Question
QUESTION: I would like to keep a outdoor house for wild cats and kittens for the winter to keep warm,Is there anything I could do to keep the Raccoons from going after them.???.

ANSWER: Short of regularly trapping down the raccoon population, I am not aware of any technique that will actually work to accomplish your goals.

Collar activated cat doors are too weakly constructed to stop raccoon entry (they just break in). So until someone builds a strong one and the public is willing to pay the costs of such a device, I wouldn't hold up much hope.

Unless you are just dying to spend money, don't waste your time with so called repellents, that includes, audible, inaudible and olfactory devices. They won't work on the raccoon.


Of course, I would strongly advise you against doing such a thing with these cats. It would be better to keep them in a large cage this would keep the cats safe and protect the environment too.

Free-ranging cats are a major environmental menace. They are also a potential disease threat. You can learn more about why free-range cats are a bad idea at http://www.icwdm.org/wildlife/housecat.asp


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hello, I have to say that the reason I don't want to keep them in a big cage which I have thought of is because my neighbors Rabbit was in a cage and a raccoon got the rabbit from the cage and lets just say the bunny is not a live anymore.So I guess I have a few more months before the real cold weather to come to figure something out Thank you for your time.

Answer
The reason why the rabbit was killed by the raccoon was two fold. First, the rabbit isn't as aggressive as a cat, and it lacks the claws and teeth a cat has. Second, if the mesh on the cage was finer say 1/4" weave then the rabbits would not have had to suffer like that.