Um, no. They were not living here and we walked in and decided to have chickens and roped off a chunk of their range to call ours. This farm was homesteaded over 140 years ago. There is not a raccoon or possum in the area that's that old. To the ones that live in our grove and on the prairie near here, we were here first. There are plenty of fields, groves, sloughs and wildlife areas around here. Hundreds of acres. Many sections of land. They hold lots of other wildlife and natural prey. They don't need to come near the buildings. If they find their way in, and get to my chickens because I didn't secure the coop well enough, then that's my problem. But if they're being destructive (not only to my chickens, but buildings, machinery, etc) they need to go. We don't just blow away every coon or possum we see (skunks, yes). Only if they're being a nuisance. BTW, I'd never get close enough to a cornered coon to give it a few good whacks with a stick. First of all, they're ferocious when cornered and will fight back, secondly, it would take more than a stick to whack it hard enough to kill it.
But how do they know that they arent supposed to be on your farm? By the time they "know" they are dead, and like that one person said, for every one you kill there is 10 more right behind it....whats the point of the endless killing....
I know up in Pt Reyes there is a herd of elk/ some nonnative deer species that were imported and they are trying to get rid of them humanely-- they started with laying out feed laced with contraceptives so no new babies which I think is a great idea....
its the same concept behind trapping, spaying and rereleasing feral cats-- that way you have a colony in place (no new cats will come in) that cant reproduce... but this was in SF... and sad to say... our songbird population did not return til owls were introduced 10 years ago and the feral cat population seems to have really gone down-- I used to roam through every nook and cranny with my dogs through Golden Gate Park/ the NNGRA land(too high energy dogs for the city really thank God we moved to some land)
Also I know not to corner a coon (I spent 10 years in Arkansas waaay out in the country).... maybe a rock or something, I am thinking unless rabid its instinct is to flee....