Missourians

[Sylviaanne]

My Sneaky Predator is a BIG raccoon!

I have lost chickens here and there so I don't know if this is the same predator or not but this one recently killed my BO and ate one of her eggs.

Night before last it got one of my Cornish cross hens and a young Crested Polish roo. It thought it would have dinner out again tonight but my husband was leaving to pick up our daughter at work and caught it in the act. It did no harm this time but I want it gone.

I need to know if the Department of Conservation loans out traps or who I can call for help. We live south of Ozark if there is some kind of jurisdiction thing. Also, anyone know off hand what their hours are for Saturday?

Please, anyone have any info?

 

[Rloehr]

I live in northern Mo. I don't think the conservation department does that. But you can get traps at the farm an home store

 

[Sylviaanne]

I live in northern Mo. I don't think the conservation department does that. But you can get traps at the farm an home store

I'm just afraid I wouldn't need it more than once and if I did, it would sit long enough to get rusty and I'd have to put out more money to get a new one.

For tomorrow I will as my neighbor if he has a trap and see what I can do.

I was reading on one of the threads here that it is illegal to release a coon anywhere except where it is caught, do you know if that is true here in MO? Any idea of what I can do with it if I catch it? I don't want to have anything to do with it and I don't know if my husband could/would kill it.

 

[bobbi-j]

If you're not going to get rid of it permanently (kill it), then please don't trap it in the first place. If you release it legally (on the property where it was trapped), it will be back to stalk your chickens before you put the trap away. Only now you'll have a trap-wise raccoon to deal with so he'll be harder to catch. If you trap it and take it out to "the country", you will just end up dumping your problem raccoon on someone else. I live in "the country" and would not want you to release your now trap-wise raccoon near where I live because he won't have his own territory in which to hunt so he will most likely end up looking for easy pickings which could be my chickens. Or my sweet corn. He could also spread disease to the raccoons that live here already, or end up fighting with them because they know "he's not from here". No, instead of trapping and releasing, you're better off beefing up the security around your coops. Have you tried electric fence? I know it works to keep them out of the sweet corn! My coops and run are pretty secure at night, so I don't have electric around them, but it's always an option if it becomes necessary. If you decide to trap and kill this raccoon, you might as well keep trapping. Where there is one, there are usually more.

 

[Sylviaanne]

If you're not going to get rid of it permanently (kill it), then please don't trap it in the first place. If you release it legally (on the property where it was trapped), it will be back to stalk your chickens before you put the trap away. Only now you'll have a trap-wise raccoon to deal with so he'll be harder to catch. If you trap it and take it out to "the country", you will just end up dumping your problem raccoon on someone else. I live in "the country" and would not want you to release your now trap-wise raccoon near where I live because he won't have his own territory in which to hunt so he will most likely end up looking for easy pickings which could be my chickens. Or my sweet corn. He could also spread disease to the raccoons that live here already, or end up fighting with them because they know "he's not from here". No, instead of trapping and releasing, you're better off beefing up the security around your coops. Have you tried electric fence? I know it works to keep them out of the sweet corn! My coops and run are pretty secure at night, so I don't have electric around them, but it's always an option if it becomes necessary. If you decide to trap and kill this raccoon, you might as well keep trapping. Where there is one, there are usually more.

Oh, no, I want it dead! Not released. I just don't know if Missouri would allow them to be killed. I hate to ask but is there some kind of poison I could put in the marshmallows? I have been reading they love marshmallows. Do you think there would be anything around that would eat the marshmallows other than a raccoon. There are cats around here and while I don't claim them, I wouldn't want to do them harm either.

I saw a tv show where a man put up a fence, not even very well but he put electricity in it and I think we can do that. I hope we don't have to.

 

[bobbi-j]

Catching it in a live trap then shooting it would be your best bet. It's a quick death for the animal without causing it undue suffering. Yep, I'm even opposed to a predator suffering unnecessarily. The biggest problem I see with poison Is unintended targets - something other than your raccoon eating it. Electric isn't that expensive or hard to put up.

 

[ivan3]

 
If you're not going to get rid of it permanently (kill it), then please don't trap it in the first place. If you release it legally (on the property where it was trapped), it will be back to stalk your chickens before you put the trap away. Only now you'll have a trap-wise raccoon to deal with so he'll be harder to catch. If you trap it and take it out to "the country", you will just end up dumping your problem raccoon on someone else. I live in "the country" and would not want you to release your now trap-wise raccoon near where I live because he won't have his own territory in which to hunt so he will most likely end up looking for easy pickings which could be my chickens. Or my sweet corn. He could also spread disease to the raccoons that live here already, or end up fighting with them because they know "he's not from here". No, instead of trapping and releasing, you're better off beefing up the security around your coops. Have you tried electric fence? I know it works to keep them out of the sweet corn! My coops and run are pretty secure at night, so I don't have electric around them, but it's always an option if it becomes necessary. If you decide to trap and kill this raccoon, you might as well keep trapping. Where there is one, there are usually more. 

Oh, no, I want it dead! Not released. I just don't know if Missouri would allow them to be killed. I hate to ask but is there some kind of poison I could put in the marshmallows? I have been reading they love marshmallows. Do you think there would be anything around that would eat the marshmallows other than a raccoon. There are cats around here and while I don't claim them, I wouldn't want to do them harm either.

I saw a tv show where a man put up a fence, not even very well but he put electricity in it and I think we can do that. I hope we don't have to.

Citizen to MO DNR: "Hey, raccoon was walking `sideways' and looked to be seizing."
DNR: `When did this happen?"
Citizen: "A couple days ago."
DNR: "Did you shoot it and save the head?"
Citizen: "No."

Raccoons/opossums/foxes are valuable `sentinel' species, i.e., plenty `road kill' within a few miles of one's place? Set the traps &/or supervised free range time, ONLY.. More potential legal hassle from use of poison(s), than from impulsive injection of metallic lead.

http://nsu.aphis.usda.gov/wildlife_damage/nwrc/publications/12pubs/vercauteren121.pdf

Post above mine pretty much covers one's options, if preemptive removal of vermin isn't an option (FT. CHOOK & electric fencing/baby monitors/cameras). Premptive removal doesn't keep more vermin from coming, but it sure makes a significant dent in the overall frequency of predation.

 

[centrarchid]

Catching it in a live trap then shooting it would be your best bet. It's a quick death for the animal without causing it undue suffering. Yep, I'm even opposed to a predator suffering unnecessarily. The biggest problem I see with poison Is unintended targets - something other than your raccoon eating it. Electric isn't that expensive or hard to put up.

bobbi-j is very much on the mark. I live in Missouri and killing a raccoon killing stock is legal. Releasing trapped must be done at site of capture. Without other methods available it is best to always have traps set and there will be more raccoons.

Electric fencing can be setup to very effectively repel a raccoon and can be cost effective relative to replacing losses or other methods. Upgrading coop is also relatively cheap.

 

[roosterhavoc]

If you buy a decent quality cage trap it will last for years. The havaharts do not fit this category. A big boar raccoon can almost destroy one in one night. If you need a cage trap now you can be sure you will need it again. Poisoning is no different than shooting it, dead is dead. If you can't kill it quickly don't trap it.

 

[aart]

If you buy a decent quality cage trap it will last for years. The havaharts do not fit this category. A big boar raccoon can almost destroy one in one night. If you need a cage trap now you can be sure you will need it again. Poisoning is no different than shooting it, dead is dead. If you can't kill it quickly don't trap it.

Poisoning is very much different as it can kill untargeted animals, including your own pets...and it doesn't always kill quickly.

Dukes Dog Proof type raccoon traps baited with marshmallows seem to work very well from all I've read.