by Priscilla Feral

Raccoons are extraordinarily smart — their problem-solving skills have been compared to those of primates and birds.

Iowa farmers can learn a thing or two from them instead of relying on the same old, ignorant, lazy approaches to protecting their corn from the foraging animals — hunting and trapping.

It is shameful that the Iowa Department of Natural Resources is catering to that attitude by approving a new rule for year-round hunting of raccoons and limited year-round trapping to give Iowans more options to kill so-called “nuisance” raccoons. The rule was approved at the December meeting of the Natural Resource Commission and will be open for public comment through Feb. 6. Comments should be directed to Vince Evelsizer at vince.evelsizer@dnr.iowa.gov.

Iowa farmers and homeowners already have humane, non-lethal options to keep raccoons from damaging crops, such as putting electric wire around sweet-corn patches or installing a type of metal mesh to keep raccoons out of homes or barns.

Read the full piece on the Des Moines Register website here.