Determined Raccoon! Uuugggghhhhh!!!

PIO-PIO

Crowing
16 Years
Mar 27, 2009
119
0
269
POINCIANA, FL
lately we have a raccoon that keeps hanging around. it keeps tearing up my seed beds on top of the coop EVERY night.
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we had a long day at Aquatica yesterday and went to bed pretty early and I forgot to turn on the backyard light. (STUPID!
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) So this morning I go to check on the girls and everyone is fine but ALL around the coop is dug up. thankfully I buried tons and tons of river rocks in trenches all around the coop just in case. the rocks are everywhere but there was enough buried deep to keep that pest out. I have a few more bags of rocks that Im going to be adding today just to bump up the amount to go through. I tried to be predator proof but man these things are determined. so far score 1 for me and 0 for the raccoon. hopefully
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(I pray) I can keep it that way.
 
Sounds to me like you did a good job in making it predator proof. The thing with coons is they are smart and determined. If there is a chink in the armor they will find, and exploit it. If it were me, before it comes to that, I would invest in a live trap to catch the coon and be done with it.

Good job keeping it out so far.
 
Cute coop, PIO_PIO!

Also, I'm a bit alarmed (but not surprised) to read how determined your racoon seems to be. We've had our chickens in their coop for only a month or so and we've already had two (maybe three) fox visits, but all the fox seemed to do was dig around 10 inches or so in one spot then give up. Thankfully, I buried 2x4 welded wire fencing 22 inches into the ground around the entire perimeter of our coop/run. Since the digging incidents last weekend, I placed large river cobbles around the run to further discurage the digging.

Now I'm worried about our first racoon assult (I'm guessing it's inevitable). yesterday, I saw a BYC post showing the damage a racoon did to a wooden door. I think my run is completely secure with roofing/hardware cloth/welded wire fencing, but now I'm not so sure the coop itself will withstand a determined racoon chewing through the wood siding I used... I should probably strategically place some metal flashing in the vulnerable areas to discurage the coons...
 
Trap and depose of him before he gets in. No coop is 100% predator proof. Give him enough time and he will find a way in.
You don't want to be one of those people that come on here crying about losing there favorite chickens to a coon because they thought their coop was "predator proof".
BTW, Relocating is illegal in most states.
 
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OKAY so I found a trap at tractor supply for 32.99. its a 2 pack: 1 small and 1 medium. I cant afford the large one, its like $70. I'm going to go there today and get it. I dont want to go thru loosing any of my hens. I only have 4 and they just started laying last week. ( plus 2 chicks still in the house) I have my privacy fence up now too but it still managed to squeeze between the fence and run to attempt to dig.
 
Before setting the trap, play with it a little bit to get the operation of the trap down. You may have to make a few adjustments to the arms and the pan to get it to work properly.

Use a tuna sized can for bait and poke two small holes thru the bottom so it can be wired to the bottom of the cage. Make sure to center the can inside the back away from the edges so the coon has to go inside, not reach thru the sides to get the bait.

Peanut butter, marshmallows, canned cat food, or tuna make good bait. Coons like sweet food and it doesnt seem to attract flies as bad this time of year.

It's a good idea to put something on top of the trap for weight. An old piece of 2x6 rpopped against the top edge works well. If it can roll the trap over it may be able to escape. Take an old throw rug and partially cover the top and sides. This will help to calm an animal caught inside.

After being caught a coon will fight the trap, digging thru the bottom and start to tear at the cage. After a while it will lay down and go to sleep, until you approach it in the morning.
A word of caution: raccoons can move quickly and WILL bite you, even babies. Make sure to wear heavy leather gloves when handling the trap with a live coon inside.

If you want info on how to humanely dispatch the coon I will PM them to you.

Hope this helps.

Mike
 
I've caught a lot of coons in live traps. I did get one coon that "got smart" on me and wouldn't go into the live trap no matter what bait I used. I got two steel traps, determined what path he was walking, and dug down in the dirt a little so the top of the trap was at ground level when it was set. After the first night I had nothing, but the second night morning I went out there was the coon with his leg caught in the trap. I didn't put any bait around the traps, but I suppose you could if you didn't know what path he was walking
 
anchovia paste is great bait. comes in a tube, squezze alitle on a stick and smear it on trap lever or just drop in on stick.

Dont have to mess with cans or stinky stuff.

If cats around youll catch them also. If you you keep catching cats, go to a swet bait, marshmellows, syrup.

good luck.

also always wear gloves when handeling the animal in a trap.
 

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