Has anyone tried nite guard for raccoon control??

[cosmo1104]

I'm a pessimist . I always think ' if it really worked, NO ONE would have predator problems.'

For one thing you couldn't afford to have units all over the place. Secondly if it's solar with no battery backup and you live in a overcast area it's not going to flash much. Third I think predators are smart enough to notice the flashing red light doesn't move - it's always in the same spot, and maybe they are even clever enough to know there aren't any ONE eyed aggressors to chase them off.

I have used holographic tape and it doesn't seem to do much during the day. Maybe preds are just used to the colors flashes because so many people have lawn decorations (wind chimes, gazing balls etc. etc.) that can flash in similar ways and hasn't injured them. The tape is kinda pretty to look at but, like I said haven't seen any results.

Like alot of fishing lures....it won't catch fish, but it sure will catch fishermen.

I'm pessimistic, and rather pragmatic, most of that stuff is snake oil.
The online reviews are often put up by the sellers under pseudonyms. Most bad reviews aren't put up because people are ashamed that they got fooled, or the seller deletes them.
Owl decoys, heron decoys, scarecrows...predators are smarter than that, it might give them pause but won't work long term.
They'll figure it out it isn't a real threat and go back to eating your chickens.

You're better off spending that $20 or $40 on a few duke dog proof raccoon traps and them eliminating the raccoons.

yeah, I get that it prob won't work, but I've now heard from a few friends that have these that swear by them. And, you are supposed to move thier location every few days so the predators dont get used to them. I'm putting traps out too. But I figured this makes enough sense to drop $20 to see after hearing some good personal reviews. A friend on my facebook has been using them and swears they stopped them cold.

 

[topdycke]

I haven't tried it but it sounds very interesting!

Pretty doubtful about it working. Racoons arent put off by very many things. Let us know though. Come and join us on the Texas thread under Social - Where Am I Where Are You.

 

[aart]

yeah, I get that it prob won't work, but I've now heard from a few friends that have these that swear by them. And, you are supposed to move thier location every few days so the predators dont get used to them. I'm putting traps out too. But I figured this makes enough sense to drop $20 to see after hearing some good personal reviews. A friend on my facebook has been using them and swears they stopped them cold.

Pretty hard to prove whether they work or not, moving them every day or so would definitely help to unnerve a predator. I guess if you knew you had coons, or another predator, in the area by having lost birds then put the flashers up and the attacks stopped that would be pretty solid proof. I've read a lot of posts about folks who hadn't had any predation for several years then were wiped out, I would depend only on hard barrier protection if I had any risk.

Didn't mean to be snarky, just some dark humor, and am just a deep skeptic with absolutely no extraneous cash flow and a pet peeve about vague/false marketing . Good Luck to you!

 

[cosmo1104]

Pretty hard to prove whether they work or not, moving them every day or so would definitely help to unnerve a predator. I guess if you knew you had coons, or another predator, in the area by having lost birds then put the flashers up and the attacks stopped that would be pretty solid proof. I've read a lot of posts about folks who hadn't had any predation for several years then were wiped out, I would depend only on hard barrier protection if I had any risk.

Didn't mean to be snarky, just some dark humor, and am just a deep skeptic with absolutely no extraneous cash flow and a pet peeve about vague/false marketing . Good Luck to you!

lol, no worries, dark sarcasm just sometimes doesn't come thru via written word, but is funny after re-reading it. Dang coon just keeps trashing the live trap and stealing the food, can't get him in it. Weighted it down with heavy rocks tonight, should help. The light comes tomorrow, so I'll keep up how it works out. We have a BAD coon problem around here due to all the neighborhood dogs and cats and food left out at night, so I'm looking forward to culling the herd if you will

 

[aart]

lol, no worries, dark sarcasm just sometimes doesn't come thru via written word, but is funny after re-reading it. Dang coon just keeps trashing the live trap and stealing the food, can't get him in it. Weighted it down with heavy rocks tonight, should help. The light comes tomorrow, so I'll keep up how it works out. We have a BAD coon problem around here due to all the neighborhood dogs and cats and food left out at night, so I'm looking forward to culling the herd if you will

Well, and it takes one who knows how to appreciate that kind of outlook.

Live trap must be very well built to withstand a coon, and some coons can become trap wise.If the scary night eyes and live trap fix don't work, and if you seriously want to reduce the coon population look at getting some duke dog proof raccoon traps. From all I've read they are practically fool proof, but you must kill after trapping. There's a thread recently where they've caught like 10 in a week using the duke traps.

ETA: added thread link

 

[cosmo1104]

Quote: Well, and it takes one who knows how to appreciate that kind of outlook.

Live trap must be very well built to withstand a coon, and some coons can become trap wise.If the scary night eyes and live trap fix don't work, and if you seriously want to reduce the coon population look at getting some duke dog proof raccoon traps. From all I've read they are practically fool proof, but you must kill after trapping. There's a thread recently where they've caught like 10 in a week using the duke traps.

ETA: added thread link

Lol! Yupp, ordering the duke traps tonight, so far here's my catch tally with the live trap, chickens 5, chihuahua 3 different times and yes he is that dumb, raccoons 0

 

[cosmo1104]

 

[hughes family]

Our chickens and pit bull share a house in the nighttime they are never really locked up.well our ducks,chickens and geese all share a house.i have no predator problems.i know not everyone can have one,and others believe all the media hype about the breed but thats another story.and yes we have kids and he is very loving and protective of all.and the cost was nothing.because we saved him from the pound.

 

[cosmo1104]

Our chickens and pit bull share a house in the nighttime they are never really locked up.well our ducks,chickens and geese all share a house.i have no predator problems.i know not everyone can have one,and others believe all the media hype about the breed but thats another story.and yes we have kids and he is very loving and protective of all.and the cost was nothing.because we saved him from the pound.

I LOVE PITS! Super nice dogs when raised right. Awesome family pets. Great job rescuing him, all 3 of my dogs are rescues and every one from here on out will be a rescue too. My next dog will be a pit or a mastiff, lol

 

[chickengeorgeto]

After about 30 or more years of using similar contraptions, the only thing that a Night Guard type device is good for is deterring night attacks by great horned owls on true free range chickens. In my experience it only works then if the light is between the owl and the chickens.