Can I pick my melons early?

Question

Raccoons are eating all my cantelope melons way before they are fully ripe!!
I've tried everything but cannot keep them all out being in the country.
I've read to wait to pick until the stem is soft but by then it's too late!
Will they ripen properly on a window ledge if I pick them very early? Right now they are a decent size,about 1/2 to 1/3 what they probably would be if they made it to maturity, and they are still green (although even the ripe one I did get was still mostly green? Must be the particular variety I planted?)

Answer 1

They will not ripen. They will turn out like those you buy in the store, color but no flavor. Get some poulty netting and lay it over the melons to keep the coons out of them.

Answer 2

When to harvest:
When they turn a creamy gold.

Raccoons and their control:
http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn74116.html

Have you tried predator urine that you can buy at pet stores or on the internet? This might do the trick too.