The raccoons of San Francisco are a politically well-organized group. Our raccoons have gotten legislation on the books that says that when they are a nuisance and are captured in a trap they must be released within one mile of the point of capture. It takes them about 20 minutes to walk back.
About five years ago I built the outdoor fishpond shown on the right. The raccoons promptly ate all the fish. Thus began a long war and I am still losing.
First, I put in a subsurface screen with space for plants. The raccoons tore out the plants and reached under to eat all the fish.
Then I built the steel screen, painted black, around the plants. The raccoons reached under the wooden deck and ate all the fish.
You need the illustration on the right to understand the next steps. (A) Is the waterfall that runs during the day, with a built-in filter. (B) Is the aerator, which runs 24 hours a day.
I decided to electrify the pond. The transformer puts out 40 volts AC with one line into the water. Touch the (D) metal strip with your tail and reach into the water and get a shock. Not enough to hurt a human, but plenty to deter a raccoon.
The raccoons learned to avoid the (D) electric strip, tear out the plants and entice the fish into their mouths. Then I placed (C) an electrified grate on the top.
The last thing the raccoons did was to notice that the electricity was only on when a little red light in the (E) control box was on. They waited until the light went off and ate the fish.
The passing of daylight savings time gave me a clue to what the raccoons were up to; they went by sunlight and didn’t notice I had reset the clock.
For the time being the raccoons are staying away because the electricity is on until well after daybreak.
I still haven’t won the raccoon wars.