hek yea the raccoon will kil the cat in a sec

raccoons r very dangerous and a lil bit scary if they snek up on u at nite....i wouldnt keep any cats outside cause the raccoons r just goin 2 kill it or either give them disease so eventully they will die either way it goes. dont go near theis babies cause they will bite u or chase u iff u run from them....if u c a accoon going crazy mostly of the time they got rabies n lookin 2 give them away 2 other things that tries 2 mess with them or their families..their very dangerous

Andy,
Great points. Killing the raccoons a la an exterminator is a very temporary (and lame) solution. There will be more to take their place. Better to keep your environment picked up of food debris, use well-sealing garbage cans, and demand neighbors stop feeding them. Manage small pets as best as possible (keep 'em indoors at least during hours of darkness).

Chances are good the mama raccoons are especially territorial now with their grown babies still in tow. They will re-locate on their own.

Oh, and I've seen plenty of cat poo laying around... :)

This is why I love the Internet! Wake up and read about the Georgian crisis in the New York Times., then skip over to Myballard and read about the Raccoon Wars on Phinney.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was raccoon poop you are finding in your yard already. Cats are diggers. You wouldn't really find cat poo just lying around.

Sounds like a good plan, Evan, but...wouldn't the RACOONS poop in your yard once they'd chased off the cats?

Couldn't agree more Evan!!! Also, somewhat kidding, but cleaning up after an animal I don't own can be a bit annoying. Just to make this interesting, have you heard of these raccoon scarecrows? http://raccoon-x.com/watersprayers.htm

Makes us non cat owners want to train some more
Racoons; to keep other peoples outdoor cats from continuing to poop in our yards! JK.. :)

Lauram, that pdf sums up the regs: if it's not doing any damage, you're SOL, and even if it is, you'll need to get some permits. Why not call a pest control company? They probably know the laws and have the permits, and anyway most such companies are likely happy to trap illegally to make a few bucks.

Of course, in all probability you'll just be condemning that raccoon to death and another one will show up in your yard within a season. Sounds like a lot of trouble to go to simply because he watches you eat.

Your best bet is to not leave garbage or other food sources around, and to make sure your neighbors are doing the same. Ditto for shelter. If there's no food or shelter nearby, they'll hit the road.

So here we go again with the debate on indoor vs outdoor cats...

Who gets the last word this time? Stay tuned.

We've got one in the neighbor's tree that likes to crawl out onto a large limb and peer at us eating out from 10 feet above our heads -- very comforting. Anyone know where I can find out about city regs on dealing w/raccoons. I looked on the seattle.gov web site, but just found a generic pdf about "living with raccoons."

I've seen two raccoons on 56th and 11th. One baby raccoon and the other I presume is the big mama raccoon.

My cats can mock the raccoons from the safety of windows.

:( my neighbor's cat is in the kitty hospital missing a leg right now- We are pretty sure it is the raccoon family that lives in the tree next door! We're on 89th and 13th!

I dare you to take my cats for a week and keep them indoors. Good luck.

If cars and coyotes aren't enough to get people to keep their cats indoors, I can't imagine raccoons are. Then again, people are strange...

Where on Phinney Ridge?