Predator protection

Texgal57 said:

Thank you aart. We will try the landscape staples. How far out would you suggest?

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18"...and you don't have to use 1/2" hardware cloth, larger mesh would probably be fine unless you have a rat problem.

JadedPhoenix said:

Coons can be bold, particularly if there are more than one.  I wouldn't count on your dog keeping them away totally.

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Yep, the most recent coon to visit my yard would scope out the yard from a distance and observe where the dog was... If the dog was in the fenced yard he/she would just say outside the yard fence that day but had no qualms about walking on the other side of the fence, if the dog was in the kennel he/she would jump the yard fence and strut it's stuff in the back yard within a few feet of the dog in the kennel.. In both cases it didn't matter that the dog was only a few feet away, the coon knew the fence separated it from the dog...

Can coons work a slide bolt lock?

Texgal57 said:

Can coons work a slide bolt lock?

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Yes... They can figure out most latching systems, best to invest in a keyed or combination lock...

A good rule of thumb, if a 6 year old child can figure it out so can a raccoon...

This is a pretty long read but it's worth the read, start on page 19 of this PDF if you are only interested in their ability to figure out and even remember how to undo different kinds of latches...

https://ia801601.us.archive.org/18/items/jstor-1412576/1412576.pdf

Some desert logic here, I have no idea if it works anywhere else....

We have to fully enclose any animal here, even the 70 lb dogs wouldn't survive at night if not inside. If it's not the small animals eating the food its the coyotes, bobcats, javalina, occasional mountain lion, maybe a fox, mix in a skunk, you get the point....

All of our enclosures have a solid bottom 2' (minimum) to keep the small ones out. Underneath that, is 8x8x16 block (cinder block) fully filled with dirt and set on solid ground to keep the diggers out. In 7 years, there has not been a single trenching kill. Lots of digging, lots of removed claws from concrete block, but no one something has ever gone under the block and into the run (or even close to worry about it).

Hardware cloth and chicken wire in the ground just rusts out before a few years and isn't effective, even in the soil with no moisture. We also do two latches on the gates: one at the the top to keep the children out, another at the bottom to keep the predators out.

Hope that helps.