevent them from coming into my yard.  And I'm not about to quit my ponds.

[LeeAnne151]

Electric fences work well. Run a wire around the inside of your fence.

[Rocmon]

I've had good success with electric deer wire around the pond, though I still lose the biggest goldies each year. I've seen a coon jump over the wire and swim across the pond—one morning at 4 am. So, much of the pond now has double wires. I lost all my lotus last spring, 4 pots growing well. Last week I dug them all up to find a runner left in one pot—that's all that was left of all of the great tubers I had planted earlier. I cover them with hardware cloth and leave rat traps around the edge of the lotus pots now, and one has the rat trap floating in it. I'm still looking forward to finding a paw left behind.

I've treed them with a garden hose spray nozzle, blasted them with a water fire extinguisher, chased them, barked at them, they alway return and do damage when I least expect it, when I'm usually sleeping.

[El Jefe]

Well there is always the handy paintball gun! I have two now that have bright florescent backsides, They still  maimed and mauled my fish but they paid a price for doing so... My only problem is that we counted 13 in the wooded area across the road from me only two with "lesson learned" tattooed on their butts, that is 11 more lessons and a lot of watchstanding! I think the odds are against my fish with this program. My neighbor bought a scat mat for his dogs.... dog jumps up on the bed lands on the mat gets a poke jumps down... As it is housed in a plastic mat I am thinking you may be able to use that on a point of entry they lumber across the mat get a poke and leave. Now all my friend has to do is leave a similar plastic mat and the dogs stay away. May work on the racoons as well. Andy

[Julles]

Andy, are you saying that if they get hit by the paint ball one time, they learn their lesson and tha one never comes back?

[El Jefe]

I cannot be 100 percent sure but the first one was much larger  and jumped and ran out of here as fast as he could go. The smaller one has yet to return but he may not be as bright, who knows. Fish are still there albeit a little skittish now.
Andy