“...catching them to release them in other neighborhoods is not very effective.”
I visited a friend in rural NJ and met her new husband. They have some ducks and chickens and rabbits and stuff. He said they had a bunch more, but a raccoon came in and killed them all. He said he trapped the raccoon and took it across the river and released it.
“Released it!!?? I would have killed it!”
“Ha! Well - I did. But seeing as you are from the suburbs I didn’t know if you would understand.”
It’s illegal to kill a racoon too - so he was afraid that I might tattle.
Here is the irony about that. In many states it is illegal to trap a nuisance racoon and release it. Instead you are supposed trap it yourself or have someone licensed to remove nuisance animals do so. And then he takes it away to have it euthanized. If you do it I think you call one of these licensed outfits and the end result is the same. Dead racoon.