We are having a major racoon problem - not in the garden - but on our front porch when we go out twice a day to feed two stray cats that wondered in half starved. We take the food in as soon as the cats eat, but the racoons are getting very brave and run at us when we try to scare them away (one ran straight at my ankle growling!) We have to carry a large stick like a broom handle to push them away from us. Even spraying them full in the face with a water hose turned on full blast fails to deter them. There are at least 3 of them and I am scared of them!
I don't want to poison them or do anything that would cause them pain like pepper spray, but I am at my wit's end! It is not legal here to trap and relocate. I am afraid they are sick and will bite one of us, or the cats...