bye bye coon! Long live the tort!
Need advice..rescued tortoise..
- Thread starter Tony the tank
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Geez that Raccoon doesn't sound right however, it brings back a memory of mine from a few yrs back that sent me a running as well. We were out fishing with our boys and our dogs. All of a sudden I heard a hissing sound..at first I was almost to scared to look thinking it was a snake which is one of my worst fears. LOL Anyway, finally looked over to see a raccoon possibly 1ft from me. I totally freaked out, dropped my pole, grabbed my dog near me and told the boys to run. My hubby had his back to us and turned to find out the commotion to see the raccoon chasing us all the way back to the car! Next thing you know hubby started throwing rocks at it to scare it off however, it didn't faze him in the least! So to make this long story shorter we ended up going back picking up fishing supplies and left asap. To this day we wonder was the thing rabid or was it a hand raised young one? It obviously wasn't full sized however, had NO fear of man what so ever.
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U have to shoot the coon
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Well was at the property today.... Now that I'm paying attention.. The place is loaded with gopher tortoises and burrows... My wife and I decided to mark them to,see how many there are ...Today we marked( numbered) 6 in about 3 hrs... And saw 2 more on the dirt road...
I also noticed that there are now two burrows on the east side of the house foundation.... Which is a problem as I'm fencing (wooden privacy fence with charged wire for the climbers)one acre around the house ( meaning the burrow will be inside the fence line) the remaing property will be field fencing..
Anyone have any recommendation..On one hand I don't want them to catch or pass any pathogens to my Sulcatas... And on another hand.. They will be well protected within the fence line..
Thoughts Opinions
I also noticed that there are now two burrows on the east side of the house foundation.... Which is a problem as I'm fencing (wooden privacy fence with charged wire for the climbers)one acre around the house ( meaning the burrow will be inside the fence line) the remaing property will be field fencing..
Anyone have any recommendation..On one hand I don't want them to catch or pass any pathogens to my Sulcatas... And on another hand.. They will be well protected within the fence line..
Thoughts Opinions
The ones that are at the house foundation: have you smoothed the entrance way and then leave and then check back a couple times a day for a week or two and see if they are active burrows? Sometimes they can be abandoned....if you find that they are not active--problem solved, if you find that they are active then you have an issue again---
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ascott said:
I'm pretty sure there active burrows.. As the house was just built 5 month ago.. I placed leaves in the openings and will take notice next time I head back up.. It's hard to see any prints as it been raining a lot lately...
Fence guy says he can fence off that section of the yard from the rest to keep the torts seperated and place a access tunnel under the fence so the gophers can leave the property if they want...seems like the way to go..
I must admit I have grown quite fond of the few I have seen.. Very inquisitive .. They will walk right under foot without fear.....
Hector, I was so happy to read this....I am a bit partial to these guys as well
I think moving the planned fenced area is what you will have to do, so glad that's now the plan. I am not up on the gopher laws but thought just as you can not relocate them, you also can not fence them in (which was your first unknowing plan).
As for the coon, while I think they are cute animals to watch, I think killing it was the way to go. I live in the country and it is no fun to have to deal with a semi tamed, use to mankind, raccoon that became a problem in the city so they brought it out to the country to "live free". Instead those poor animals have a rough time of making it in a new territory and we humans have a new "human educated" pest to deal with. Sometimes death is not as bad, as the reality of what their life might become.
As for the coon, while I think they are cute animals to watch, I think killing it was the way to go. I live in the country and it is no fun to have to deal with a semi tamed, use to mankind, raccoon that became a problem in the city so they brought it out to the country to "live free". Instead those poor animals have a rough time of making it in a new territory and we humans have a new "human educated" pest to deal with. Sometimes death is not as bad, as the reality of what their life might become.
Yeah- as you noted, there are laws about our native American tortoises that we must follow- even when it is unpopular.
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I was aware of the fencing requirements... Only reason I even thought of the fence with the tunnels underneath was to avoid having to relocating them and to give them some extra protection from predation..
I think you are right on with this....I too would want to avoid any silly relocation action---usually turns out horrible for the tort....you will also enjoy them as a wild tort to observe---very nice indeed
I can't help thinking what wonderful serendipity it is that tort lovers are the ones moving into this property -- both for the humans and for the native torts, who are obviously being treated with respect and care.
If its a known population, Im surprised they are allowing you to build.. but I also think its cool they are there and you wont hurt them.. will try to protect them.. I hope they don't get sick from anything tho...
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When we started to build..I needed to bring a specialist in to identify and mark burrows... There were 8 closest was 120 ft from build site... Temp fencing was put up to keep them out of harms way.. As required ...But they get through.....
On another note.. The burrows have been vacant since the raccoon incident as I marked the entrance to see if there was any foot traffic ( ) in and out...
Laura.. They let you relocate them if there under foot.... But you need a reason ( could be anything really) .. I believe the permit is $$$ and they tell you were to move them to.. Before this you had a choice pay to move them or pay to entomb them( bury them alive and revenue collected on the permits was used to bring the population back. < makes no sense..)
On another note.. The burrows have been vacant since the raccoon incident as I marked the entrance to see if there was any foot traffic (
) in and out...Laura.. They let you relocate them if there under foot.... But you need a reason ( could be anything really) .. I believe the permit is $$$ and they tell you were to move them to.. Before this you had a choice pay to move them or pay to entomb them( bury them alive and revenue collected on the permits was used to bring the population back. < makes no sense..)
Same as the yahoos here in California that think we are all idiots about the CDT---lets list them as protected, but then let the military consume their little area of habitat that remain --oh wait, if that does not work to do them in then lets build solar plants and express rail systems right through those few places....no sense is putting it politely....
Just wanted to thank you for the very interesting and useful information...
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