A Guitar And Gear Support Forum

I took my wife's SUV out for a change oil at the local shop. When we opened the hood, it was a mess! Then, we found a furry tail! A racoon! It was hiding head first in one of the engine compartment crevices.

It destroyed the underhood lining. That would cost me $$. It attempted to make a run for it at the oil change place, but got shy and went back in further into the hole. I am home now and left the good open so it would hopefully come out. It has not yet after an hour. Any advice?

Just wait until dark. He'll go looking for someone's garbage can.

I am an animal hating vegetarian (I don't hate them but I don't love them), I expect to catch heck for this.
You got a garage? Park it, start it, close the garage, come back in an hour. He'll probably be dead in place, dead somewhere else (hopefully where you can find it) or gone. If you are hateful then leave an easy small opening so that if he does try to alope, you can have iron sights on his most likely exit.
I think if he scavenges at night, he'll come back to his new home before light.

Borrow a live trap, put a bowl of cat food or a few hotdogs in it. You’ll have him by morning. You can either take him away from your house and release him or dispatch him with extreme prejudice.

Most local police departments or humane societies have a live trap you can borrow/rent. At least in the Midwest.

I think it's gone. Poured some cold water into the crevice where it was hiding to make the place uncomfortable. Left it for awhile. Did a stakeout surveillance looking out the window with the hood open. Saw it finally come out and moved behind the engine block. So, I went out again in our Midwestern cold to shoo it away. Had a little fight with it using my extendable snake flashlight. It fought valiantly. I was victorious in the end! Poor thing. It ignored my tomato.

We could have been friends...

They hate loud music, so plug in, tune up, and crank it.

Glad the destructive sob is out . Peanut butter and spam would work much better than a tomato. like us coons are omnivores and high fat high salt works wonders especially in this weather. That or something shiny, they'll get their paws stuck in a bottle grasping a dime because they won't let go of the pretty shiny thing.

Meh, the under-hood fabric liner isn't exactly a necessity. All it does is deaden a little sound. I got rid of the one on my V8 Lexus so I could hear said V8.

I'd be much more worried that the bugger chewed up some fluid lines or wiring somewhere. THAT could be a major pain.

Nothing is more cute or more destructive than a raccoon. They got little hands and the brains to use them.

After the oil change (CASTROL!), did the racoon try to talk you into a brake job?

3 ideas.

Honk your horn with hood open, a bunch.

Garden hose pressure works. No worse than power washing your engine.

Get a big amp, put it under the engine with hood open and play some loud guitar.

another....mothballs into his nest.



I had 3 come into my back entry where I used to feed my cat. I was trying to broom them out the door, nicely.
One of them tumbled into a cat bed. The expression on its face as it turned to look at it's comrades was one of " this is amazing" . They arent evil. They are smart. I've found garden hose water pressure leaves a harmless but long standing impression that they better move along.

Hopefully the hood liner was the only thing he destroyed. I'm usually not a fan of hunting or killing anything I can't eat but that would be grounds for removal if it happened to my vehicle. Live trapping and dispatching saves you the possibility of shooting a hole in your radiator. Even a pellet gun is adequate for such purpose at closer range.

Raccoons cost me thousands by wrecking the insulation in my cottage. The French name for them is appropriate: ratons laveurs, or "washing rats."

Marshmallows work well in the live traps.

Somwhere I remember someone said "just get a shotgun", but that may be overkill.
Hope it resolved well with no other damage to your vehicle.

Coonskin cap is warm, just sayin'.

Maybe check for a nest? Maybe theres a whole clutch, or crash, or herd of 'em in there.

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Mon Feb 22, 2021 5:38 pm Hopefully the hood liner was the only thing he destroyed. I'm usually not a fan of hunting or killing anything I can't eat but that would be grounds for removal if it happened to my vehicle. Live trapping and dispatching saves you the possibility of shooting a hole in your radiator. Even a pellet gun is adequate for such purpose at closer range.

Raccoon tastes better than possum. Raccoon sausage = good eatin!

mickey wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:07 pm Raccoon tastes better than possum.

That's kind of like saying rotten eggs taste better than rotten meat

I've actually eaten raccoon before, I had a roommate who was into trapping, and I would not put it at the top of any of my "favorite" meats list. So yeah, edible but so are some kinds of tree bark

uwmcscott wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:26 pm

mickey wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 4:07 pm Raccoon tastes better than possum.

That's kind of like saying rotten eggs taste better than rotten meat

I've actually eaten raccoon before, I had a roommate who was into trapping, and I would not put it at the top of any of my "favorite" meats list. So yeah, edible but so are some kinds of tree bark

When I was a kid, a guy who worked for my dad had a "Wild Game Supper" every year for all his co-workers & their famlies.
This was in the mountains of north Georgia/east Tennessee. Everything it was legal to shoot and/or trap was on the menu.
You were never told what you were eating until after you had tried some.
With possum, he trapped them alive & fed them on corn for a month or so.
Never had anything bad to eat there.

mickey wrote: ↑Tue Feb 23, 2021 5:33 pm When I was a kid, a guy who worked for my dad had a "Wild Game Supper" every year for all his co-workers & their famlies.
This was in the mountains of north Georgia/east Tennessee. Everything it was legal to shoot and/or trap was on the menu.
You were never told what you were eating until after you had tried some.
With possum, he trapped them alive & fed them on corn for a month or so.
Never had anything bad to eat there.

We used to have one of those Wild Game feeds at a bar near our Deer Hunting grounds many years ago too, people would bring in roasters of who knows what. I would agree that there are good and bad ways to cook particular kinds of game too, but some of it just has a real gamey taste that no amount of barbecue sauce can overcome. I would put Bear in that category, it's a very fatty gamey tasting meat. Elk and Moose on the other hand are even better than the best beef IMHO. Another one that is pretty tasty is turtle soup.

you may want to replace that hood liner, the heat from the engine may damage the paint on the exterior of your hood.

I have trapping and relocating squirrels all winter. The new house has some nice oaks in the front and back so naturally there are a mess of squirrels. I cannot have them eating my vehicle wiring and other parts. I have relocated 21 so far. Finally I was not seeing any so I paused. I will not trap them again until fall. I do not want to carry a mom off away from babies and it's getting close to that time of year. Glad you got the raccoon out. I had a snake in my Honda one day. Going down the road and he pops his head up right in front of the windshield like the Loch Ness Monster. I was running 60MPH and he seemed to like it. I pulled over and he came all the way out onto the wipers so I flicked them on. He flipped in the air then scrambled back between the hood and the windshield back down wherever he came from. When I got home I opened the hood a placed moth balls all around. I guess he left, never saw him again.

^ I've learned over the years when it comes time to relocate varmints, the best location is heaven. Especially groundhogs. I let one go 3 miles from my house and a couple of days later, it came back.