Raccoon..or snake?

[MommaHen1996]

So, before I got my girls, we had a raccoon problem, but my dog, and FWC “took care” of it…hadn’t seen or heard from one for weeks….well yesterday while taking my kids on a family adventure ..I noticed a bunch of coons out during the day by the inlet, which is just 15 minutes from my house…so I knew off the bat, something was up, so I looked up “raccoons out during the day” and news articles popped up about my area and how the raccoons have been active more during the day for some unknown reason. My guess is all the lots being torn down to make way for new houses…well anyways…..I was making a cup of coffee, and preparing my chickens breakfast at 9am (slept in way too late so I felt terrible) and I heard my girls make this crazy noise. So my first instinct is to look out the window..well I’m only 5 ft so…the ac blocks my view, but the girls were still tripping out, in broad daylight. So I sent my dog outside before me and told her to go check the chickens….she chased something up the tree, then behind the trash cans and now all is quiet. I didn’t get to see it, because a huge oak tree blocks my view…..my run is definitely one raccoon proof, but not if he keeps coming back and trying. Should I trap him and kill him? Or could it be a snake? I had a problem with black racer before…

 

[sourland]

I'll go with the raccoons. Snake should have still been observable.

 

[Ridgerunner]

There is no telling what it was, she may have even been chasing something that was not upsetting the chickens. That's part of the aggravation, you just don't know. Cleaning out those trees could disrupt many different critters, not just raccoons.

Your best protection is barriers. You can't be out there all the time. Your dog can't either if she sleeps in the house. You need something that works 24/7.

I am all in favor of permanently removing predators like raccoons. In an average year I might remove around a dozen. Some other critters too. It's not like they are going to go extinct. A big part of the problem is that just because you remove one doesn't mean you've removed the threat. You've stopped one that was actively hunting your area so that helps, but there are always more ready to move in. There can be more than one hunting your area at the same time. Several times I've caught a critter each night for several night in a row. If you set up a game camera you may be surprised by what you see. It is often more than one.

Trap and remove if you wish, I do that. But the main thing is to keep an eye on your barriers. Look for attempts like something trying to dig in. Look for weak spots.

It's a constant battle, you need to stay on your toes.

 

[papajoesfarm]

Four years ago I was riding my bicycle down a back road near our neighborhood and what did I see, but three racoons crossing the road. In broad daylight. Around Mid-day. My first thought was "rabid". One was extremely large, and I thought - if he's rabid, I'm going to need one of my shotguns. The .22 will just make him angry.

Our town Facebook page was lit up with reports of daytime raccoon sightings in our area. Everyone thought it was strange. And then one struck. My nearest neighbor lost every chicken except one. It turned out that a large racoon - I believe the one I saw - was coming around at dusk and taking his chickens. Ripping out the crop, and eating it. We trapped the big Coon, took it to the woods, and now it's pushing up daisys.

When they start walking around in the daytime, watch out. Their environment has been disrupted, and they are hungry. And relentless, when they find out you have chickens. A good electric fence will keep them out, but the only permanent solutions are either relocation of the racoon, or pushing up daisys.

 

[MommaHen1996]

There is no telling what it was, she may have even been chasing something that was not upsetting the chickens. That's part of the aggravation, you just don't know. Cleaning out those trees could disrupt many different critters, not just raccoons.

Your best protection is barriers. You can't be out there all the time. Your dog can't either if she sleeps in the house. You need something that works 24/7.

I am all in favor of permanently removing predators like raccoons. In an average year I might remove around a dozen. Some other critters too. It's not like they are going to go extinct. A big part of the problem is that just because you remove one doesn't mean you've removed the threat. You've stopped one that was actively hunting your area so that helps, but there are always more ready to move in. There can be more than one hunting your area at the same time. Several times I've caught a critter each night for several night in a row. If you set up a game camera you may be surprised by what you see. It is often more than one.

Trap and remove if you wish, I do that. But the main thing is to keep an eye on your barriers. Look for attempts like something trying to dig in. Look for weak spots.

It's a constant battle, you need to stay on your toes.

I thought about it long and hard the day of this post, and we ended up in the coop and heavily fortified it with different wire, buried wire and bricks…….well…woke up this morning to my koi fish out of his tank and left mauled…. I was livid, while getting the girls their feed (I store it in an unused deep freezer that super heavy lid) I noticed a large pile of….poop I think….and it’s not frog poop! (We haVe cane toads here)…it’s either possum or raccoon poop. Im upset over the koi, as he was with me for many years….but I never had a problem with critters getting in my huge outside tank -.- im so upset, I don’t think catch and release is an option. I think I’ll eliminate it, traps will be set later…what do I use for bait? Can’t use cat food, I have a tiny cat.

 

[Sooner Magnolia]

I think marshmallows will attract coons but not cats. Good luck!

 

[MommaHen1996]

Four years ago I was riding my bicycle down a back road near our neighborhood and what did I see, but three racoons crossing the road. In broad daylight. Around Mid-day. My first thought was "rabid". One was extremely large, and I thought - if he's rabid, I'm going to need one of my shotguns. The .22 will just make him angry.

Our town Facebook page was lit up with reports of daytime raccoon sightings in our area. Everyone thought it was strange. And then one struck. My nearest neighbor lost every chicken except one. It turned out that a large racoon - I believe the one I saw - was coming around at dusk and taking his chickens. Ripping out the crop, and eating it. We trapped the big Coon, took it to the woods, and now it's pushing up daisys.

When they start walking around in the daytime, watch out. Their environment has been disrupted, and they are hungry. And relentless, when they find out you have chickens. A good electric fence will keep them out, but the only permanent solutions are either relocation of the racoon, or pushing up daisys.

I think I’d be MORE then happy to take him to push daisy then have the possibility of them eating my baby girls -.-

 

[papajoesfarm]

Yup - strange as it may sound, Raccoons really love marshmellows. I have used the white gooey treat many times to catch them. Also cat food, although my cat gives me the evil eye if I take his food.

When I put up my first camera, I caught a picture of seven raccoons in the chicken yard in the early morning. One big one - probably a mother - with six smaller ones. That's when I swapped the old fence for electrified poultry netting. That stopped the intrusions.

 

[MommaHen1996]

I decided to pull an all nighter and wait quietly by my run, my chickens refuse to sleep in a coop -.- I ordered a couple trail cams, figured why not since we are trying to buy a couple acres in okeechobe…and it’s be a good idea to see what predators live there…before moving my breeding flock over there…

 

[MommaHen1996]

Also put padlocks on any entrance into my run or coop or chunnles…cuz people are stealing chickens here and the county over….why idk…but they are lol