Humanely, quietly, and safely killing a trapped raccoon.

Even a .22 subsonic will be very audible if it’s not suppressed. Most .177 air rifles won’t have the oomph to kill a raccoon quickly or reliably.

Sounds like your best option is to do the job manually.

Is there a county animal control department that can trap and move them?

I do it with a suppressed 22 rifle and CCI standard velocity but I do it outside. Racoons are surprisingly tough. Skunks die right there. Racoons thrash around forever with head shots and bleed forever with shots to the vitals. I would think that if you had a good back stop in your garage I would close all the doors and let it rip. It's going to be messy.

I'm kinda sad to see my fellow hunters recommend drowning. That's not a quick death, neither is poison.

I'm of the thought that if you can not humanely dispatch, call a professional.

If you have a truck, driving to a rural location is a good option. I'd say you could release, but I'm fairly certain that's illegal.

Cover the trapped raccoon with a heavy tarp and put trap next to a running vehicle. Run a hose from the exhaust of vehicle to under the tarp. The raccoon will fall asleep and asphyxiate. Painless.

How about a compound bow point blank

The pellet rifle between the eyes will do it. If you decide to shoot it, be prepared for mayhem. They don’t die easily or quietly. Just curious. Why aren’t you able to relocate it?

If the trap fits in a trash bag you can out in the trash bag and tie it to your car’s exhaust.

It’s more humane than you think. Hemoglobin has a high affinity for carbon monoxide, higher than oxygen or carbon dioxide.

if you catch them in a havahart trap just drive a few miles out of town and release them

Do you have a pickup truck or a trailer? Who is relocating not an option? That is what pest control companies typically do. Why can't you?

Just trap them and relocate them. 

Dispatch with a .22 while in the trap outside of city limits, or, don't dispatch at all. Just relocate them.

suppressed Subsonic 22. Or a 22short. I’ve used both

Can you drive to public land somewhere shooting is allowed and do it there?

you could use co2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Csmk3Hgk6kY

the way we keep the racoons away from the garbage can is by putting clean water and food on the back porch. they love cat food and they generally leave the cans alone if they are a more difficult meal. you don't have to feed them more than about 1/2 cup of cheap dry dog/cat food per animal per day to keep them out of your trash cans. if you separate your edibles out of your garbage and compost them they won't have anything to go into your garbage for. having racoons on a feeding schedule will also keep coyotes and other predators away from neighborhood dogs, cats, etc. another deterrent is a very bright motion activated security light. if you set it on a 1.5 second delay it will fire just as the racoon is climbing up and feeling vulnerable.

nature and wildlife management is about finding balance. something is out of balance, so figure out what that is and apply a change.

if you only kill the racoons without applying any other changes, you will need to repeat the deed about once per year or two years. modifying your inputs to the environment, learning about what is there and why, and then trying to harmonize the outcomes you are looking for with the systems that exists, will offer the path of least resistance and the most livable solution long term.

Cabel noose. Set it hard and it will stop bloodflow to the brain. Very fast, but you need to be physically competent to do it right. Can't half-ass it or it's gonna go badly.

Fill a garbage can with water and submerge the trap and raccoon.

I wouldn’t be shooting a gun in my garage, that’s a recipe for trouble or a visit from the police.

What you're going to want to use is cci CB .22. If you have a full length rifle to run them through they're nearly silent and you can point blank the raccoon in the garage.

There are plenty of commercially available animal-proof bins, or you can build an enclosure that is aesthetically pleasing, plenty of plans online for that as well. I have raccoons and bears on the property regularly, and have had zero problems.

I have had to do this a bunch in the last few weeks due to a hoarder neighbors house being over run. I got one of those large blue bins from walmart cut a hole in the side and attached a shop vac hose into it. The other end of the hose goes into the tailpipe of my truck. I put the cage they are in behind the truck put the bin over the cage and turn it on. My understanding is that they die from hypoxia and its humane and peaceful, essentially feels like falling asleep.

I crossbow them to the brain. It’s little more silent than the suppressed gun.

Plastic tote from Walmart, place trap in tote, duct tape it shut, use dryer hose from car exhaust to tote. Run car for an hour.

Or drown them.

There is no great way to do what you want in a city environment.

I helped run a trap line back when a prime raccoon was $40. We used a choke pole so as not to damage the fur.

Now, the havahart style trap will make that method impossible for you.

Your best option is a trash can full of water, dunk the trap straight in. Doesn’t take very long, and among the ways raccoons die in suburbia, it’s not unusually inhumane. Certainly less traumatic than bludgeoning to death, raccoons are tough bastards.

Get it in a storage bin, run a hose from your vehicle exhaust into a hole in the bin and let it idle. Sleepy time 💤

You have no choice but a live trap. There is no way to kill them without making a god-awful mess.

Cci CB caps. .22 short short

Call your local animal control?

FYI, suppressors aren’t like they are in the movies. People will still hear the gunshot, it just won’t make you go deaf.

none hunter but question, would carbon monoxide gas be humane? from news reports of accidents i think its a peaceful way to go?

Honestly man you're just gonna have to keep dealing with the issue. You're not gonna find a way to immediately put out a raccoon without something loud. It's just not happening

Could of things. Watch out for firing a 22 in the garage. It may ricochet on the concrete floor. Use a backstopping.

Even easier, load the cage trap into the trunk and drive far away. 15 minutes at least. Release the raccoon in a Ditch.

I did this 3 times, they never came back. Tho at the third time I was tempted to spray paint him ... just in case.

.22cb or invest in a suppressor and shoot any .22 out of your Ruger. The CB’s won’t cycle your action but it’ll work at close range.

Carbon dioxide poisoning or a decapitation/cervical dislocation would probably be your best bets. Do not recommend trying to do a cervical dislocation on a wild raccoon though- they carry tons of diseases (including incurable parasitic worms that can kill pets and humans and rabies, to name a couple big ones) so carbon dioxide is probably your most solid bet. DON'T use things like antifreeze or rat poison to try to kill them- that's a painful, long, slow death and if they get away and die somewhere else, now all the other animals in the area have rat poison in their systems.

I’m changing my comment to combine good ideas after reading others’

Catch the raccoons

And then either:

Take them to a storage facility and put a dryer hose from tailpipe to sealed up racoon container, running your vehicle for 20 minutes.

Or take to the woods and with a tight noose, put a bullet behind their ear. Or do the dryer hose/tailpipe routine.

1. Caliber pellet gun, between the eyes. No louder than a small firecracker and works like a charm.

1. Caliber pellet gun, between the eyes. No louder than a small firecracker and works like a charm.

Fill a garbage can up with water and drop the cage in the garbage. problem solved no noise at all?

Fill a garbage can up with water and drop the cage in the garbage. problem solved no noise at all?

Fill a garbage can with water and drop the cage in the water problem solve.

Fly bait......I hear they mix it with coke and leave a pan outside

You can get a starter crossbow for about 400 bucks that'll drop most deer. Racoon won't stand a chance.

I don't know where you're located, but some hunters use live raccoons to train coon hunting dogs. If you know of a local platform or group where you can get a hold of some coon hunters they would likely take the raccoon off your hands for free.

New bins, hazing, etc. The thing about raccoons us removing one or two , while easily done, will just result in available habitat for new raccoons to start moving in. And unless you get a particularly stupid one, your problem will never end and you will drive yourself nuts. The only way to deal with this permanently is raccoon-proofing your bins and making an unpleasant environment for them. Good luck!

.22 Colibri point blank behind the ear. They are a little quieter than the sub-sonics.

Havahart trap and a trash can filled with water. Kid I grew up with used to do that with skunka

Put the cage in the garage, shut the garage door, take care of business or you could always drowned them. Put the crate in water that’s up to you. I’m a big fan of instantaneous death.

use a maul

I use 22 quiet by CCI out of a 16" barrel, they are audible, but I doubt my neighbors can hear it (50 yards away). Especially 1 shot. My cousin shoots woodchucks all the time with a .22 in a large city and no one has ever complained. You could make a pop bottle suppressor if your barrel is threaded, but you'll want to destroy it after the shot. Dog proof traps around my chicken coop are money, but you'll still have to dispatch it.

Paintball carbon dioxide cylinder...trap in trash bag, put cylinder in bag opening and find way to open the cylinder valve, inflate bag with carbon dioxide, seal it up, go have a cup of coffee.

Drive the raccoon to a place where you can shoot it. Open field on public land or something.

I kill rock chucks all the time with a silenced 22 caliber air rifle. It rips big enough holes.

A large rock chuck is about the size of a smaller racoon, so I'm sure it would work.

I have a couple of crossman mag fire rifles that would do the job.

Look up Colibri This round won't cycle a semi but it's great in wheel guns or when you need a single quiet shot. It doesn't have gown powder the round is propelled by the primer alone. It key holes after 40 feet sounds like a nail gun. Should do the trick c

Ive smoked a couple through my kitchen window with a suppressed .22 pistol.

If you are worried about the sound level, just take it inside a garage and close the door, you definitely won’t hear it loud enough to recognize it as a shot. Had a neighbor ND 55g 556 in his garage and didn’t even hear it when I was in my house next door.

Ok, so here is what you do, this is tried and true for anything that needs to take a sleep that is the size of a cat-ish.

Trap in a plastic container like a bucket with lid. Drill a 10mm hole in the top, give it a 20 second spray of “start you bastard” into the hole. Cover hole with tape, wait about 5 minutes.

12g

Just did one last week with a suppressed subsonic 22 buckmark in a havaheart trap. One to the dome and it was done.

Live trap, bucket of water.

What air rifle do you have? If it's trapped, a headshot from even a Crossman 760 would do the job. But you have to put it in the right spot, or follow up shots could be really stressful and less than humane.

Why is relocating not an option? Seems much easier than your current situation.

In my experience I’ve dispatched 3 raccoons at very close range with .177 to the top of the head. Dead quick. No problems.

Trashcan full of water and drop the whole trap in, add cinderblock, pull up a lawn chair and enjoy your favorite chilled beverage.

The best answer here is to simply eliminate their food source. They will go away soon enough.

Drown the little bastard and don’t worry about it.

I wouldn't ever use subs to dispatch ever again. Not enough velocity to consistently enter the skull. I've put 6 rounds of aguilla colibre which are super slow... into the head of a beaver and it just made it bleed. Felt horrible.

Granted colibre are only 420 fps... super slow but sound like a cap gun going off

In your garage... standard velocity

There are different levels of .22 sub sonic. 700 fps, 900fps. Either one should do it at point blank.

You could always use a lethal trap i.e. a connibear 220 or 330, however you run the risk of getting someone's pet, which would be NO Bueno. If you go the haveahart route, after you catch your raccoon, put it in a heavy trash bag(cage and all) duct tape the opening of the bag to the exhaust pipe of your vehicle and let it run for a few minutes. Quick and painless. We used to do that for skunks we caught to keep them from spraying when they expired.

My agency suggest trap and drown in a garbage can for those unable or unwilling to discharge a firearm.

Make a box around the cage, get a hose from tail pipe and into the box. Let vehicle run for a little while.

Pellet rifle will do it. Or fill trash can with water and toss in. If shooting, do on a tarp or cardboard or something. They tend to bleed a lot, and flip and flop like crazy.

I wonder if there's a wild life rehabber that may try to relocate them?

Air rifle will 100% not kill the animal, unless it's like a leishy gun (costs ($3000+). Only thing to be weary of is your neighbors seeing you take the animal inside, them hearing any form of "bang", and then seeing you walk out with an empty trap.

I believe raccoons are small enough that drowning them is still considered humane. You just need a big enough container of water to fully submerge the cage.

Other option is a skunk killer thing. It's like a syringe on a stick filled with acetone. Supposed to kill quickly. Bit sure where to buy the set up, but the trapping section of any outdoor store might be able to help.

You can attach a large gauge syringe filled with acetone to a pole and stick them with it. I’ve never done it but lots of trappers do it that way.

I know this sounds FUCKED, but a hammer checks all of your boxes. I know that’s mega gruesome sounding, but you are talking about firing a handgun in your garage so the neighbors don’t hear.

Also, you can put the trap in an industrial garbage bag, run a hose to your cars exhaust, kill it with Carbon Monoxide. 

Me personally, I would a place to take it a release it laws be damned. All of these are better options than shooting it in your garage.

A lot of bad advice on here. If you relocate a life raccoon, you will get charged very heavily. Most states don't mess around with bats or raccons due to rabbies outbreaks.

Unless you know what you are doing and have a catcher's pole, you're gonna get bit/scratched. You will then have to go to the hospital for a preemptive rabbies shot and it's not fun nor cheap.

Check your local laws on discharging weapons i your city/township

You also might not want to shoot it in the head close up. Aside from rabbies, raccoons can carry other diseases or worms and a headshot will spread blood easily.

Call a pro OP! A lot will charge less since it's already captured

A small version of those pole nooses used by animal control.

Congratulations! You now have a pet raccoon! Good luck!

Get the experts in, the .22 kills more people every year than any other calibre .Do not shoot this inside your garage please

Aguila Super Colibre if you can find them. Out of a pistol they are quiet enough to fire indoors. Out of a rifle they are as quiet as a bb gun.

Not my video but you get the idea. We have shot coyotes at 30ish yards in the head and dropped them. A raccoon in a trap a few inches away it will do the trick.

https://youtu.be/p6keP9OygTA?si=y4kPymoRT9RyfkTd

Put some locks on your garbage cans. The raccoons are going to move on when they realize you’re no longer a buffet. This is the cheapest, easiest, most legal solution. And it doesn’t involve taking a life of an animal that’s just acting in the nature of the animal.

Most air rifles will do the work when you shoot them through the heart.

Headshots usually bring a reaction by convulsions.

Heart shots usually lead to them just kind of expiring.

I have always just driven maybe 5 miles away and relocated them.

Trap it and take it to a safe secluded area far away no need to kill it really

.308 to the dome

I've euthanized more than a fair number with a pellet gun. Draw an imaginary "X" from their right eye to left ear and left eye to right ear. Make sure the angle of entry is correct (you want to be at a 90-degree angle from their skull) and fire from a few inches away or less. Most of the time they'll do a little breakdance when they're on the way out... I'll usually load up a second pellet and tell them again just to make sure I'm doing everything I can to speed things along. That probably isn't necessary, but I'm sure it doesn't hurt the cause, either. Either way, it's over pretty quickly.

A 12g and a slug

Get one of these baskets, take it outside, boom

https://youtu.be/J_1W7bEU5vc?si=Cn5ccXchTo2AAu-I

Heya, if you’ve trapped it, just take it for a drive and let it out in the woods. They’re territorial animals and the ones in the area you drop it off will likely take care of it. Better than firing rounds inside your garage. Otherwise drown them in the trap. Brutal, but effective.

Suppressed 9mm to the head usually does it quickly. Last time I tried a .22 on a raccoon it was a bloody mess and he bled out slowly.