Predator and pest proofing lofts

[LamarshFish]

Just thought I'd share what I've done with my new loft to predator and pest proof it. Where I live basically in the city, I do not have coyotes or foxes, but we do have a few coons, plenty of possoms and tons of rats and squirrels.

My entire loft is well sealed off with 1/2 wire. I also sealed around the legs of the loft with 1/2 wire to keep pests from picking at the feed spilled by my birds, just because I don't want them around my yard any more of a mess that my birds make. That is 1/2 wire around all the legs of the loft, sunk partially into the ground, along with 6" of plastic buried into the ground to keep digging pests out as well (you can't really see that cause it's buried).

So I have a means to rake the poop out from time to time, I made the front panel a door that opens so I can access below the wire floor to scrape out poop and spilled seed. So far so good! First pic shows poop door open, second pic poop door is closed (it got all muddy from a hard rain the night before).

Just thought I would share in case this inspires other peoples' designs, OR in case anybody has any tips or suggestions for me! I'm new to this.

 

[purslanegarden]

It looks like 1/4" hardware cloth, right? I find the 1/2" chicken wiring to be still too big for raccoon paws and mice. Great design!

 

[LamarshFish]

It looks like 1/4" hardware cloth, right? I find the 1/2" chicken wiring to be still too big for raccoon paws and mice. Great design!

Thanks! This is actually 1/2" mesh wire, but it's not chicken wire, it's much thicker than that. I picked 1/2" because it was tougher/thicker than the 1/4". I thought about raccoon paws (really more like hands lol), and that is why I made sure it is fastened on to the loft so strong that a human would have a hard time pulling it open or off.

There is no way a mouse could get through this stuff. It would have to be a tiny, baby mouse, and if that happens, well I'm not sure what to say about that lol. I've never seen mice around my house though, only feral rats. I set traps around my loft, got a dead rat in one last night!