Damn raccoons - what to do?

[SteveS]

JMS's guns/coyote thread inspired this thread . . .

My wife and I live in a somewhat rural suburb of San Francisco and have a problem with raccoons. They come creeping around the backyard in the middle of the night. I wouldn't worry too much about them except we have two dogs, one of which is blind; I'm afraid he's going to wind up tangling with a raccoon one night and coming out on the losing end of the fight.

I want to get rid of the damn things! I've thought of shooting them with a .22, but there are other houses (way) down range, so I don't think that would be safe. Also, I don't want to set up a trap that might get one of the dogs. Usually, when they visit the yard, one of the dogs trees them, so if there were a reliable way to kill them at short range, when they're in tree, that would be ideal.

How can I get rid of these things, gents?!