I need some opinions, please

[Mattemma]

I don't tell my kids everytime I catch and dispatch an animal,or they would be crying for me to relocate them. Most coons have roundwroms. I have watched a few episodes of Monsters Inside Me to not want coons in my yard. I have gotten atleast 20 coons since last summer and I live in the city! I think the coons will stay even if you remove the bucket trap.

 

[CarolJ]

SSS

 

[CMV]

After reading all the posts with my husband we have decided on a compromise. I will cease trapping for one week. In 7 days time I will resume trapping and if at that point the raccoon continues to disrupt the traps, it has outstayed its welcome and I will be free to trap it. During the discussion, a friend (who is a new duck owner) stopped to visit, and informed us he just lost his new ducklings to a raccoon. This only helped my case. Raccoons are a plague on poultry, and should not be allowed in close proximity.

Raccoons are a rarity here, believe it or not. We live next door to a farm where raccoons have been trapped for their pelts for decades. They have learned to steer clear of this spot. Raccoons are almost never seen in the area, and I have several game cams running to ensure that I know exactly what is wandering around on my property. This one has shown up out of nowhere, so my husband may have a point about it being lured here by the bucket traps. I still think it is an unacceptable risk regardless of how/why it got here.

I will take your advice joan1708 and be placing the traps in a dog crate once I resume trapping. I have all the snap traps contained to make sure nothing other than rodents get into them. The bucket traps should be made more secure, I guess. My goose will be sad, though. She has been enjoying the treat of finding floating snacks.

Thanks for all the input everyone.

 

[dawg53]

One coon around poultry is one coon too many.

 

[joan1708]

CVM - Can I ask you about the rodent problem? What do you think is the cause? Where do you keep your feed? Do you put the food away at night? Are you going to change anything.

 

[crazyhen]

Please show a picture of your bucket traps. I am having trouble seeing it. I think I might have a large rat. The mice I have gotten with poison bait so far. Thanks Gloria Jean

 

[CMV]

joan1708- The rodent explosion has nothing to do with anything I am doing. I never leave feed out. We had an incredibly warm and mild winter this year. It was absolutely delightful. No snow, reasonable temps, lots of sun. So unlike our normal winters. Anyway, the rodent population which is normally kept in check by the very harsh weather/lack of food didn't have that this year. By March I knew we had a problem with the rodents. They were everywhere- getting into the coops; building nests in my grill, tractor, lawnmower, snowblower, cars; digging in my garden for bulbs; everywhere I looked I could see at least 2 rodents at any given time. Everyone is having problems with them this year. I'm pretty lucky that they are just an outside nuisance for us. Several friends and neighbors have had squirrels move into their houses this year. They are a nightmare once they get into your house.

crazyhen- The bucket trap is as simple as it gets. A 5 gallon bucket filled halfway with water. A layer of sunflower seeds is poured on the water surface so that it looks like the bucket is filled with just seed, no water. I place a board running from the ground up to the top of a bucket as a ramp for rodents to walk up. The mouse/chipmunk walks up the ramp, looks into the bucket and sees it is full off seeds, they jump down into the bucket to get to the seed and discover that the bucket is actually full of water. They drown in short order. This particular bucket trap has been the most successful trap I have. I have used other bucket traps which were slightly more complicated, but they didn't work as well as this one.

 

[centrarchid]

Why can't you put the bucket where the rodents can get in but not the raccoon? A wire dog crate should do it. Since that raccoon was successful, I doubt he'll be moving on soon. Maybe trap just the one raccoon.

To restate the above.

Also if your facility if coon tight, then leave it be. Presence of coon and high rodent abundance at this time of year is indicative of abundant food supply. Do rodents have access to feeders that have feed in them after night or spilt feed? They do not have to be self serving from bag.

 

[Oregon Blues]

If you are in a farm area and don't have a raccoon population, I suspect that your new raccoon was trapped for being a nuisance elsewhere and was transported out into the country and released by someone who firmly believes that someone else should deal with his problems.

 

[CMV]

If you are in a farm area and don't have a raccoon population, I suspect that your new raccoon was trapped for being a nuisance elsewhere and was transported out into the country and released by someone who firmly believes that someone else should deal with his problems.

This is entirely possible. It wouldn't be the first time animals were dropped out here. What offends me the most about this is that the NH Fish and Game Department actually encourages relocating pest animals. I have given them an earful about what I think of this ridiculous policy. It is still their policy. Appalling. I think they are afraid they might have to work too hard if they actually had to start dealing with problem animals.

So now I am stuck with this animal. He has 5 more days to move on. Tick tock, raccoon.