adorable baby racoon suckling on its dead mother we trapped

[GoldApps]

It hurts so bad! Nobody told us there would be cute little babies!

It scurried off before we could stop it. We didn't know it was there tell we rolled over the body. It startled us as it popped off and ran away

Coons killed 5 of our chickens. The first coons we got were big boys. Then a female with teats but hubby said theee probably aren't babies because of the time of year. But this one had a baby on it. Hubby is done trapping now.

We're just going to get good about where the chickens sleep from now on.

 

[bobbi-j]

That "adorable baby" will grow up into a mean, vicious, chicken eating raccoon in a few months. Hopefully it will return looking for its mother so your husband can shoot it. Much better than it starving to death. My DH shot a raccoon in our chicken coop a few years ago - she was eating my favorite broody hen at the time. She had 4 babies that were outside of the coop. They were quickly dispatched, too. As much as I don't like the things, it's cruel to let them suffer by starvation.

How did they get to your chickens?

 

[Howard E]

I agree with Bobbi.

Keep the trap going and get jr or jr's. Cruel to them not to.

This is why I advocate electric fences. I don't have to deal with this type of messy business once momma and the kids get a dose of fence and the hurt it delivers and they find somewhere else to go.

 

[centrarchid]

Some of you people do really disappoint when comes mentality. First you destroy habitat sometimes for entertainment then you follow with a blood thirsty tone. Or you make so more pest are present than would be naturally because of how you manage.

OP, upgrade your defenses but avoid getting the mean mindset.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

I agree with both sides of this argument, but lets not let it get that far please... Whats done is done, so at this point i agree with dispatching the littles. It's humane to make sure they don't starve and die a miseable death. Going forward though, you may want to make a more suitable arrangement to protect the existing flock and dispatch only when necessary.

Don't get heartless, it's a slippery slope and we are all animal lovers of some sort. But do what it takes So your flock isn't at the bottom of the food chain.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Also don't blame yourself over this next question, though it's easy to feel that way. Was it a live trap ir snare/snap trap? If live, how long was the trap left unattended? I live trap racoons almost weekly in my yard and the longest i've left one was 2 days and it was ragged but still fine.

It's nature, and it's our job to do what we can to save our flock.

 

[Teila]

Yeah, this is one of those ‘can of worms’ that you can choose to read and move on or join in and fuel the discussion .. silly me is jumping in with both feet

I too can see both sides of the discussion and if I saw something eating one of my precious girls would probably kill it with my bare hands if I could. However, I am also an animal lover and killing anything is not in my nature.

Great post by KoopOnTruckin and totally agree that rather than the big picture, we need to look at this individually and agree that it is probably best to dispatch the little ones on this occasion so that they do not starve to death but definitely opt for making the chickens’ accommodation as secure as possible so there is not a repeat of this scenario and hopefully nothing needs to die.

 

[centrarchid]

To make so you know more clearly how the two sides differ. I do kill predators from time to time and have done so by hand and likely done so more than some of the blood suckers. Killing is usually not the first nor the only response. More effort invested in defenses with spared predators used to test under more controlled conditions where foe is known.

 

[Outpost JWB]

I've lost 10 pullets and hens this year from predators. Mostly raccoons. If this is your 1st year keeping chickens, please let me tell you, this has been an extraordinarily bad year for raccoons and opossum in Ohio & from what I've heard, other states. I have NEVER lost more than 3 a year from predators. And the year is far from over. All personal feelings aside, I protect my chickens just as I would my dog, or cat. If a predator was attacking my cat, you'd better believe I would "take care of the problem". Hubby & I have buttoned up the coop to avoid any further issues. But in the end, we have chickens, and we will lose a few here and there. Good luck with your flock and please keep us posted.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

To make so you know more clearly how the two sides differ. I do kill predators from time to time and have done so by hand and likely done so more than some of the blood suckers. Killing is usually not the first nor the only response. More effort invested in defenses with spared predators used to test under more controlled conditions where foe is known.

I totally agree, i kill only when necessary and would rather deter them from my property. There's a solar panel predator deterring light i saw on amazon for 2x $21 that has a blinking red light, said to keep away racoons and other chicken killers. I haven't used one yet but plan to buy 2 when my meat babies get bigger.