Me thinks I trapped baby raccoons under our house

[Nifty-Chicken]

So, over the past week we've had a ton of scratching / clawing / biting sounds under our house.

I discovered that the small entry to the crawl space under our house was open. So, yesterday I made a ton of loud sounds under the house from different areas to try and scare out whatever was in there and then closed up the entry nice and tight.

Last night we saw a raccoon that kept wandering around the house and scratching at things. We just figured it wanted back into its home really badly.

Well, this morning I was in the bathroom and vaguely heard some odd sounds. I put my ear to the floor and it pretty much sounds like baby coons calling for their mom.

So, I'm at a loss at what to do. I definitely don't want to let mom back in to take care of her babies, but I also don't like leaving the babies in there to possibly tear stuff apart and/or die slowly.

Ideally I'd like to scare the mom away and then scare the babies out... but I also don't like the thought of letting another generation of coons living around our chickens (which we've already lost plenty to coons over the years).

What to do???

 

[LI chickie]

I don't like the idea of trapping the babies I would let mom back, blast the radio and call animal control.

 

[JaceAgain]

Open the area back up, set out some cat food, and wait?

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

We do have a "have-a-heart trap", so maybe I could trap them under the house and get them out.

While I'm not a fan of dispatching babies, I've had enough experience with the carnage that they make when they get older to become ok with quick / and painless (well, as painless as possible) dispatching.

 

[bobbi-j]

We do have a "have-a-heart trap", so maybe I could trap them under the house and get them out.

While I'm not a fan of dispatching babies, I've had enough experience with the carnage that they make when they get older to become ok with quick / and painless (well, as painless as possible) dispatching.

I think this sounds like your best option. It is hard to kill the cute little guys, but imagine them instead as snarling, growling, snapping adults instead. That's what they'll be soon enough.

 

[Folly's place]

Sad but so true. Mary

 

[bobbi-j]

If only they weren't so darn cute as babies.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Ugh, it continues: Raccoons Are STRONG! Rip Through Chicken Wire And More!

I'm getting more and more upset about these things and am going to up the ante with more traps, etc!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Well, the good news is that the family of coons moved out from under our house. The bad news was that a few days later a HORRIBLE smell started to come up through the floor, and got worse and worse for a few days.

The space under the house isn't very big and my amazing (and tiny) wife geared up in protective clothing, mask, gloves, etc. and went on a journey. After about 20 minutes of squirming on her belly under the house she finally found what remained of a baby coon... covered in huge maggots.

Oh, and not only is my wife more physically inclined for the task, she also isn't 1/10 as squeamish as I am! I probably would have fainted and died under there if I had encountered what she did! She's AMAZING!

She bagged the mess and within a couple of hours the stink was gone! I can't imagine how bad the smell (and flies) would have gotten over the next few days and then weeks had she not come to the rescue!!

 

[Folly's place]

Even a mouse can really smell awful! Glad she was able to remove it. Mary