How strong is a raccoon?

[JJMR794]

Quote:
AND THEY HAVE BETTER PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS THAN THE AVERAGE ADULT HUMAN TOO!

 

[citalk2much]

Quote:
AND THEY HAVE BETTER PROBLEM SOLVING SKILLS THAN THE AVERAGE ADULT HUMAN TOO!

They sure do!

 

[laputa]

All you folks said just make a commercial wooden rabbit hutch a really bad choice if used without any mod: the floor can be pulled out, the door can be easily opened, the ceiling can be pulled open, the wire bottom can be pushed off, the grid of front wire panel is too large, the back wall is fairly thin and loosely screwed in, the divider board between the run and the nest is only an insert and can be pulled out... I'll just nail everything together as much as I can. Maybe my son can help me test how much he can break into it afterwards, his power of destruction is already pretty amazing and creative being only 2 years old.

This also reminds of a Japanese cartoon (same author as "spirited away" in case there is any cartoon fan around here) where raccoons were depicted as very intelligent creatures who combat with human for their living space. They were even depicted as shape shifters and can change into many things, and some senior ones play magic of grand scale. lol.

Oh well to be honest before I learned coons can be tough enemies of chickens and quails, I actually liked them... I thought the cartoon was very much an exaggeration, but from what I heard from you, other than the magic part, it is not too far from what they are.

Oh well to protect the quails and my food,

now I understand the extra work is certainly going to be worth it.

 

[deerman]

Had a coon get under a hutch cage, ate the legs off of quail, for sure coon,caught it the next day. 1/2 in wire floor.

so i place wire on the legs of the hutch all the way to the ground. 1 in X 2 in wire.

 

[Sitka]

I had a similar experience to Deerman's, except in my case the coon reached its hand into a coop of Bobwhites and started grabbing. Decapitated several. They are strong and also patient and diligent. I would shore up the hutch as much as you can. Putting wire around the bottom is a good idea.

 

[laputa]

Following everyone's suggestion, I used 1/2 inch hardware cloth to fence in the floor of the hutch to the bottom of legs, which is 1 inch away from the cage floor.

The front panel is 2x2 inch welded wire, and I covered it with 1/2 inch hardware cloth as well. I had to make a square cut on the hardware cloth to leave the cage door accessible, cover the door itself with hardware cloth too, and then had to do some metal wire stitching job to fix the cut around the cage door, then apply tapes so no protruding wires to hurt anyone.

Looks quite ugly but at least more convenient this way compare to if I use a whole piece to seal the door inside (there is a wooden door on the nest box but can not access the wired area through it).

The two sides of the hutch are 1/4 inch thick lumber, and I enforced them with another layer of plywood board, to make it about 1/2 inch thick. Is that going to be enough?

The back of the hutch is a plywood board of between 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick, do you guys think I should enforce it with another layer of plywood board, or for peace of mind, just cover it with 1/2 inch hardware cloth too?

Also the roof of the hutch can be opened on two hinges, the roof itself is fairly heavy because it is covered with a layer of weather resistant material. Would it work if I just put some heavy flower pot on top of roof hoping coon can not open it, or should I lock it down instead?

 

[saddina]

Pom Poko is the movie you're thinking of.

Sounds like you're on the right track, I'd put a lock on the roof so you can lock them closed at night.

 

[dudekwm]

iv personally have had ratcoons cut appart my chicken coop and kill alll my 25 birds. this was a few years ago i built a new cage when chicken wire gets old it gets briddle to...