to the OP, I would check the link above and call your local DNR office and ask them what can be done about the neighbor. I would go out at night and snap some pictures of all the coons as well. Tell them not only are you worried about your birds but about the disease!
let your neighbor know she (he) isn't doing the raccoons any favors. when you provide free food the creature loses its survival skills. when she runs out of money and can't provide the service to the raccoons anymore, and they are dependent on her for food, they suffer. not to mention, raccoons are not intended to gather lilke that. they are not herd/flock animals. they hang out in families. that many together means fights/injuries.
From the Audubon Society: Deliberate feeding of raccoons makes them more comfortable around humans and more likely to get into situations where they are unwanted or in danger. It also encourages unnaturally high population levels within a small geographic area. This creates a higher risk of disease transmission among the raccoons and increases the likelihood they will become pests. It is much better and more humane to allow population levels to adjust to the food and habitat natural available.
Sometimes feeding wildlife is more harmful than beneficial. I know some humans have overly big hearts and that's great but your neighbor, as well-intentioned as they are, is creating a big problem. I would find some literature and politely educate your neighbor, leaving your chickens out of the story for the time being. If she's such an animal lover, she may change her mind for the sake of the raccoons. If not, law enforcement, definitely. Just a thought.
another idea, call your local health department. They are usually the ones who will deal with a situation where a neighbor's mess is attracting rats and such critters.
There are some states that do allow setting up feeding stations....hunters will do this to bring in game animals.
Because you are inside the city limits, I would recommend using a live trap. There are not many predators that can be effectively trapped with a cage trap, but coons can be taken in quantity with this method of take....with the numbers that you are talking about; probably setup several of them on your property. Don't use a Havhart traps, they are cheap and if you catch a big boar coon the animal will force its way out. If that happens, every coon after that will escape from the trap...and all your doing is educating coons to avoid live traps. If you have a person come out and trap and they start to get out havhart traps, or traps of that style, thank them for their time and get a real trapper. After I lost my 4th coon with a havhart style trap, I threw them all away and contacted our local trapping association....
Here is the cage trap that you want to use for trapping coon:
This trap has a welded wire frame and uses heavy duty wire ring washers to hold the trap closed. There is not a coon alive that will get out of the trap once they are in it.If you have a non-target catch that you need to release, just roll the trap over, the heavy duty washer will slide down the wire rod and the trap door will flop open.
Marshmallows work and have eye appeal, but I want that coon to be drooling and wanting to get in my trap. I make up my own bait for use in the live trap when I'm out to get coon. Start with a clean 5 gallon bucket. Fill the bucket 3/4 full with dry dog food. For the next step I wait till my wife is GONE shopping and won't be back soon, so that I can get it done and clean up my mess before she gets back home. Take a can of sardines and blend the contents up in the blender with about 3 cups of cheap cooking oil, mix this slurry into the 5 gallon bucket with the dry dog food and stir well. There is not a coon on earth that will pass by this offering.
By the numbers that you are talking about the coons are most likely using established trails, that's all the better. Set the cage traps along their route of the travel. When you set the trap make sure that it sets firm and level on the ground, there should be no wobble. Drive a stake on either side of the trap to keep the animal from rolling the trap over and to keep it from moving. If the coon is able to roll the trap they can gain a purchase and force their way out of the trap, they are an amazingly powerful animal. After you have located a place for the traps and they are properly set, camouflage the traps so that 2 legged types don't walk away with you trap. Wire the doors of the trap open for a few nights and bait with your bait mix. You'll know when they have found the traps, all the bait will be gone every morning and the ground under the bait location under the treadle will be dug up through the trap wires of the cage bottom.
You may even have to re-camouflage the trap. They really like this bait. After a few nights and the coon have made your traps a regular stop on their travel routes, set the traps and start catching the critters.
You do not want to just go out and set a trap and expect to start catching these animals. They are not stupid, they will notice that this thing is new and they will be very cautious when they first encounter the trap. The reality is that any coon that sets off the trap and gets away is now an educated coon; making them much more difficult to trap...catch them the first time. Don't give them a second chance to evaluate your trap. After a few nights the group will start to thin out, and your catch rate will drop off. They are getting cautious and may even start to avoid the trap...no problem....wire the traps open again for a few nights, bait 'em and check each morning, When they start hitting regularly again, unwire the trap and start the process over again.
From what you are saying, you could well be sitting on a little financial goldmine. With your neighbor feeding the coons, by late fall even the yearlings will rate as large and bring a premium. If at all possible, keep your chickens locked up safe. Summer months are a time of plenty, and with a neighbor doing all the feeding coons won't be a problem as long as there is a free food sources. Once fall hits and food sources become more difficult that will change. If possible start trapping in late October or mid November. In your area the coon pelts are actually in demand especially large and extra large types. That group of coon could net enough cash to pay your flock's feed bills for the next year or more.
Realize that once the numbers of Coon start going down your neighbor might start getting curious and taking walks...keep close tabs on your equipment. If you can make your sets well within the boundaries of your property, all the better.
I wouldn't start anything with the neighbor. This person is thinking with their emotions and they feel that their intentions are GOOD...if you disagree with them, then by definition that makes you BAD.
Again, I say R*A*B*I*E*S. She is a loon if she thinks raccoons don't get rabies and attack people and kill neighborhood cats-surely her type likes cats, they usually do.
She is endangering your family, her family, all the neighborhood animals, all for the sake of some Disney movie la-la-land notion that they are innocent adorable creatures who are harmless.
I know the type. I live across the road from that type. One floor short of the penthouse and thinks that Bambi is holding hands with Thumper skipping down the road. Harsh reality needs to be heaped on her.
Found a fox's den on my property a few years ago, a short distance from my nutty woman's house. She had one kit. We smoked out the den. Never saw the mama fox come back to get the kit. To this day, that woman tells everyone that we killed the fox and that we are horrible people because of that. She also says coyotes won't bother chickens and neither will her Boston Terrier, no matter how many folks try to reason with her.
Raccoons can also get Distemper. We had one roaming our yard in the middle of the day looking all scraggly and sickly. Raccoons don't roam during the day unless they're sick.
I also used to keep some bird seed on my deck for the birds. Then I noticed the squirrels coming on the deck. I thought.."No biggie". It wasn't until one night we were sitting on the deck. I had my feet propped up on the patio table (luckily) when I saw this big furry thing in the darkness walking underneath my chair! It was a raccoon. It had no fear at all of us sitting out there. I watched it walk the deck to the bird seed and proceed to just sit there and eat it while we watched! Needless to say, we shooed it off and I quit feeding the birds (and squirrels).
I think having that many raccoons in a given area is very dangerous. If the population gets really bad, your chickens are the least thing to worry about. They can be very aggressive and carry rabies. Would talked to your neighbor about the hazards they opposed to human. And if that doesn't work, call the Department of Fish and Wildlife to get advice and assistance.
Good information! I would love to find traps like the one shown, as the cheeper trap ai have isn't closing as it should. Darn! About racoon roundworms, can't remember the scientific name, but they are VERY dangerous to people. Small children who have eaten the eggs (dirty hand into mouth) have had encephalitis, abcesses in the brain, and other awfullness. Coons are cute in the wild, NOT around the house or in the chickens. Mary
Rock home isle has the same traps that I use no coon will escape them. since you are in the city and dispatching is not an option set the trap and call animal control to come and remove them. after so many trips and a capture every night it will not take long for them and the health department to put a stop to the neighbor feeding them. I use this as a guideline when I get calls for raccoon removals to let the customers know what they are dealing with. http://www.cdc.gov/parasites/baylisascaris/resources/raccoonLatrines.pdf I have examples of where a two year old child went blind because of the
Baylisascaris procyonis eggs in the fecal matter left in the wood chips on a playground.
