# Varmit Blinder Needed! A light which will blind a raccoon at 20 Yards!



## RickSpringfield (Jul 18, 2009)

Long story short ... we live in the country and I am SOOOOO tired of Rocky and his family eating all of the bird seed. Not that a Flashlight will stop him from that ... we have other means. But I can't ever spot them because they are out a bit, and my most powerful flashlight is an incandesent bulb ravovac yellow industrial light or something. Anyway ... it sucks!

So ... looking for your choices for varmit blindness. Also, wouldn't mind getting a couple of opinions on a light to absolutly dazzle my Dad for his Birthday. He likes that sort of thing ... but only uses the internet in small doses!

Schools in session ... educate me!


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## thedeske (Jul 18, 2009)

Critter Spooker?

Will big light scare a coon with no noise to go with it?
I know from experience the big one's will crawl in your tent (right next to you snoring away) and steal anything that smells good. They're not easily spooked.

Then again, it would be fun to pop a TK40 or Whale at close range and see what happens.
They'll probably just snarl and keep munching.


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## Light Sabre (Jul 19, 2009)

The number one thing NOT to do is to corner a racoon. They become extremely viscious when that happens. A couple things came to mind when I read your message. Get one of those infrared outdoor lights and place it near the feeder. When they get near the feeder the light will come on. Get a really bright one. Or hookup a disorienting strobe light the same way. I have a 120db ultrasonic pest repeller that I bought one time. The frequencies are above dogs hearing range so they're not bothered by it. Not sure if it would work on racoons or not. Hook one up to the infrared light along with the strobe light. Some animals are really hard to discourage. You could also remove the bird feeder for a month so that they start looking elsewhere. 

Read somewhere that recommended not to have a full time bird feeder around. The birds become dependent on it and forget how to foreage for food on their own. The article said that it would be ok if it was winter time and the ground so covered with snow that the birds couldn't find food to eat. Just a thought.


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## Yoda4561 (Jul 19, 2009)

In my experience trying to shoo off 'coons in my backyard, nothing up to a 220 lumen Malkoff M60, 225 lumen Surefire M3, or my truck's headlights will spook one. Just seems to make him curious, surprising what with their nightvision being so good, but that's how it is. Those two pocket lights will cause an immediate flinch reaction on most sober people at that range (20-30 feet). If you just need to spot them a maglight with a good aftermarket LED mod will do the trick, or most any of the models CPF'ers carry.


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## Toaster (Jul 19, 2009)

Go to Advance Auto Parts and pick up a Professional's Favorite 17.5 Million Candlepower Spotlight for around $40. Or get the newer and more powerful Professional's Favorite 20 Million Candlepower Plus Spotlight for $60. Nothing handheld will come close to those for the money. The hotspot produced at 20 yards is painful to look at with night adapted eyes, much less have blasted directly into your face


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## Skyeye (Jul 19, 2009)

Heck, my Professional's Fav will fry eggs at 20 yards!


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## Fenris (Jul 19, 2009)

I don't think he expects the light to scare it away or melt it. He just wants to light it up so he can use the "other means".

Good luck.


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## Search (Jul 19, 2009)

RickSpringfield said:


> Not that a Flashlight will stop him from that ... we have other means. But I can't ever spot them because they are out a bit



The title of your thread portrays a different idea and seems to have thrown people off. Everything mentioned above is complete overkill.

Your just looking for something to light them up before you "light them up"..

I don't know how far out you are talking, but a Fenix TK11 or TK10 would help.

The two light are cr123 lights but the 11 throws a bit farther. Now they will both light up an object 50+ yards in the dark of the country. The 11 will just go farther. Think 100+ yards.

So the hotspot of the 10 would be better >50 yards. Anything over and I would get the 11.

Those are just two options that are about 70 dollars. If you don't have that kind of budget then we will find a better suited light.


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## kelmo (Jul 19, 2009)

The disco strobe on my Arc6 works on racoons. It was very effective protecting my campsite the last time I encountered the masked bandits.

Hey Rick, just make sure you don't blind "Jessie's Squirrel!" LOL


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## Black Rose (Jul 19, 2009)

thedeske said:


> Critter Spooker?
> 
> Will big light scare a coon with no noise to go with it?


Nope.

Had a young one on our roof last summer. Shined the brightest light I had at the time at it, and it actually came closer instead of moving away :thinking:


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## matrixshaman (Jul 19, 2009)

:welcome: Couple experiences with raccoons : The biggest one I've ever seen was about to go into my RV when I hit him with an HDS EDC Ultimate 60 (older version of HDS lights that had only 60 Lumens) I was outside the RV and this guy looked to be 60 pounds at least. He backed away as I kept the light right in his eyes as I slowly moved closer. He eventually turned and slinked off. Several others more recently have been hit with stronger lights as well as strobes and in every case it got their attention but didn't run off immediately - but after a bit did leave as I think they realized they were being watched and watched by something they cannot see so perhaps survival instinct kicked in as it was an unknown situation to them and they chose to leave. My impression is that you may not want to blind them so badly that they can't see to leave but enough that they can't see the source of light and they will develop some fear and instinctually leave. I'm thinking as I write to hold the light as high in the air as possible so you look big too. 

So which light - almost any current LED light IMO will probably work - my favorites would be Cree based LED's or a P4 running off anything from AA to RCR123, 18650 or 14500 battery. Those last 3 batteries are rechargeable Li-Ion batteries. Some of my recent favorite production lights - Liteflux LF3XT, Quark AA or 123, Novatac or Ra. All of these should give you some ammo to deal with those critters. In the past I had some really pesky ones that were beginning to be threatening to both myself and my pet any time I opened the front door. They found a paintball gun a little more than they wanted to deal with again.


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## Outdoors Fanatic (Jul 21, 2009)

SureFire M6 HOLA!


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## DimeRazorback (Jul 21, 2009)

:laughing: 
Racoon will go


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## GreyShark (Jul 21, 2009)

Pepper spray is the classic answer to this problem. The birds can't taste it but it keeps all mammals out of the birdseed. They say that grape flavored kool-aid has the same effect on birds that pepper has on mammals but I never tried it out.

Otherwise the brighter the better. A M60 works but an 1166 or 1331 works better. A shrimp in a live trap is the easiest of all.


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## Mr. Tone (Jul 21, 2009)

I didn't see you mention a price range so I will throw this out there. If you want something that will throw a nice beam a ways off and still be compact, get a Dereelight DBS V3. There are other small throwers out there but this one is made so that you can upgrade it and change it when/if desired. Check them out on Flashlight Connection's website. He also has a CPF discount. I would highly recommend the 1S or 3SD Q3 5A pill. The 5A tint is really nice outdoors and will render colors closer to what you see during the day IMHO. It is small enough to fit in your pocket but throws like crazy! It will put plenty of light on the coon for _other means_. You have to see it to believe that a light this small can be like a small spotlight, but it is $120 too.


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## Juggernaut (Jul 22, 2009)

Don’t hurt the Poor little coony’s:mecry:, we have seven babies come out some nights to feed on any thing we can get. You can often find dirt cheap “expired” bakery goods at your local market this will fill them up so they don’t eat your bird food:thumbsup: “they don’t bother eating ours anymore:twothumbs”. 
 
Lastly, You Will Not scare off any raccoons with any flashlight you will ever have:shakehead. It’s as simple as that, I find myself out back on my deck testing some of my lights late at night quite often with many raccoons eating on the edge of our property. A few nights ago I was using my *1,000 watt can light* and the coons didn’t even care when I pointed it at them! If 29,000 Lumens don’t bother them no light will:laughing:!


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## Flying Turtle (Jul 22, 2009)

I've never had any luck with lights. They come and clean up my stray bird seed every night and only going out and talking to them makes a difference. Might have to try making up some pepper spray. Actually the squirrels are a bigger problem.

Geoff


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## BoarHunter (Jul 22, 2009)

Let's see, big noise with a big flash to scare off the critter ? What about a .300Win Magnum ?


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## Mr. Tone (Jul 22, 2009)

BoarHunter said:


> Let's see, big noise with a big flash to scare off the critter ? What about a .300Win Magnum ?


 
He wants to neutralize the threat, not _vaporize_ the threat, lol. 300 Win Mag isn't big enough anyway, 50 BMG is what the doctor ordered!:devil:


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## da.gee (Jul 22, 2009)

Any "light" in 12 or 20 gauge should do the job.:devil:


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## thedeske (Jul 22, 2009)

Rocky says 'Big Deal' to silly human lights, continues munch and listens for the sound of large mountain cats...


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## krevo (Jul 22, 2009)

BoarHunter said:


> Let's see, big noise with a big flash to scare off the critter ? What about a .300Win Magnum ?




/thread


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## Snow (Jul 22, 2009)

I vote SureFire M3T, M4 or M6.


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## divine (Jul 24, 2009)

I would say that if you already have a maglite, get a Malkoff for it. This is basically the same story why Gene started making them in the first place.


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## Blue72 (Jul 24, 2009)

My experience with racoons is flashlights dont work.

Some run away when clapping your hands but not all.

Get an air rifle!!!


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## Illum (Jul 24, 2009)

Outdoors Fanatic said:


> SureFire M6 HOLA!



if you do that too often they'll get used to it. 
I have wildlife on my lot that I can't spook from 5 yards with a mag85


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## krevo (Jul 24, 2009)

From what I hear, garden hoses and explosives work a lot better than flashlights. For critters anyways.


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## Mr. Tone (Jul 24, 2009)

krevo said:


> From what I hear, garden hoses and explosives work a lot better than flashlights. For critters anyways.


 
Greasy, grimy, gopher guts! LOL!


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## thedeske (Jul 24, 2009)

krevo said:


> From what I hear, garden hoses and explosives work a lot better than flashlights. For critters anyways.



Perfect!!

*Carl Spackler*: License to kill gophers by the government of the United Nations. Man, free to kill gophers at will. To kill, you must know your enemy, and in this case my enemy is a varmint. And a varmint will never quit - ever.


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## [email protected] (Jul 25, 2009)

kelmo said:


> Hey Rick, just make sure you don't blind "Jessie's Squirrel!" LOL



I think your humorous word play is lost on the masses today! :naughty:


ROTFLMAO 



Edit: according to this garden resource site HERE squirrels hate cayenne pepper added to birdseed whilst the birds can't taste it... I wonder if raccoons would like cayenne pepper? OR perhaps you could alter the manner in which your bird feeder is suspended? :thinking:


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## prof student (Jul 26, 2009)

My experience is lights usually don't scare them away. Hate to say this, but, when we had that happen, the only thing that made them go away (other than time probably) was to shoot them will a BB gun. 

Talking to a manager who was an avid hunter said the BB gun will never hurt their body. It will sting them & make them run off, but that thier coat & skin is REALLY thick. You would need a rifle to penetrate. So, a BB gun/pellet gun or even paintball gun (if you have a kid) would do better, especially if its the same critter. If it is, I bet it comes back when you are not around. But if you sting it, it learns not to come around anymore.


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## Yoda4561 (Jul 26, 2009)

Probably true for the older low powered air rifles (sub 600 fps). Nowadays though 900+ fps spring air rifles are available most anywhere, don't think you can shoot anything with one of those without injuring it. They're also not powerful enough to humanely kill one without a perfect shot, not recommended in general unless you really know what you're doing. First you really should work on eliminating what's attracting them in the first place, the op mentioned a tent so I assume camping. Things like bears/mountain lions and stray dogs are also attracted by those smells, not a good idea to leave stuff out while you're snoozing.


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## Snow (Jul 26, 2009)

Well I went car camping with some friends last night and had the opportunity to try blinding a raccoon that kept sneaking around our coolers. At about 15 yards, the L1 on high was plenty and the M6 lit up the raccoon and everything else in the campground. Neither seemed to startle him too much, but when I kept the M6 trained on him for a few seconds, he slinked away. I was thinking if I could just shine the M6 on him for about 30 seconds, he might  :laughing::laughing:


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## Bullzeyebill (Jul 26, 2009)

We had so many racoons where we lived in LA that they were not intimidated by humans. Had one stand up and start waking towards me. Looked like a little bear and nasty looking. I used the appropriate force to deter him.

Bill


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## RTfact (Jul 29, 2009)

Sounds like the perfect opportunity to deploy the mighty Stanley 3000 HID. It's a retina ripper.

I do like the cayenne pepper idea too, in large quantities.


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## Cataract (Aug 6, 2009)

I came a cross a racoon once and a skunk on another occasion. Both times they where less than 15 feet away and I shone the equivalent of a TK11 on general mode on them (enough to count the hairs on their back). They where both minding their own business and didn't care about my presence, I just used the light to make sure they didn't try anything funny and they where aware of me. 

The skunk was already moving away and flashing it didn't change a thing. The racoon was walking peacefully in the same direction I was and flashing it didn't change anything either. However, I wanted to make sure I didn't startle him so I made some noise. He stopped and seemed frozen while he just stared right into my flashlight.

My theory is that an animal minding his own business that does not feel threatened to start with will just freeze. If an animal plans to attack you, feels threatened or hears some machine noise they will probably flee, but I haven't had a chance to test that out and I'm not really counting on it


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