Looky what I [finally] caught!!

[petchickenlover]

Yep it's a raccoon. a young one, at that.

Quote:
I too,agree with those statements... it's just we are not willing to kill him.

ETA: Not to mention we sold our shotgun a couple months back

 

[JoePa]

Petchickenlover - you sold your shotgun? - shouldn't have done that! - what are you going to do when the rough times come -

 

[yankeedoodle300]

I would Take him to china and Kiss him Good bye!

 

[partsRheavy]

Ewwwwwww! Twenty-twoooooooo!!!! (see, it rhymes....)

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

If you don't kill it, it will kill more of your birds. If you relocate, it will likely die of starvation or being eaten by another predator.

 

[jelly_biscuit]

Quote:
I too,agree with those statements... it's just we are not willing to kill him.

ETA: Not to mention we sold our shotgun a couple months back

Got a baseball bat, hammer, golf club? There's more than one way to skin a cat.

 

[Carolyn]

If you are not going to kill it the only other alternative I see is feed it while you advertise on Craigs list to see if anyone wants one to eat and let them kill it. I've never gotten that hungry but some people do eat them.
You are likely to have this problem again; you need to consider how you are going to deal with it or reconsider if you are going to be able to have chickens. Unfortunately predators are the big downside to having chickens.

 

[silkielover5]

look guys if she doesnt want to kill it she doesnt have to. i know i wouldnt that thing is pretty cute. ive relocated predetors before, once i moved a fox and 3 months later saw the same fox in wonderful shape ( his ear was ripped in half so it flopped). other options are to kill it, to release it and improve your coop idk if you free range but lock them up at night, get motion detecter light out there. put netting over run. for the past 2 years i have had no problems because i improved my coop. they also sell electric poultry fencing and other stuff

 

[bobbi-j]

Quote:
Silkielover - you're absolutely right. No one "has" to kill a predator. But I think people need to think about why they're releasing instead of killing them. Especially when they know that it's not in the animal's best interest. It's not pleasant to kill something. It's no fun having to deal with a dead animal. It's so much easier to just let it go and not have to do the dirty work ourselves. Not ALL relocated animals are killed, obviously. But what about those who do starve to death, or get eaten by something else, or are constantly run off by the already established animals of their own species? How is that kinder than instant death by a bullet to the head? Raccoons can be "pretty cute", but have you ever seen a snarling, growling, barking, teeth-baring one after your dog? Have you ever cleaned up your coop after an attack on your birds? I'm not trying to be snarky here, so my apologies right now if I'm coming across that way.

 

[jelly_biscuit]

Quote:
We did that. A man that worked with my husband let us borrow his trap in exchange for bringing him the raccoons that we caught (he eats them). He cooked some (smoked, I think) for my husband who said it was delicious. We kept trapping them (a few a week, plus some 'possums) until my husband got tired of killing them. I bet we could feed our family indefinitely off of raccoons if I kept a trap out every night and learned how to process and cook them. Maybe one day I'll do that...