Can a racoon open a barn door latch?

[oldhen2345]

Looks like the prints on my coops roof.View attachment 2244003
I caught the Raccoon. GC

Great. Of all the pests, I dreaded to hear it was a racoon the most. I have a live trap, but so far, I have only caught my dog and one possum. Will put that out tomorrow night

 

[oldhen2345]

Five toed animals weasel, badger, mink, skunk, otter, bear, beaver or opossum. Dogs only have 4 toes (99.99% of the time, I'm sure somewhere there is a mutation somebody will point out to me).

Hard to judge size but looks like a weasel or mink to me. Possums have long skinny toes. Skunks have long skinny toes with long nails that normally also show in a print.

Thanks. Will try a live trap and see if the camera got anything

 

[BuckeyeAmy69]

I'd use a carabiner or snap link.
I use snap links on my run door.

View attachment 2242385

This is the exact setup I use.

Carabiners are awesome! Cheap, and very difficult for animals to manipulate. I keep several on hand because they are so very useful.

 

[nao57]

Raccoons are one of the smartest animals out there. You better watch out. They also will not only undo latches but be able to drop down from nearby trees on roofs to get in through other ways.

I wonder sometimes why they are like that.

They can be difficult to get rid of.

Did you work this out?

 

[Brad7188]

Definitely should be using a carabiner!!! Raccoons are clever and can figure out how a simple barrel bolt, pin or anything that dosen't self lock.

 

[SusiesPeeps]

We use carabiners and barrel locks. Raccoons are very crafty. We also installed a trail-cam (wildlife cam) so we can see what kind of critters visited the chicken coop area the night before. We've seen a couple of raccoons go by and stand up, attempting to see if they can get into the run, but they appear deterred by the hardware cloth as well as the locks.

 

[Granny the nanny]

Raccoons also can transmit EPM to horses if they get into the feed. Get locks. And burying things outside draws them also.

 

[SandyK]

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.

 

[SandyK]

We had a very smart raccoon a couple years ago. He found a hole in my netting over the run. We have an automatic door on the coop, which he was able to raise the door, go in get a chicken and not only raise the door back up, but bring the dead chicken outside the coop. He got 9 of my girls before I realized how he was getting into the run. We since we have put a piece of angle iron under the little wooden auto door so he couldn’t get his fingers under the door to lift it. I have poured cement pads at each of my gates so no one can dig under them also. Keeping our girls safe is a full time job.

 

[Double Yolked]

Heck yes, a raccoon can open that. By all means use a stronger less easily manipulated lock. I use a door that falls, guillotine style with a weight and a padlock on my big door.