Champlain Islander

Ya I know and felt bad about putting him down but he was getting to be too much of a problem. If they just mess around with the bird feeders I usually just relocate them but he did do some damage to the insulation in the rod locker so he is history. I checked and it was a adult male so I know I didn't orphan a litter. This is the first time I have ever had them bother my boat. I have a 50 foot metal dock and the bass boat is on a metal vertical lift. I just can't imagine why he went all the way out there. I set the trap at the halfway point so I might get another. When I trap them I usually get two or three before they stop.

childers

if you use the sradines you will probably catch them much faster

childers

and are you saying you drowned him? lol

m.t.hands

i think he is saying the coon commited suicide

Phil from Maine

Yeah it sounds like the coon called it quits to me too...

Champlain Islander

Unfortunately he had to be terminated just like a bad rogue bear. Eating garbage and messing with bird feeders is acceptable coon behavior here on the island. When they get so brazen that they break into camps, homes or boats then they are judged to be beyond relocation and rehabilitation. They can learn bad behavior from each other so this bad seed had to be removed from the picture. I am the kind of guy that will stop my truck on a busy road (this is Vermont so the roads aren't all that busy) and help a turtle get off the road. I have saved more than a few this year. I don't have any problem killing game that I intend to eat like my turkey from this year and last years buck and elk.I just hate to waste any animal or fish indiscriminately. I do kill lots of pan fish but I sell them and they provide food for someone so they aren't wasted. All the game fish are always released unless I chose to have a fish fry. So for me to kill the coon was a moment of sadness but I figured it had to be done. If I moved him he wouldn't have bothered me again but his bad behavior would have just been passed on to another person and or boat. I watched him die and gave him respect. He is now providing food for the coyotes, foxes and fisher cats that live in our woods.

Phil from Maine

Unfortunately he had to be terminated just like a bad rogue bear. Eating garbage and messing with bird feeders is acceptable coon behavior here on the island. When they get so brazen that they break into camps, homes or boats then they are judged to be beyond relocation and rehabilitation. They can learn bad behavior from each other so this bad seed had to be removed from the picture.

I have to agree with C.I., once distructive behaivor sets in it is implanted in then forever... An old house next to me is infested with them, the owner lives in N.J. and they have distroyed the insides very badly. I have been awakened more than once with one on my eve looking in a window. So I have recently went to the town office to try and have them removed and the house fixed so that they can not find a way back into it.

For as far as bears they live trap them and take them in the woods about 50 miles. Only to have to trap them again as they broke into camps. The bears that are live trapped are measured and tagged. When catching the same bear more then once it has to go to lalla land.

Champlain Islander

You are right Phil about their destructiveness. A buddy of mine had a real nice cabin cruiser type boat all equipped with electronics, downriggers etc. Over winter the coons somehow got into it where it was being stored and set up house. The boat was almost a total loss in the spring and it was difficult to restore it without gutting all the seats and fabric inside. He couldn't get the smell out of it. Luckily we don’t have any bears in this county since it is all islands and they are hibernating when the ice forms allowing them to get from the mainland. Nothing can be as destructive as a bear on a seasonal property.