How to get rid of a raccoon...

[Chicks Galore3]

I'm not totally sure what he has used in the past. I'll have to ask. I've got the trap set up and will hopefully catch it in the next couple days. I've gone over my coop to check for any weak spots since I know there is something around.

We just recently learned that relocating is a big no-no. Guess that should be common sense...kicking myself. At least we know better now.

 

[FlyingNunFarm]

I haven't had a raccoon issue before but came home to find one IN my coop. I know how it got in so that is taken care of. My question is how to get a live raccoon out of the coop. Two of us chased it around with doors open for a good half hour. It refused to go out a door. We finally exhausted it and with gloves on grabbed it by the tail. It got away before we could do it in and I'm hoping with the beating it took it's smart enough to stay away. (Doubtful I know) Luckily noone was hurt. I don't really want to have to dispatch any critters but if it comes back it will have to go. I didn't want to shoot it in the coop though. It refused to leave so any ideas on how to get it out if it gets back in? My first raccoon scare has me worried about future problems.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Trap and shoot is what we do.  Please do not relocate them to be someone else's problem.  They are horrible predators for chickens.

Yes...a thousand times yes.

 

[Angus2914]

I hate to sound cruel, but I live about 80 yards from the creek, so I just tie a rope around the live trap and ouch it in the creek, I hate to do it this was, but it helps reduce my anger of losing my precious chickens.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

I hate to sound cruel, but I live about 80 yards from the creek, so I just tie a rope around the live trap and ouch it in the creek, I hate to do it this was, but it helps reduce my anger of losing my precious chickens.

I prefer to secure the doors of the trap with two snaps, place the cage in a large garbage can. Next a garden hose is placed in the open top of the garbage can and the water tap is turned on. Watching the water slowly rising up the coons legs is very therapeutic, and besides it doesn't pollute natural waterways with raccoon dandruff.

 

[Howard E]

OK, this stuff is not for the faint of heart or squeamish.........about all I can say is if you were to witness the coon killing your chickens, you would have no problem dispatching one of them.

We used to hunt raccoons when I was a kid and once treed, the method used to dispatch them was a single shot 22 rifle. A shot to the head and down they came. Rarely did it take two. So if you do trap one, and he is in there, a single shot rifle (I'd suggest 22 LR hollow points but even a short will do it......we used shorts when we were hunting) to the forehead will do him in. It may surprise, but I was in a slaughterhouse once and the tool they used to drop a 1,500 pound steer was an antique, rusty, beat up single shot 22 rifle. One shot to the poll and they drop like a rock. So a 22 rifle is more than enough to dispatch one. In a trap, that is point blank, so you can't miss.

Then what to do with them. I have relatives that are snuffing them daily from a sweet corn patch and once snuffed, they are taken to a vacant farm field where they are left for the buzzards, who have gathered for the feast. They don't last long there.

If all this sounds like too much, another choice is the electric fence. Picture shown is of a neighbors setup used to keep raccoons out of his sweet corn. Two low wires the lowest about 5 inches or so off the ground.....the second about 5 inches or so above that. They can't get under or over it without risking a life altering moment of shock. If it works for that, it will work for protecting chickens, at least to establish a perimeter they won't want to cross. And use a fencer with a hot enough shock to blast body parts off them or add another ring to their tail. I have a similar setup for my sweet corn. I think mine sends something like 15,000 volts down the line. That would hurt.

So far it is holding. Some will also suggest that if your free range perimeter is large enough, this same fence can be used to keep your chickens in. It probably won't work in a tight confined area......they will fly out......but in a large area (an acre or more) it will.

 

[DRnNC]

It took 4 shots with a 22 rifle to kill the last coon I caught. The first 2 shots were in the head. They're hard to kill.

 

[Howard E]

It took 4 shots with a 22 rifle to kill the last coon I caught. The first 2 shots were in the head. They're hard to kill.

If that is the case, if a person was using a Duke raccoon trap, the leg hold type, then you could be certain to administer a lethal coup de grace by upping the firepower to a .410 or 20 gauge shotgun, with #4 shot. That would be certain to do them in instantly.

Not sure I would try that in a live trap, as it would be messy, not to mention it could damage the trap. But that is a one shot solution.

 

[RonP]

Air rifles are categorized as firearms in my neck of the woods. Same rules apply.

That said, I do have a varied collection of both.

My favorite by far for varmint control, was a 60 year old Remington 514 bolt action,using 22 caliber subsonic 40 grain ammunition.

Less noise than the air rifles, far more knockdown power than a pellet, accurate enough at 50 yards, lightweight and easily maneuvered.

Most varmints I encountered were within 20 yards...often within 10 feet.

One shot...

Built a predator proof run.

Haven't had to dispatch in years...

 

[Gresh]

Trap and shoot is the best option. You don't have the problem of potentially missing the animal's vitals and putting it through a bunch of suffering before you can finish it off, and you don't bother any body else's flock by relocation.

Since coons are so abundant, I have no moral qualms about shooting them. So many people on this site think it's somehow a sin to kill a predator...they make it almost religious. As long as the population of a predator isn't really suffering, there is no reason to sing John Lennon songs and draw rainbows while your "brother animals" slaughter your flock.