Predator in trees at night?

[wyododge]

Go get yourself a shot gun or a .22 and shoot the darn thing. They make a shotgun shell for a 22 that sound like a fire cracker and will destroy a raccoon or possum. When someone asks what happened say you have no idea and heard a firecracker or something, pay no attention to the blood splatter on the fence...

They are playing for keeps, you should too. If you don't make them scared of you, they will never go away. Right now they are not afraid of humans cause we don't bite back.

 

[chena16c]

I'm not sure I trust myself with a gun......but live traps I can set. This guy looks pretty big though, what size trap would he need?

'possums I can handle killing as they don't fight back too much (just really hard to kill with a shovel). I'm not wanting to pick a fight with a 'coon though and I'm not willing to set my house dog border collie after him. The 'coon is pretty consistent with when he comes....between 5:30-6:20 every morning.

They are locked up at night now. I'm pretty sure the drought is causing more animals than usual to make their way into neighborhoods. I've lived in this house for a little over 2 years and this summer is the first big time predator issue I've ever had. I have an open supply of water for the chickens because they used to free range all day.

Thanks for the suggestions!