Raccoon attack last night..

[Epent12]

Lucky you that morons haven't introduced raccoons there. Some dummy brought them to Europe and they're becoming a problem there too.

Mongoose and rats are a big problem. Someone introduced mongoose to the US Virgin Islands and they've become a big problem.
[/quote]

So, where do raccoon came from? I thought that european people are lucky to have some beautiful animals, but scrolling through the predators and other thread I changed my mind. I live in a marginal area near the city in jakarta, and there's no wild animal/predator in plain sight, maybe just sometime, there's a wandering lost exotic pet like the mongoose,sunda slow loris,etc. I'm lucky enough to see my flock of ±40 chickens live peacefully without the brutal coons,sly foxes,or eagles.

 

[Belott]

The stashing of the dead bird sounds more like something a bobcat would do. Once you have a dead animal be it bird or whatever, other predators come out due to the smell of death. Give the coon a couple days to start rotting and something will eat it too! More likely a possum.

Just because you remove one or two coons does not mean others will not take their place! If as you say your coop is predator proof you are better off leaving the predators alone. If you keep dumping dead critters you are just attracting more predators. Never ending cycle!

David

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Lucky you that morons haven't introduced raccoons there. Some dummy brought them to Europe and they're becoming a problem there too.

Mongoose and rats are a big problem. Someone introduced mongoose to the US Virgin Islands and they've become a big problem.

So, where do raccoon came from? I thought that european people are lucky to have some beautiful animals, but scrolling through the predators and other thread I changed my mind. I live in a marginal area near the city in jakarta, and there's no wild animal/predator in plain sight, maybe just sometime, there's a wandering lost exotic pet like the mongoose,sunda slow loris,etc. I'm lucky enough to see my flock of ±40 chickens live peacefully without the brutal coons,sly foxes,or eagles.[/QUOTE]
Raccoons originally only occupied river bottoms in what is now the Southeastern United States. After European and other immigrants populated the Americas, the raccoons prospered and spread across the continent feasting on garbage, pet food and waste food that litterbugs toss out their car windows.

The stashing of the dead bird sounds more like something a bobcat would do. Once you have a dead animal be it bird or whatever, other predators come out due to the smell of death. Give the coon a couple days to start rotting and something will eat it too! More likely a possum.

Just because you remove one or two coons does not mean others will not take their place! If as you say your coop is predator proof you are better off leaving the predators alone. If you keep dumping dead critters you are just attracting more predators. Never ending cycle!

David

Good points.
One of the reasons I immediately grill the coon and feed it back to the chickens.
Coons aren't native here so I don't have much of a problem dispatching them.
I hate invasives, which includes feral cats.

 

[JBarringerNC]

I just let the possum go a few mins ago, I have no reason to kill it b/c i'm sure as slow as they are it wasn't him. but if i'm wrong we'll never really know. he was in the cage for over 12 hrs so I'm sure he'll be steering clear of the area for awhile at least.


I'm going to try it again tonight but if another possum gets trapped i'm not messing w/ it any further. Since my coop is predator proof I'm sure this will be a one time occurrence (time will tell)

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Notice that when the fat dude runs out of chips that there are still coons running out of the weeds. If you see one coon that likely means that there are 15 more that you don't see. Mother Nature is up to her thong in raccoons. If Davey Crocket couldn't stem their numbers then what makes you think that you'll have any better luck?

Ya know, I grew up in the country with over 50-60 chickens and ducks at my grandparents. I don't really remember any times where we lost chickens due to Raccoon attacks.. they seem to be a much larger problem for backyard chickens in the city limits.
There must be a massive population of raccoon and fox within the city limits, you'd think something could be done about this explosion of varmints; like putting a pelt bounty on them..lol

I also grew up in the country and I have been saying the same things that you do for what seems like an eternity.

 

[Belott]

Food sources are easier to find in the city! Not only coons and possum, but coyotes and fox easily take fluffy and muffin too!!

Coons and possum take up residence in backyard sheds, garages and vacant houses! Coyotes and fox have learned to bed down during the day and hunt at night.
You can also throw the feral hog in there too!!

David

 

[Epent12]

Raccoons originally only occupied river bottoms in what is now the Southeastern United States. After European and other immigrants populated the Americas, the raccoons prospered and spread across the continent feasting on garbage, pet food and waste food that litterbugs toss out their car windows.

Good points.
One of the reasons I immediately grill the coon and feed it back to the chickens.
Coons aren't native here so I don't have much of a problem dispatching them.
I hate invasives, which includes feral cats.

You grilled the coons and fed it to the chickies? That's AWESOME!! There's a lot of ferall cats here in jakarta, but not a problem for my flock of ±40's, I have 7roosters on the guard

 

[Bizkit]

I catch coons quite a bit while in season. Corn and Cat traps work best. Cat food or tuna almost always catches opossums and once even a skunk. that was fun. Corn gets them every time. As I am getting my chickens today I know how big the coons are in my area. I'm on 7 acres backed up to 100's of acres in the middle of no where. They are the biggest Ringtail Fajitas I have made HaHa but it will be interesting to see how they react. My two dogs stay inside at night but I wish I had a watcher at night. I will have a game cam and my security light, as the Coop and Run are away from my house and close to the far side of my garage. Good thing about corn or even eggs in the trap is it will not put out a smell for others to come and check out. Don't forget to change the eggs out haha.

 

[familyfarm1]

I DON'T LIKE RACCOONS!!!

22 of are chickens were killed by them in one month!
Sorry nothing personal raccoons!

 

[penella22]

I'm not an experienced chicken person--I don't even own chickens yet. But I was reading about predators in "Storey's Guide to Raising Chickens" earlier today, and it has a chart on predators, to help you figure out what predator got in.

Under the 1-2 Birds killed section, it says "backs bitten, heads missing, necks and breasts torn, breasts and entrails eaten, body found away from housing, maybe scattered feathers" as clues, and every 5-7 nights as the likely time when raccoons are your predator.

For possums it says "bites on breast or thigh; entire bird eaten on site" as clues, and again the attack would be night time.

Raccoons eating eggs supposedly leave empty shells in or around the nest. So do possums.


More experienced chicken people can testify as to whether the book is accurate or not. But, since it's written by a woman who owned chickens for 40 years before writing the book, I thought I would share.

Sounds like it was raccoons. Glad your coop is predator proof. I'm still studying up on what it takes to make Fort Knox for chickens before I get any.