Each Winter we put out bird seed for the song birds and usually a 40 pound box will get us through the Winter. However this year for some reason we've gone through three boxes and it's just the end of January. However, we have figured out the primary culprit- a couple raccoons. The Communists have voted the area we live to be a non-shooting zone so I'm limited on my means of preventing the raccoons from eating the bird food. It would be most safe and specific to make a head shot at about 25'; but since PETA wants to prevent such ethical treatment of the problem I'll need to do something such as a heated pan of water to ground the critter then running a wire from the 220 outlet to the feeder. I wonder if U-tube would post such an ethical result of PETAs alternatives?