Anonymous wrote:OP here. You can be as crunchy, Mother Earth as you want to be. A giant, aggressive raccoon is NOT welcome on my deck. Ever.

I will continue my search for solutions.

OP, do you mean you were out on your deck and the raccoon came up with you? In that case, prepare yourself with work boots and jeans, and go after it the next time it happens. If you were inside when it came onto your deck, it was a bit brazen but not extremely so. Raccoons have been living with people for decades by now and are quite used to us.

Perhaps, you need to move back to the city.

The solution is to move to a nice high-rise condo. If you can't deal with wildlife, don't live where they live.

OP here. You can be as crunchy, Mother Earth as you want to be. A giant, aggressive raccoon is NOT welcome on my deck. Ever.

I will continue my search for solutions.

OP, the ones you need to worry about are the ones that run TOWARD you, not the ones that (correctly) ignore your clapping, shouting, etc. The ones that run TOWARD you may carry rabies. The others ones are just smart -- you're not really going to shoot them, are you?

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My main concern is that they seem unafraid of humans, which is NOT normal for any of these species.

THey have become habituated to humans since we have moved into their neighborhood.

Cut down your trees, cement your yard, dig up all flora and build a tall fence. Or move.

We just visited friends of my parents at their multi-million dollar stunning home on the outskirts of ski town in utah. The owner was complaining on and on about the bears and mountain lions in the public land behind her house. She didn't see why the authorities couldn't do something about it and get rid of the mountain lions especially. She called them many times until they told her that actually it was she that lived in their habitat.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. My main concern is that they seem unafraid of humans, which is NOT normal for any of these species.

Unfortunately this is actually becoming more and more normal. I used to live near a wooded area and our neighbors told us to put up a fence because as woods were being torn down, the animals had to go closer and closer to "civilization " for shelter and food and they were becoming more accustomed to humans.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/12-year-girl-thought-goner-bear-attack/story?id=19997134

electric fence the short kind to keep animals out

OP here. My main concern is that they seem unafraid of humans, which is NOT normal for any of these species.

Well if you don't even have a fence I don't see how you can complain.

Suck it up. You moved by a wooded area. Wildlife doesn't mean much to thrive. And, you're right, a fence won't keep out everything. Many things: squirrels, birds, chipmunks, snakes, mice, toads/frogs . . . will make it through the fence. Though, the deer, raccoons and larger mammals may be kept at bay.

Unless you're in a city center -and even then there will be wildlife- you have no right to such expectations as you have. Honestly . . . some people . . .

We moved a few months ago and I am horrified by the amount of wild animals in our backyard. We live in a large, planned HOA, and while we do have a strip of "woods" behind our house, there is another huge subdivision right behind our "woods" - its probably about 30' deep. We have deer, rabbits, raccoons, TONS of loud birds, foxes, all kinds of lizards, a snake, etc. just in 3 months! There is no obvious food/water source in our yard other than plantings.

I've heard maybe I should get rid of my hostas? I will do that if it will help. A very unafraid raccoon came right up onto our deck the other night and was not scared of our voices, clapping or our flashlight. The deer poop ALL over our yard and we have to scoop before the kids can play. I'm sick of it. We could put up a fence, but I'd rather not, and don't know it would keep the smaller ones out anyway.

Advice?