How can I keep raccoons from taking apart and damaging my pond lights?

Use concrete to fix them more securely to the ground.

Haha, well, bonus points for not wanting to hurt them.
Maybe just start hanging pieces of bread, by thread, all over the trees and distract them. They will be too busy hunting the bread and then, when they wash the slices in the pond the fishies will get a treat too.

Here is a picture of one of the lights. The black plastic spike gets pushed into the ground and is left behind. They pull off the top and/or yank out the plastic support tube.

Two days ago I found one of the lights buried in the mud bank like a squirrel would hide a nut.

‘I suppose I could epoxy everything in place but I am guessing they would chew it up in place.

I have a picture of a raccoon face staring right into the lens of my camera. It climbed up the tree to investigate the camera and battery pack.

Buy better lamps?

I’m sorry about your lights, @LuckyGuy, but this is just cute. ;-)

Pic of raccoon face please!
Oh, and sorry about your lights.

Encase each light in a metal cage, and secure it to a heavy object. Done.

This is not one of my pictures but it give you a goo didea.
In my raccoon picture he is right up to the camera, all out of focus and overexposed from the too bright flash. I will have to look for it.

Try sprinkling them (the lights) with chili powder, white pepper, and/or alum.

There are fish in the pond so any chemical needs to be non-toxic to fish.
I did think about putting chili powder in the tube and the light but I was afraid the racoon would toss it into the pond and that might be bad for my little fishies swimmin’ in the water.

I am also considering a small device that would fit inside the tube and go boom if it is disturbed in any way.

Resistance is futile. Raccoons are in cahoots with squirrels. You’re doomed I tell ya, doomed.

I do have to agree with @janbb : you’re running the gauntlet!

Maybe something like this. Then wrap the block in chicken-wire.

@kritiper OMG I first read your post as Try spanking them…

Oooh, raccoon spanking! Pics or it didn’t happen!

Oh man…. These solutions are a much bigger deal than I think it is worth. They are just $1 lights and they look so nice when they are out next to the water and the light reflects off the surface.
I can sacrifice a couple by making them go boom or zap – nothing dangerous. Ranger Rick, Rocky and their pals are pretty smart. Maybe they will learn to stay away.
I’ve already put motion sensing lights out there that turn on if anything walks by the path to the pond. It is only 80 yards from my house so from my kitchen window, and through my Leupold 3–9×50 scope, I can clearly see the critters partying out there. The deer, fox and possum are spooked by the light but the raccoons don’t seem to care. .

What about trying to spray them with bitter apple spray, maybe the coons will associate the bad taste on their paws from handling them?

@LuckyGuy You are such a dirty old man – spying on all those critters! :-)

From the sea turtle: My cousins the raccoons sent us information through the grapevine. They are thankful for the toys, but really, you need more variety. Can we suggest some beach balls and lawn darts?

From Hawaii_Jake: Dude, host a rave party. That’ll either scare them away or they’ll join the party and get drunk and sleep.

@janbb Actually… I have watched deer doing it. It was over in seconds and neither one looked very satisfied.
(They have no idea I have night vision, IR illumination, thermal imager and my Leupold with the LR Duplex reticle,. Doesn’t everybody?)

Just a thought. Could you coat one of your lamps in cayenne pepper or hot sauce? They won’t come back.

Put the robot porcupine out and let it chase them

Some rodents will shy from Fox urine… Some animals shy from bigger animal urine. You could try peeing around there a few times yourself. That’s worked some for me and stray cats…

Coyote Urine If you can find it, get the viscous kind, or make it viscous by adding vegetable oil that has been heated to over 400°F for a few minutes, where it will turn solid at room temp, but act as a relatively neutral thickener. This way it won’t wash off in the rain and it will last longer between sprayings. Talk to hunters about this. The good stuff in the quantity you need will run you around 15—20 bucks.

You can always go Southern and git yurseff a Blue Tick Coon Hound. A good coon hound is the Red Bone, but they are a loud, howling, boisterous breed, kinda like a drunken redneck. There’s the Tree Walker which is part monkey and very playful. I like the Blue Tick. They are a calm, quiet breed—very smart, very intense and extremely loyal to their masters to the point of laying down their lives for them. All these dogs are bred to hunt coon and are very territorial. The coons will stay away if there is a Blue Tick anywhere on the property. But if you’re still traveling a lot, this wouldn’t be practical.

There are traps: for removal, but the minimum effective size is 12″x12″x32″ made out of galvanized steel and they cast anywhere from 50 to 100 bucks. Not really justifiable for one dollar lamps. But they can be used for other like-sized animals too, like the North American opossum and armadillo. Those two species are known carry a lot of bad diseases.

I think predator urine or the coon dog would be most practical. And a man in the woods can always use another friend.

^ I once had a Plott/Walker Hound X, a coon, bear, big cat, hunting breeds blend. That dog was INSANE! Pictures went crooked on the wall when he howled. haha

^^LOL. Yeah, anyone who has been around a Beagle knows how loud a coon hound can get when aroused. The Red Bone really is crazy, but the does his job well and requires a big piece of land because he’s always out hunting. But the Blue Tick doesn’t seem to have as many false alarms as the others. A well-bred Blue Tick will quietly investigate first before he sounds the alarm. The BT a good family dog and a good friend. But anything from a puppy mill is going to be high-strung and crazy.

Also, coons are nothing but little bears. Any coon dog will also hunt bear.

I wonder … if you can buy some additional lights and modify the works to provide a mild, but off-putting electric current to a neighboring light. That is, make the lights themselves shock would-be vandals and predators to take away the attraction.

@CWOTUS I absolutely have that technology. I can make it be a standalone unit with the battery in the plastic tube or use available electricity.
@Espiritus_Corvus A dog – even one so worthy – is a big commitment. Heck I’m having all this trouble for a bunch of goldfish!

These are all great ideas. I have decided on my next steps.
1) I will put some cayenne pepper inside the tubes of the lights that are furthest from the water.
2) I will smear some tabasco hot sauce on the underside of a couple of the light fixtures.
3) i will pee around the perimeter the next few times I am out there. I am, after all, the top predator. (Except for the coywolves who scare the crap out of me when I am not “prepared”.)

All of these are cheap easy and definitely worth a try.

I love this question @LuckyGuy! You really are a lucky guy. No idea how to deal with playful, vandal racoons, but I want photos and video of them!

@Earthbound_Misfit For a while I was posting pictures from my cameras on FB. Maybe i should start again.

Yes! You should! If only because you’ve been so absent everywhere and I (and it’s all about me of course) miss seeing you!

I love racoons. Of course, I don’t have to live with them, but I just adore their naughtiness and their little bandit faces. Hugs you Mr Lucky.

I was going to say get a good dog but that has already been shot down. petroleum jelly and cayenne pepper is what finally keeps squirrels out of our potted plants. May work for coons too.

L e s t o i l
Put on with a Q-Tip around edges, pine oil and other soaps will deter them from biting or grabbing.

@LuckyGuy I really want video of you peeing all around your lights!

LOL. @LuckyGuy. Get more expensive solar lighting and switch out the goldfish for Koi. Then you can justify spending some real money on protecting them!

Mountain Lion urine would work too. haha
Now collect some of that why don’t you!

I’d like to see film of collecting the coyote or mountain lion urine @LuckyGuy. Please do post.

@LuckyGuy You got me all hot and bothered when you told me you got the lights at the dollar store. I love that you know a good bargain when you find one. I shop there all the time for certain items.

I have not yet read the other answers, will do so after posting. I’m guessing that some type of scent that repels them would be best, if you could spray it, or rub it on the light posts.

I house sit for a guy who gets lots of raccoons in his backyard after dark. He has a BBQ grill on his back porch and a few months ago, I saw what I thought were dug up, chewed upon sprinkler heads. Turns out that those critters crawled up inside his grill, even though it had a cover on it, and managed to pull out 2 of the lighting mechanisms. I guess they had meat juice that had dripped down onto them, so the raccoons pulled them out and chewed them.

Or racoons really love lighting!

I can send you some essential oils. I wonder which ones they would hate most. Pink grapefruit, ginger, lime??

My dog in New Zealand chewed the door threshold on my back door. I put cayenne pepper on it and LOVED it. Chewed it more. The shit.
My dog did this because he was bored. Maybe you should create a racoon playscape. Keep them occupied with other things.

I know! Eat a mountain lion then pee! And post video.

I just googled and found some advice. http://www.homeremedyhacks.com/17-simple-home-remedies-to-get-rid-of-raccoons/ Mothballs in the tube of the light might do the trick. I have similar lights. If they take the top part of the light off and get a good whiff of the moth balls, maybe they’ll drop the whole thing and run off?

Let us know’

@cazzie Rodents are repelled by peppermint oil.

I don’t have any peppermint oil. :(

The article I linked mentioned ammonia or garlic and chilli powder and mothballs. I don’t have a mouse problem and I wouldn’t want to hurt the small deer and hedgehogs that visit us.

I made a “deposit” of about 450 ml, 16 oz. of top predator urine along the stones marking the path next to the pond. I applied it while backing up, with the wind at my back and continued the application until I ran out working fluid – about 45 seconds. I estimate it will take about 5 – 6 more applications. I will continue to apply the fluid around the pond weather and diet permitting.

Since I am applying it on the outside edge of the path away from the pond, rain will wash it away from the water. I do not have to worry about anything getting into the pond and disturbing the fish Wa, . 倭 .

♫ You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t pour into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off that old racoon and you don’t mess around with Lucky Guy. ♪ I am so awesome. I could write songs.

^ I thought it was ” you don’t piss into the wind. lol

@Dutchess_III I was thinking of giving you a GA for that one until I saw you already gave yourself one! :-)

LOL! I can’t give my self a GA! I can try to thank myself but it sends me to a Wikipedia discussion on narcissism. :D

Pretty sure it’s “spit” into the wind, @Coloma. Don’t think they would have played “piss” on the radio in the 70’s.

@Dutchess_III Yes, spit…that’s it, never mind, but I guess one shouldn’t piss into the wind either. lol

I’m sure that’s what he wanted to stay originally. I mean, that is the saying. But Croce was pretty clean. Gone too damn soon.

I don’t know if it is the pee, or tabasco, or just the general crappy weather we are having but my lights have not been touched! Yay!