bought a house with pond and turtle

Question
Hi Yexalen, A year ago I bought a house that already had a pond and 15-20
yr. old female red-eared slider living in it all that time, (prior owner's
daughter brought her home from school years ago). As soon as I first met her
when she came out of hibernation last spring I bonded with Rosie the turtle,
and over this past year was doing remodeling on the house before moving in
this March. Rosie had started to come out of hibernation in the last 2 weeks
and was getting to know me again, and enjoying the earthworms I fed her;
and then I didn't see her for the last few days. Last night the garden motion
detector (that had just been re-installed), went on and I saw a very large
raccoon tromping around in the pond. I went out to scare it off. This morning
I walked to the back to check the fence and I found Rosie out of the pond,
dead, probably she'd been there for a few days. There were no breaks in the
fence but it was bent down a bit and maybe the raccoons were able to climb
over. I feel terrible! I've had pond consultants come out over this past year--
-I put in a new filter and pump, a liner (because the pond being so old had
many cracks in the concrete and was always losing a lot of water), new
edging stones, plants, a big sunning rock...I did all these things because I
met this wonderful turtle and fell for her. I had not seen any raccoons near
the pond in the past year. Before that, the prior owner had a dog, and that
might have deterred the raccoons. I followed through on all the advice I was
given. I'd like your thoughts on anything else I might be able to do to create a
safe habitat if after some time I consider introducing a new turtle. Also I have
two cats and plan to adopt a baby soon, so any raccoon deterrent would need
to be cat and child safe. Thank you for your time and consideration. I am so
sad about Rosie.

Answer
Hi Sara, I am very sorry for your loss, Rest in Peace Rosie.

Racoons are always a problem for outdoor turtle habitats. Caging is usually the best option, with a top like in this link:

http://www.angelfire.com/journal2/ritas_yard/turtlerun.html

The motion lights should help scare them off if it catches them early enough.

The dog was probably the reason the racoons didnt come around but with your cats the dog may be a problem.

Just a strong fence like in the link with a top... you can build a door like they have to make easy access, you could also make it large enough to put outdoor furniture in so you can enjoy it with your new turtle.

It sounds like the way he got over was just climbing over the fence wall. If you had a fence ceiling it would have helped.

- Some places sell electric fences to keep animals out and it doesnt kill the animal but I wouldnt want it around my cats or a child. Its a mild shock just to get them to back off. I wouldnt use it but I figured I would bring it to your attention because maybe its something you would be interested in.


- Another option is if you go to a sporting/camping/hunting store you can buy bobcat or coyote urine. I know it sounds gross but spraying that around the outside of the enclosure will keep most of those pesky raccoons away. If they value their life anyway.


I hope that helps, and again I am sorry for your loss.
Best of luck,
Yexalen