adorable baby racoon suckling on its dead mother we trapped

[bobbi-j]

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.

I'm not sure to whom you were referring with your comment about mentality. Who said anything about destroying habitat for entertainment? Raising chickens is not for my entertainment. While I do find them entertaining, we do eat the eggs and meat we get from them. And the raccoons around here have a lot better habitat than they did 145 years ago when this farm was homesteaded. We have a large, thick grove that's just full of them. There were no trees here on the prairie when it was settled. The two coops we added to the place were built on the building site. No habitat destroyed there. I'm also looking for the "blood thirsty tone". Do you really think it's better for the babies to starve to death? I'm not sure what's "mean" about a quick, humane death for them. Other than a couple of young ones that my dog happened across and took care of, that raccoon and her babies 3 years ago were the last predators that we have killed on this place.


Edited by Staff

 

[Howard E]

If I was to hazard a guess, it was to none in particular, but instead to the mentality of those whose first instinct is to trap and/or kill first, and try other stuff later. The consequences of that leads to the predicament the OP found themselves in. A teachable moment. The other stuff is the better option.

The deal with predators in general is you can't kill them all, nor should you even try. They have a role to play in things, plus whatever you kill will easily be replaced by others. There is an inexhaustible supply of them. But that does not mean you give up and give in to them. The best way to deal with problem predators, in my mind, is to assume there are all manner of them lurking about and establish a perimeter defense, first with a predator proof coop at ground zero, and once that is established, move the perimeter further out with an electric fence that they will be reluctant to cross. Rather than trying to kill them all, which you can't do, simply teach them to stay away. The resident predators will learn that and remember it. If you kill them, each new bunch has to be taught the same lesson. If one ever does figure out how to get past all the defenses, only if you can't deter them any other way, there is a trap waiting for him and what follows after.

But the better solution is to use negative reinforcement. First, they learn they are not going to get into the coop no matter how hard they try, so they are always going to come up empty handed. So there is no reward for their effort. But if that is all you did, there would be no reason for them not to keep trying. Who knows, they might get lucky someday and figure it out. The night is long and they have nothing better to do.

So second, the painful lesson the fence teaches is to not even try. If they are new to chickens yet are attracted by the sight, scent and sound of things, as they most certainly will be, the first thing you want them to encounter when they get close is an invisible to them sentinel in the form of an electric fence that is hot enough to make them think their eyeball just exploded, They don't know what an electric fence is, but the painful lesson the fence teaches is that a chicken is not something to seek out, rather is something to be avoided. And that fence has to be maintained so they learn that lesson each and every time.

 

[centrarchid]

Better.

 

[carlf]

No such thing as a cute raccoon. Cute is a human emotional description.

This ain't Disney, its farming and animal husbandry.
Any critter involved with killing your livestock is not "cute".

 

[bobbi-j]

I respectfully disagree. They are cute. As are baby skunks and most other animal babies. The problem is they grow up. It ain't Disney out there, but I still can appreciate the local wildlife. As long as it's not eating my chickens. Then there's no more cute and all bets are off.

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

I respectfully disagree. They are cute. As are baby skunks and most other animal babies. The problem is they grow up.

It ain't Disney out there, but I still can appreciate the local wildlife. As long as it's not eating my chickens. Then there's no more cute and all bets are off.

I agree, all babies are cute, that's why there are so many youtube videos of kittens with tens of millions of hits. How many CAT videos get that many hits...?

Japanese parents thought raccoon pups were adorable, until they grew up:
http://www.japanprobe.com/2010/04/19/raccoons-damage-japanese-temple/

 

[ShrekDawg]

I know most people think they're gross or pests or whatever but raccoons are so fascinating to me. And yes the babies are cute. Raccoons are incredibly intelligent. I watched one of those PBS Nature documentaries once called Raccoon Nation and while it wasn't one of their better made documentaries, the information in it was fascinating. Who knew there were so many raccoons even in urban settings? And the interesting, and scary, thing is that all of the challenges we make for them are actually making urban raccoons SMARTER than rural raccoons. They just figure out the challenges and move to the next and they teach their babies all the info. Rural raccoons I guess live more naturally with natural prey and such and thus don't have to overcome the challenges like locks and stuff. Fascinating really. I say everyone should watch it. However, that said, raccooms, although they LOOK cute and fuzzy are nasty animals that will rip you to shreds given the chance, rabid or not, so you should never try to approach one. Some people do keep them as pets but they are real handfuls. As for the babies, sadly, I agree. You must dispatch them. It is a lot more cruel to let them starve to death or suffer a cruel death at the hands of other predators without their mother to defend them from such threats. It's sad but it has to be done. OR. If you truly don't want to dispatch them then you could try finding a wildlife rehabber that may be willing to take them. They could be full however so prepare. Although, now that the spring baby season is over they may have more room available for the babies. If you have one near you that is what I would do rather than dispatching. But if not then you must dispatch. Either way, DO NOT leave them to die a cruel death.

 

[centrarchid]

Adopt the little critters then learn from them as they mature. Do not confine but provide food and protected den site. As the kittens grows watch how they work your predator containment Keep them up on shots if your vet is willing to handle them. This experience will provide a more sound understanding of how to protect against their wild brethren. Show your poultry keeping neighbors how the raccoon operates and how you defeat its interest in going after chickens.

 

[Howard E]

I respectfully disagree. They are cute. As are baby skunks and most other animal babies. The problem is they grow up.

It ain't Disney out there, but I still can appreciate the local wildlife. As long as it's not eating my chickens. Then there's no more cute and all bets are off.

It wasn't Disney, but someone made a movie about cute, adorable little fur balls. It was "Gremlins".

 

[centrarchid]

Adopt the little critters then learn from them as they mature. Do not confine but provide food and protected den site. As the kittens grows watch how they work your predator containment Keep them up on shots if your vet is willing to handle them. This experience will provide a more sound understanding of how to protect against their wild brethren. Show your poultry keeping neighbors how the raccoon operates and how you defeat its interest in going after chickens.

I have done as suggested above. The allows me to defend very effectively against them. They are also not as scary once you see they operate. The Disney is the antics those of ignorance display as the varmints make fools of them by stealing chickens and simply being to scarry.