i live in northern ma. just south of nashua, but still in a woodsy area with lots of furry things that like to eat feathery things. People around me are always having trouble with predators, i havent had too many, you just gotta build the coop right. As for shooting/trapping them, i'm not a bleeding heart in the least and if you see one go for it, but its just impractical, theres always gonna be more to take the dead one's place. The main weak points on a coop are (in my experience): windows, doors, weak joints and any wood thats rotten. Doors are easy to make solid, double latch them top and bottom and build them out of solid wood, and most importantly make sure that they are a very tight fit, you'd be amazed what can fit through a 2 inch crack. If the floor in the coop isn't elevated wood line the ground with some kind of wire and then paving stones or cement, lots of options here. If it's elevated make sure it's really elevated enough to keep it dry. Recently a friend of mine lost some birds because their floor had rotted a little and the coon pulled the rotten wood out, and it was still solid enough to stand on. Windows are another weak point i'v heard from countless people that a coon pulled the wire off of the window. This is difficult to prevent, the easiest way is to double wire the window and use heavy duty staples, staple guns are NOT enough, also closing the windows with something like a shutter or even plexiglass can eliminate this problem. The run is always the weakest point, the only thing you can do here is dig the wire deep and wide, at least down 1 foot and out 1 foot, minimum, more is alot better. Also use good quality wire, i'v had great luck with 1 inch plasticoated hex, its pretty much chicken wire thats coated in a kind of plastic so it won't rust, some people say use hardware cloth, i say overkill. the only things that can get through the 1 inch hex are chipmunks, or go 1/2 inch hex. Another thing i have found useful is if its going to be a small coop encorporate it into the run, that is build the coop inside the run (its easier if you build the coop and then the run) that way there you have two levels of protection. it sounds like alot but its pretty basic stuff when you actually think about it. hope i helped. good luck.