what does a raccoon sound like?

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

Most of what I have heard was contented chittering as they wandered around looking for food. Most (not all, unfortunately) raccoons who live near populated areas are too lazy to hunt and would really rather tip over your trashcan than steal your chickens and those usually make fairly friendly noises. The sound a lot like ferrets playing most of the time but the other night I heard one growling. The odd thing was that it sounded just like my dog! I woke up at 3 AM to my dog leaping off the bed, charging outside, and breathing loudly through his mouth (I could hear him through the walls) as he paced. Then I heard growling, which is odd because Loki seldom growls. The next night, same thing, but I got up and took my flashlight out with me. There was a fluffy little raccoon in a tree, and my puppy wanted it to come down and be his friend! The dog was wagging his tail, the coon was growling.
Call it what you will, despite his desire to befriend the bandit, my Hero dog has now FOUR times saved the same fool hen's life from that raccoon. I can't blame him/her for continuing to try if that dumb bird continues to sleep outside the coop in the same spot (we think) where she was just attacked. If it weren't for the dog, she'd be dead and we wouldn't even know what happened. Though I think it helps that the raccoon seems fairly inept-the hen gets enough squawking done to wake me and the dog, then gets away while Loki chases off the invader. He may want a new friend, but not at the cost of his old chicken friends' lives!

 

[Tala]

A raccoon in the coop sounds like a bunch of squalking from the ladies and a LOUD rooster alarm call!

A raccoon in a live trap generally hisses and growels, or trembles in fear - depending on his personality and human socialization.

A raccoon in one of MY traps generally becomes pretty quiet before the day's over.



I don't think you can really count on hearing raccoons sneaking in. The only thing I cound on is my rooster to sound the alarm and do his best to protect his ladies.
My dog was snoozing on the back porch when a raccoon got in my coop, so she's no help at all.

 

[gsim]

MSJones,

Do not let them free-range until you have positively trapped them out, period. You are setting yourself up for a gruesome experience otherwise. Trap and shoot until you have seen/caught none for a month or more before resuming your free-ranging. Alternative is to build a run big enough to be as good as free-range.

Chookchick has the right idea. A .410 shotgun is excellent choice for coons and assorted varmints. Way to go chookaholic! I have a 5 mile 4KV charger on my 185 ft perimeter pen. I put up 4 courses of hotwire, starting at 8" and ending at 42" on my 6 ft fence that is set in cement. I also put 24" tall roll of chicken wire inside all around at ground level to keep my chooks from poking their heads thru for mr raccoon to yank them off their bodies.

 

[urban dreamer]

It's true, Coon usually don't make a sound. Buddy of mine had us over becuase of some strange scratching noise and foot steps. We listened for a bit and heard something walking across the attic. My hubby pulled down the attic ladder, stuck his head up there, fell back off the ladder and said, "You've got a whole mess of coons up there!" When it was all said and done, we trapped and released 10 raccoons from his house. Many I was able to throw a towle on and just pick up, not scared of people one bit. One big female hissed and growled and spit. We used a live trap for her. We took'em out to my uncles and let them loose. He hunts coons and needed to "re-stock". All this talk makes me wanna load up my 10.22 and go coon hunting! Set up some traps and bait them with either a hunny bun or sardines. Watch your girls until the coons are all gone. GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[BellaMarie]

I feed three feral cats (that I have spayed, gotten shots, and released), and tonight the raccoons came around. It was dark, but I was pretty sure what was scaring the cats were raccoons. I moved toward them and then threw them some food, which they began eating, to keep them away from the cats. I thought they might have eaten it all and would go after the cats, so I threw some more, which surprised the closest one and he ran back and apparently (it was too dark to see) bumped into another raccoon. They got upset with each other and sounded just like pigs--loud grunts and squeals. For a minute I was afraid I was among wild boar, but they settled down and I could see they were raccoons. They kept their distance, and my feral cats nervously finished their dinners, leaving a few scraps. I was also surprised that they just ate the dried cat food I threw without washing it first.

My friend has a great raccoon story. She had a fish pond, and the raccoons would occasionally go fishing, so she built a little covered area to keep the fish safe. One night she came home to find that the raccoons had pulled out the pump used in the pond, unplugged it, and were taking it apart like little raccoon mechanics.

 

[silver-quail]

Oh god! Is this gonna be like what does the fox say

 

[silver-quail]

Holy cox your friend is lucky those coons didn't take off with your friends tv or other stuff living in there house and all