Can a racoon open a barn door latch?

[jspeese]

Yes they are. I heard that for their size, they have the proportionate strength of a grizzly bear. At any rate, when it comes to poultry they are vermin. Not the cute little animals like in Disney pictures and books like Little Rascal by Sterling North. If they come around and I catch them, I have no compunctions about doing them in.

 

[Mouthpear]

YES they sure can. Like others have already said, put a snap hook/carabiner on it. Find one that take YOU just a bit of effort to open. Hang it with the small end pointing up.

 

[SLOChick]

About a month ago I caught a raccoon after I noticed fish guts were dug up from the mulch pile. I set a trap and made the mistake of letting it go, because I figured my set up was strong enough, it had also dug up dead chickens from a dog attack a week before. Then 4 days later I catch a baby so now I'm afraid they will open my barn doors that my coop is inside, we have 4 door to the barn with the same twist latches. I bent nails to put in were the lock goes. It would be too much of a hassle for locks so are carabiners coon proof? Inside the barn It would be easy for a coon to get into the coop, I have open vents on the top and a chicken wire door that one could easily break/crawl through, the barn is solid other than the doors.

They're really smart and agile. We had a family of raccoons pulling the siding off our barn to get to the cat food on the inside.

 

[TheChickenHole]

I once found a raccoon near my chicken run and I scared it up the trees. It wouldn't leave so I used a smoker to smoke it down and we beated it up when it came down but it ran away. Not much problems with racoon's here. Lost a chick to a hawk and another chick to a raccoon.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

I recommend the repair chain link that is threaded. Unless you are physically unable to manipulate the repair link then the carabiner would be my next choice. Possibly you contact local Fish and Wildlife to help rid you of the PESTS.

 

[Danny188]

I recommend the repair chain link that is threaded. Unless you are physically unable to manipulate the repair link then the carabiner would be my next choice. Possibly you contact local Fish and Wildlife to help rid you of the PESTS.

I'm fine with trapping and shooting them, I just dident think I would need to, but now I'm thinking what if I get home late one night and it's been dark for an hour or 2, we will probably just SSS from now on.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

About a month ago I caught a raccoon after I noticed fish guts were dug up from the mulch pile. I set a trap and made the mistake of letting it go, because I figured my set up was strong enough, it had also dug up dead chickens from a dog attack a week before. Then 4 days later I catch a baby so now I'm afraid they will open my barn doors that my coop is inside, we have 4 door to the barn with the same twist latches. I bent nails to put in were the lock goes. It would be too much of a hassle for locks so are carabiners coon proof? Inside the barn It would be easy for a coon to get into the coop, I have open vents on the top and a chicken wire door that one could easily break/crawl through, the barn is solid other than the doors.

Yes. Afraid so. They look too heavy but still I think they might could if smart enough and had enough drive and they usually do. Please get locks. You are setting your chickens up to be dead chickens easily.

 

[Beer can]

Ever watch the old Disney movie 'Rascal'?
Raccoons are pretty smart, loved that movie. Would love to watch it again with my kids, been since I was a kid that I saw it. Hopefully Disney + adds it someday.

 

[Frankiegirl]

We will soon be moving to a new house house on 3 acres and getting ready to build the new coop. Thanks for all input on the subject. I’ve been seeing these paw prints all over the new property. I’m assuming raccoon. Thoughts?

 

[neo71665]

We will soon be moving to a new house house on 3 acres and getting ready to build the new coop. Thanks for all input on the subject. I’ve been seeing these paw prints all over the new property. I’m assuming raccoon. Thoughts?

Possum but next time if you lay something down beside of the tracks like a coke/soda/pop can or a US quarter (if US) it's a lot easier to judge the size of the track. Also filling out your profile to at least include the state (if US) you are in helps narrow the suspects down.

Coons have 5 toes front and rear feet. Those appear to have 5 on the front but on the rear you only see 4. Possums actually have 5 on the rear but one is facing rear like a thumb. Again hard to judge size by a picture alone.