I need advice on dealing with a big fat murderous raccoon!

[SussexInSeattle]

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Can you say how you combine the two? Do you set them out side by side like milk and cookies for Santa Claus or do you mix them together and if so, how long does the mixture last before it goes bad? I never even heard of fly bait before so I have to assume my feed store has been holding out on me! Also if they mix together, how much of each product? Thanks for any answers....

 

[ellend]

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Can you say how you combine the two? Do you set them out side by side like milk and cookies for Santa Claus or do you mix them together and if so, how long does the mixture last before it goes bad? I never even heard of fly bait before so I have to assume my feed store has been holding out on me! Also if they mix together, how much of each product? Thanks for any answers....

I am a trauma nurse.

Let me assure you, there is NO such thing as "dying instantly." All ingested poisons cause horrific suffering, and by any measure, humans cannot be excused for causing torture to other sentient beings. If you're going to kill something, get your hands dirty and shoot it--IF you can shoot well and have a decent shot.

 

[ellend]

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x2 Aprophet!

Trapping is a VERY temporary lull. It is not biologically possible to "rid" an area of the opportunistic omnivores you erroneously refer to as predators. New life will ALWAYS move in to the available habitat. As to killing being a "natural" process, it is--in NATURE. I rather doubt you ran those raccoons down and killed them with your teeth. Guns, traps, and poisons are NOT part of the natural cycle. And YES, IT IS A BIG DEAL to take a life, and an especially big deal to the young of the mother you kill, who die starving and being eaten alive by maggots. Nice job.

We have raccoons, skunks, and opossums. Our secure raised coop is inside of a secure and topped run, and the free-ranging chickens are secured inside both at night. Ergo--no raccoon kills, no bitten toes, nada. Safe chickens, sound sleep, and we leave the wildlife alone to the small bits of land they have left.

Our brains can be used for better resolutions than wanton destruction of life. It's not rocket science, if one isn't too lazy to make the effort.

Everything feels pain. Everything feels fear. How pathetic that so many people are so willing to cause suffering. Raccoons are highly intelligent and sensitive creatures, but they don't carry wire cutters. You CAN protect your flock without violence to others.

 

[Whoopinholler]

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By this statement I assume that you are changing your stance and perhaps my post did not deserves such derision?

 

[ellend]

Whoopin' Holler:

Not changing my stance at all.

That being said, if a person is bound on killing instead of doing a bit of preventative or remedial labor, then poisoning, drowning, bludgeoning, etc. are worse deaths for the animal than a well-placed bullet.

The bullet is STILL NOT NECESSARY in almost all cases. To find it necessary on a regular basis strongly implies negligence in creating secure areas for chickens. Raccoons, opossums, and skunks aren't grizzly bears. They can't tear apart a decently constructed pen and coop.

We have regular nocturnal visits, and know for certain that a skunk is denned within 60 feet of our run. We also have plenty of cats around who would love to play with our bantams. No problem, EVER.

When our children were young, we put barriers between them and strangers' cars. Never needed to shoot any cars, either--nope, not one!

Try construction! It works.

 

[calista]

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With all due respect, not against the possibility of rabies, roundworm, giardia, leptospira, salmonella, and e. coli that your resident raccoons may act as a vector for in the environment AROUND your secure coop and run. Check what the CDC has to say about raccoon zoonoses:

http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=racc...sort=date:D:L:d1&ud=1&site=default_collection

Coons can transmit these infectious diseases through their feces and urine to the playing area your children may encounter when outside.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

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With all due respect, not against the possibility of rabies, roundworm, giardia, leptospira, salmonella, and e. coli that your resident raccoons may act as a vector for in the environment AROUND your secure coop and run. Check what the CDC has to say about raccoon zoonoses:

http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=racc...sort=date:D:L:d1&ud=1&site=default_collection

Coons can transmit these infectious diseases through their feces and urine to the playing area your children may encounter when outside.

Good Point!

 

[ellend]

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With all due respect, not against the possibility of rabies, roundworm, giardia, leptospira, salmonella, and e. coli that your resident raccoons may act as a vector for in the environment AROUND your secure coop and run. Check what the CDC has to say about raccoon zoonoses:

http://www.cdc.gov/search.do?q=racc...sort=date:D:L:d1&ud=1&site=default_collection

Coons can transmit these infectious diseases through their feces and urine to the playing area your children may encounter when outside.

I'm quite aware of zoonoses--O.R. trauma nurse (heavy emphasis on infection, as you might imagine.) Wildlife rehabber. Vet tech.

Dogs carry lepto. Kill them all? Salmonella--your chickens are a more likely host! Maybe THEY shouldn't exist? Giardia? It's endemic worldwide, and has been since the '70's. HUMANS are amongst the dirtiest, disease-spreading animals on the planet, not to mention the pollution we cause. Maybe WE should all be wiped out? C'mon--this world is a big place. Lets share.

Racoon rabies in most areas is quite low. You will catch a LOT more dangerous infections from your neighbors at the feedstore, at much higher incidence, and much harder to cure, than most zoonoses. If there is a rabies outbreak, that is just cause for reducing local populations. JUST cause. Vaccinate your dogs and cats.

I taught my children not to eat feces and wood chips; hence, no roundworm, even though we handled much wildlife directly, and for prolonged periods. Lepto? Salmonella? Don't drink animal urine, wash your hands, and it's no problem. During the time I worked for a vet (years), there was one local incidence of rabies--it was a cow.

On the other hand, necrotizing fasciitis ("flesh-eating bacteria") is on a rampage. You can pick the organism up off the floor, off gym equipment, anywhere--from other PEOPLE. You don't get it from racoons. Be sensible about dangers of infection.

We are not SUPPOSED to be the only life on the planet. Indiscriminate taking of life is wrong, and the rationalizations for it are weak, at best. It's one thing to have to take a life; another to take it lightly.

Apparently you and I need to agree to disagree. I'll pretend that you at least eat all the wildlife you kill, and you can pretend that I lose chickens left and right from "predation," okay?

 

[darkmatter]

It's not wrong to kill a predator if it joins the circle of life:

 

[Whoopinholler]

With respect Ellend. It has become very obvious that we come from two very different worlds. Seeing your off hand comment about construction.....I assume yours is far more urban than mine. A world where construction solves everything. I am not concerned about my chickens while they are in the coop....it is fortified, but thanks for the advice. I have found raccoons to be a nuisance about my farm....whether in the garden or in the barn or tearing down bird feeders. Dogs dropped off because "every farm needs a dog" mentality, are also a nuisance and are dealt with in the same manner. As you pointed out in an earlier post about territories, both of these animals have encroached on mine. Other occupants of my territory I happily coexist with such as a black bear, bobcat, and 2 packs of coyotes. The deer and I have a dispute over garden rights, nothing personal, they harvest during the growing season, and I harvest during hunting season. I believe that you are anthropomorphizing and would feel no such reluctance in eradicating other co-habitants of this planet that might be somewhat less “cute” than a raccoon. Ant, cockroach, salmonella, tape worm and a host of other life-forms spring to mind. I am not trying to sway you from your chosen viewpoint Ellend, I respect your choice, I am just trying to encourage you to be less judgmental.