How to get rid of a raccoon...

[Rock Home Isle]

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.

I like the way you think.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Today there are populations of raccoons in Germany, Russia, and I think in several other countries. besides, Ecological idiots like the USDA and even the Arbor Society are partly responsible for coons colonizing almost all of the lower 48. Soon we'll be hip deep in coons.

 

[ChickenChaser9]

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

This. Exactly.

 

[Gresh]

By the way, raccoon pelts make excellent winter hats. Just saying.

 

[Lookin4GoodLife]

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.

If you're gutsy enough to grab one by the tail, taser that bad boy. Or go to Tractor Supply and get you one of those nifty cattle prods they've got. You hit him with that and I'd be willing to bet he'd go out the first opening he could find. Or else, he'd keel over dead.

 

[ChickenChaser9]

If you're gutsy enough to grab one by the tail, taser that bad boy.    Or go to Tractor Supply and get you one of those nifty cattle prods they've got.  You hit him with that and I'd be willing to bet he'd go out the first opening he could find. Or else, he'd keel over dead.

You never know out those varmints are rabid. I wouldn't want to get too close to a wild one. They do make great hats though.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

By the way, raccoon pelts make excellent winter hats. Just saying.

Raccoon pelts from raccoons trapped in late fall or early winter...make excellent hats.

 

[Rock Home Isle]

Once a raccoon gets a taste of chicken, it'll be back almost every night until all the chickens are dead. Then it'll go looking for the next free meal, and the next, and the next.

 

[Howard E]

I would never get close enough to any live varmint......coon, skunk, possum, etc, trapped or running around in close quarters, that it could or would be tempted to bite me. So attempting to grab a live one in any way is out......unless you really want to go through all those painful rabies shots. Coons can also be infected with distemper. In a close quarters fight, they are mean and nasty and I repeat, you do not want to touch or grab one. You will regret it. Possums might be the exception, but you can't count on them playing dead. They may try to bite too. Best to not find out.

Having seen all the trouble some seem to have with actually killing a coon, possum etc, with a .22 rifle, not wounding it etc, but killing it and doing so instantly, if you are having that kind of trouble I would now suggest you up your arsenal to a .410 or 20 gauge shotgun. The 20 gauge is much larger and has many more shot options. They sell .410 shells with #4 shot which in close quarters would be highly lethal, and a while back also checked and our farm and home had a box of .410 shells that contained 2 .38 caliber round balls. Those would not be accurate at any distance beyond 15 to 20 feet, but a head shot at close range would do in any varmint up to and including a large dog or small bear. One shot and it would be over. If you want something every bit as lethal and accurate like a .22, then they also make both .410 and 20 gauge deer slugs. That would be like killing flies with a brick, but you won't be having to shoot em a bunch of times and they won't be suffering.

If you don't have much experience with either, here is what you could expect:

 

[Britney M]

Go night hunting raccoons will keep coming back once they find easy food source aka chicks/chickens