Mystery Pest

[Chickens run]

For the past several nights, I have had a nightly visitor to the run after the hens are in the coop. This mystery guest loves to eat the food, so I put in in a bin with a lid. The mystery guest tipped the bin over and removed or knocked the lid off, once again enjoying a moonlight buffet. It is a very skilled diner, removing or knocking off rocks placed on top of the bin to weigh it down, and knocking over the traps, setting them off without getting trapped himself. Finally, my late night guest left his calling card! Is it a raccoon?

 

[beetandsteet]

An animal with that kind of intelligence is bound to be a raccoon. I could tell you amusing stories of camping adventures with sly coons

. Also, I did some quick googling, and someone said "The most common telltale trait of raccoon poop is that it often has berries in it" and here is a link to a pic that looks like your specimen of poop https://www.google.com/search?q=pic...OyQIVEPRjCh2kdgKS&dpr=1#imgrc=OLbjDVY3eyr3pM:

 

[Free Spirit]

Raccoon.

Make sure the lock on the coop is a good one because they are pretty good at handling latches and getting into coops. They can reach through chicken wire and kill birds as well as unraveling chicken wire. Keep an eye on your hens. I had a raccoon visiting my ducks yesterday at 10:35 AM. My ducks are inside an electric net but still had me pretty worried about them.

Yes that was 10:35 AM - morning/daylight

 

[mommadearest]

I'm very worried about my new chicks coming next week, I've done all i can think of to secure my coop for them but seems nothing is for sure, I have a few opening here and there nothing bigger than an inch maybe less, My plan is to set traps. Hardware cloth, and some barb wire. If they persist than i want them to feel some pain. I've seen what those coons can do last batch several yrs ago. They were ruthless.
I saw him up close after he was dispatched and honestly was a nasty looking animal.Nope, not again (Hopefully) He actually was in a have a heart trap with a large bath towel covering the trap and in the am i found the towel shredded in the trap and and a escape hole at the end. They are a force to reckon with.