How do I keep raccoons away

[JJSS89]

A bear. What a nightmare even thinking about it. Then again I have what some might call a phobia about bears. I would not live anywhere bears were even slightly suspected of ever being near the area...ever!!

I would think chickens would be a natural attractant for them, if they were in the area, and for that reason wouldn't have them if I thought there could be a bear within a hundred miles.

tough to live somewhere in the USA (minus the desert) without being within a few miles of bears

 

[PuffyBirds]

I don't know much about this, but I think I know a solution. Are the raccoons digging under the chicken coop? Because then you would have to nail or staple chicken wire to the bottom of the cage so they can't dig up. But hat's all I know.

 

[ladycat]

tough to live somewhere in the USA (minus the desert) without being within a few miles of bears

I'm not in the desert and I'm well within the "no bear population" according to this map: http://geology.com/stories/13/bear-areas/

We have cougars and coyotes, but definitely no bears here.

 

[enola]

Bears don't read maps, neither do any of the other predators.

 

[JJSS89]

I'm not in the desert and I'm well within the "no bear population" according to this map: http://geology.com/stories/13/bear-areas/

We have cougars and coyotes, but definitely no bears here.

My sister lives in DFW and there was a roadkill bear not 2 miles from her house. Cougars killed her two dogs last year.

 

[JJSS89]

And not trying to bash you LadyCat 'cause you didn't draw it but that map is hogwash.

 

[enola]

The truth about predators is...... They stay out of sight as much as they can, usually. Somewhere on here there is a night video of a woman who heard a noise in her back yard, she went out to investigate the noise, you can see all of this on video. When she viewed the video later, she saw a cougar that was standing in the exact spot she was standing a little later that night.

She is a believer now!!

 

[ladycat]

And not trying to bash you LadyCat 'cause you didn't draw it but that map is hogwash.

This is a huge hunting area, and nobody has reported seeing any sign of a bear around here for over 100 years.

 

[JadedPhoenix]

According to that map, I live in a no bear zone yet I see them every few months. In fact, we had to take down our bird feeders one year since one would come and kick back with it on a daily basis. Most recently, less than a year ago, there was one scoping out my chicken run when I went out to check on them one night. I have bear tracks in my yard at least every other month. Just because someone hasn't officially reported the bears, it doesn't mean that they haven't been spotted.

 

[microchick]

Bears don't read maps, neither do any of the other predators.

Very well put.

For years MO Dept of Conservation preached that there were no cougars in the state. Never mind that one was killed less than two miles from our farm and Amish farmers report seeing females leading kits on their property. I think there has been enough documented sightings since then to get them to drop telling people that the only cougars in MO are juvenile males looking for new territory. Only a matter of time I bet before we start seeing the black bear population push north and now that they have reestablished elk in the state we all have something new and bigger to hit with our cars at night!

Don't get me wrong. I love wildlife. I just don't want to be patted on the head and told "Now Now, don't worry" by public officials who know exactly what the wild life is doing in any given state and only pass on what they want the public to know.