Skunk or raccoon.

[Tim Aure]

Something is rolling my bees during night hours (see two areas where dirt is dug below hives) so I screwed carpet tack strips on the landing bd to dissuade them

[William Palmer]

Tim;  This also could be a possum.  They are active at night.    A live trap may be the solution.   If you catch a Skunk, you may have a bigger problem.   

    I have used Chocolated  EXLAX.   This cleans out the problem and the critters go away.

                             Good Luck     William Palmer     East Troy Honey.

On Fri, May 22, 2015 at 11:47 AM, Tim Aure <timoth...@gmail.com> wrote:

Something is rolling my bees during night hours (see two areas where dirt is dug below hives) so I screwed  carpet tack strips on the landing bd  to dissuade them

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[Paul Zelenski]

Just to be clear, the exlax is not a deterrent, it is poison. So, use appropriately and be sure there are no local dogs that might get into it. 

[Marcus Hagen]

A really good way to get rid of the pest is to pick up a conibear trap, I have used them for skunks and groundhogs many times before. They kill the animal almost immediately with no blood no spraying no mess. You gotta be careful with them as they will not discriminate and will kill anything that trips it (small dogs cats ect). But a bucket something to secure that and something to attract them should be all you need, it shouldn't be much more than 20 to 40 bucks. If it's a raccoon then you want to get a bigger one just to make sure it is immediately put down. Just my two cents on a humane way to get rid of the pest. PS don't catch a skunk in a live trap really bad idea been there done that.

[Tim Aure]

You put a laugh & a smile in my day

Ex lax :)  !!

I think the carpet tack strips are working but if not I now have plan B!

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On May 24, 2015, at 9:26 AM, William Palmer <easttr...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Tim Aure]

I've used them on wood chucks
With a fence around
They wouldn't go in my live trap
And they can devastate a garden pretty quick.
The carpet tack strips seem to me working... But I'm watching and learning as I go
I hadn't thought of the ex lax one
Still smiling when I picture the worried look on the marauders face.

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> On May 24, 2015, at 11:54 AM, Marcus Hagen <marcm...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> A really good way to get rid of the pest is to pick up a conibear trap, I have used them for skunks and groundhogs many times before. They kill the animal almost immediately with no blood no spraying no mess. You gotta be careful with them as they will not discriminate and will kill anything that trips it (small dogs cats ect). But a bucket something to secure that and something to attract them should be all you need, it shouldn't be much more than 20 to 40 bucks. If it's a raccoon then you want to get a bigger one just to make sure it is immediately put down. Just my two cents on a humane way to get rid of the pest. PS don't catch a skunk in a live trap really bad idea been there done that.
>

[Tim Aure]

On the garden I bought a cheap Ele fence setup at Farm & Fleet. Esp when my young set plants are in it works well
Bunnies get their fuzzy noses zapped and go to Mr McGregers garden instead. :)

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[Matthew Hennek]

I have to take issue with the ex lax suggestion. If your going to kill them, have the decency to do it in a humane way: trap, shoot, or use a known effective poison. Don't make the animal suffer a death of dehydration with a less than effective redneck home remedy.

I think you got a good solution Tim. I use a few strands of electrified wire at ankle and knee height. No coons, skunks, or bears issues.

[jbessetti]

I have yet to find any evidence that Ex-Lax actually kills them.  If someone has information regarding this please share.

Joe

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[Tim Aure]

I agree.
A friend had a bear bust through his apiary up by Portage.
Apparently the state reimbursed a solar powered Ele fence as his apiary was not near an electric source.
He's the one who got me into honey bees by putting a few hives by my garden and I was able to observe the machinations of bees and their hive.
I enjoy gardening, wildlife, hunting, fishing and sportsmanship. I watch how Joe B & Jeanne are gentle with their bees and the various bee keepers on the internet and their books. Being a bully or just being cruel is not my aim.
As I said the tack strips seemed to do the trick.

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> On May 24, 2015, at 3:42 PM, Matthew Hennek <matthew...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I have to take issue with the ex lax suggestion. If your going to kill them, have the decency to do it in a humane way: trap, shoot, or use a known effective poison. Don't make the animal suffer a death of dehydration with a less than effective redneck home remedy.
>
> I think you got a good solution Tim. I use a few strands of electrified wire at ankle and knee height. No coons, skunks, or bears issues.
>

[Joseph Bessetti]

Ok, it's probably the cocoa (thus the reason it needs to be chocolate flavored), which can cause hemolytic anemia.  Can't find information yet on dose, but it can't be much of a few pieces of this stuff "stops them from coming back". 
 
One of the easiest solutions to a skunk problem is to simply put the entrance out of reach.  An upper entrance on a full-sized hive is skunk-proof.  They might not even been able to reach an upper entrance with single boxes on your stand Tim, or you could raise your boxes up a little higher.  Problem solved.
 
Personally, I like skunks.  They get a few eggs once in a while and my dog can't seem to learn to stay away from them, but otherwise I kind of like seeing them around. 
 
Joe
 

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Date: Sun, 24 May 2015 18:58:03 -0500
Subject: RE: [madbees] Skunk or raccoon.
From: jbes...@hotmail.com
To: mad...@googlegroups.com

[Tim Aure]

This has been an interesting discussion/rainy day diversion.

They claim if the animal leaves its belly exposed the bees will sting easier the less than thick belly fur. Part of the reason I put mine up as the picture shows. Anyways, interesting discussion and I guess I'll never get to see the "oh oh" look on the face of the ex lax feasted bee rolling, sweet toothed critter.... Still, the little boy in me smiles at the thought. :)

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[Tim Aure]

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[Tim Aure]

Plus I'm glad it's not a bear or that would bee messy !

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On May 24, 2015, at 9:15 PM, Tim Aure <timoth...@gmail.com> wrote:

[Matthew Hennek]

Joe

bisacodyl ld50 rat: 4320mg/kg

Package of ex lax: 24 x 15 mg= 360 mg

Skunk (adult): 0.5-9 kg.

So one would say it's not lethal. Unfortunately it's difficult to say. As I'm sure you're aware, rat studies are done on healthy rats that have full access to food and water within reach. They are kept in a controlled environment, fairly free of pathogens. Wild animals don't have this privilege. I would suspect that the real world ld50 is much lower.

If it doesn't kill them, what is the mechanism for deterrence? A raccoon is just not going to put two and two together.

[Andrew Olson]

A good hunter always tries for a clean kill, but one has to be careful when one assigns human emotions and a human nervous system to animals.

While animals can suffer its not the same as with humans. When rats bleed out from poison they don't "feel" pain the way a human would and they mainly just get more and more sluggish.

Lead poisoning was always the way we dealt with skunks that you see during daytime, since they are probably rabid and can destroy a lot of other animals. If you prefer they make steel shot now for shotguns.

Andrew

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From: "Joseph Bessetti" <jbes...@hotmail.com>
To: mad...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Sunday, May 24, 2015 7:33:11 PM

[Marcus Hagen]

Agreed with Andrew and if a tack strip works then use it no need to kill something that you can just keep away without hurting anything else.