Orphan raccoon, anyone else raise one with chickens?

[McChooky]

Woke up this morning and my 2 escape artists have finally learned the lock on their enclosure. Sally was waiting on me on the front porch. As soon as I opened the door she took a vee line to her sister. Raven was trying to get into my chicken coop. No telling how long they been out, all night I guess. Little bit of leftover fried fish and the girls went back home. One being carried and the other rode on my left pants leg.

Just tells me I need to change the latch on the coon enclosure and my chicken coop is well secure. I'm sure if it wasn't for the hardware cloth around my main run I woulda had dead chickens this morning.

Garbage companies slide big steel bars thru brackets on the doors of their dumpsters to keep out bears but the coons are smart enough to slide the bars out . They're much smarter than most people realize. I watched a video of a wild coon that pushed the garage door button to open the garage door.Where did he learn how to do that?After the homeowner disengaged the motor from the door the coon lifted the door physically to get in and out.

 

[McChooky]

Garbage companies slide big steel bars thru brackets on the doors of their dumpsters to keep out bears but the coons are smart enough to slide the bars out . They're much smarter than most people realize. I watched a video of a wild coon that pushed the garage door button to open the garage door.Where did he learn how to do that?After the homeowner disengaged the motor from the door the coon lifted the door physically to get in and out.

 

[neo71665]

Oh trust me I'm aware how smart they are. Go back and look at my first post in here and see how many I've had over the years.
I normally keep their gate double latched but my dad came over, played with them, and didn't latch it back right yesterday evening. I didn't know about it until about an hour ago when I talked to him.

BTW ya wanna see some really good coon videos look up Tito the raccoon on youtube.

 

[McChooky]

The back of my house is nestled underneath tall trees along the edge of the woods. We have coyotes,raccoons,owls, hawks ,bob cats and foxes and I haven't made pets out of any of them but I don't trap,poison or kill them either. Knock on wood nothings ever killed any of my chickens.

 

[neo71665]

The back of my house is nestled underneath tall trees along the edge of the woods. We have coyotes,raccoons,owls, hawks ,bob cats and foxes and I haven't made pets out of any of them but I don't trap,poison or kill them either. Knock on wood nothings ever killed any of my chickens.

I live on 90 acres in the sticks, my driveway is almost a 1/2 mile long. Yeah I have all of those and right now I'm trapping wild hogs on my front 10 acres. I'm a licensed wildlife rehabber and have had pet coons, skunks (when they were legal here), squirrels, possums, deer (when they were legal here), and a fox when I was a kid. I got into rehabbing because I grew up with anything I could catch and tame I had, also as I got older I learned better. I only keep wildlife now that are like the OP raised and imprinted so they can't be released. OP will soon learn unless you know what you are doing anything normally wild will never be like anything domesticated. I grew up coon hunting and trapping. I bought my first vehicle when I was 12 by selling a grand champion bluetick hound. Still trap and sell hides. My granny growing up is the reason why I got into trapping. She had actual free range chickens and we had to do predator control.

Many people on here that have raised coons as pets or rehabbers have done told the OP they don't know what they are doing. I only hope they listen. Wild animals are not a dog or a cat. It might be cute or funny one day but if you don't know what you are doing you can easily end up in the ER the next day. Trust me I know very well and have the scars from coons teeth and claws. I'm still a nutcase and have 2 as a pet.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I live on 90 acres in the sticks, my driveway is almost a 1/2 mile long. Yeah I have all of those and right now I'm trapping wild hogs on my front 10 acres. I'm a licensed wildlife rehabber and have had pet coons, skunks (when they were legal here), squirrels, possums, deer (when they were legal here), and a fox when I was a kid. I got into rehabbing because I grew up with anything I could catch and tame I had, also as I got older I learned better. I only keep wildlife now that are like the OP raised and imprinted so they can't be released. OP will soon learn unless you know what you are doing anything normally wild will never be like anything domesticated. I grew up coon hunting and trapping. I bought my first vehicle when I was 12 by selling a grand champion bluetick hound. Still trap and sell hides. My granny growing up is the reason why I got into trapping. She had actual free range chickens and we had to do predator control.

Many people on here that have raised coons as pets or rehabbers have done told the OP they don't know what they are doing. I only hope they listen. Wild animals are not a dog or a cat. It might be cute or funny one day but if you don't know what you are doing you can easily end up in the ER the next day. Trust me I know very well and have the scars from coons teeth and claws. I'm still a nutcase and have 2 as a pet.

Off topic a bit, but can I just ask about your pet skunks? I've toyed (literally, I'm almost certain it would never actually happen, let alone if it's even legal here) with having a pet skunk and I've just gotta know some more information from someone who has actually had one

 

[neo71665]

Off topic a bit, but can I just ask about your pet skunks? I've toyed (literally, I'm almost certain it would never actually happen, let alone if it's even legal here) with having a pet skunk and I've just gotta know some more information from someone who has actually had one

Had him fixed so he was shooting blanks all around. He was house trained to use a litter box and lived inside. When I got him (and his other 4 siblings) I could fit him and his sister in one hand. He finally lived to be 15 years old and died of old age.

What you prolly wanna know is the temperament. They are kinda more like a cat than anything but don't/can't climb. If you have sheetrock walls they will dig threw them. Heck they can dig threw a wood door if they want. To house train you have to lock em up in one room and they will kinda somewhat use a litterbox on their one. Once they get used to one room you can start letting them loose in a 2nd room, then a 3rd, and so on. They have long front nails that you can NOT trim, they are basically their toes. If you cut them too short you make them have front feet issues. They dig, if you have carpet it will be destroyed. Sheetrock, yeah they will dig it out. Laminate doors, look for the lower foot to be gone. I did let mine inside just like I do my coons but only supervised. They all live outside in a 10x10x6 enclosure (same one just my skunk died before I got my girls) normally. Skunks are even worse about caring rabies so thats why they were made illegal as pets here. Mine was actually grandfathered in and the local game warden used to come get him to carry around to schools.

Before I write a novel PM me if you got any more questions.

 

[neo71665]

Tito the coon youtube

Anybody and everybody that thinks they want a coon needs to watch this

This dude has had indoor coon(s) but he built an whole room to house them out of concrete. Even then he lost one. Never trust a coon.

 

[Krugerrand]

The knowledge and experience on this forum is incredible.

 

[McChooky]

Tito the coon youtube

Anybody and everybody that thinks they want a coon needs to watch this

This dude has had indoor coon(s) but he built an whole room to house them out of concrete. Even then he lost one. Never trust a coon.