Probable coon problem: does trapping work?

[upriver]

Hello-

We've had a bear getting into the run this summer (found the berry-rich scat inside the run). The food supply was gotten into but the birds were always safe. I've sealed up the areas of the fencing he had pulled out and dug under.

But this morning I found one of our decks dead. Her wing was way up near the house, so I ran down to the run and sure enough a carcass with the entrails mostly ripped out (head gone) was kindof stuck to the fence, as if the attack happened from the outside. That sounds coon-like, no?

If I put out a live trap (consistently), will that likely keep the problem at bay, or do I have to rethink my whole run-structure?

How far away would a coon need to be released in order to not come back? I dont have firearms and don't know of a humane way to dispatch it from inside the trap. I am willing to drive some miles into national forest to release it though.

Thanks

 

[silkiechicken]

Trapping works, but only IF you dispatch the coon. Ramifications of trap and release are just not worth it, so it would be best to find someone to dispatch it for you if you plan on trapping.

Releasing: Spreads disease, makes a coon almost impossible to trap again, usually can find it's way back over many miles, puts the coon you dumped in a precarious situation where it will fight or starve on another coon's territory, puts the coon who's territory you put the new comer on at a risk to defend it's territory, and in most places is illegal to to so anyway.

If you don't want to trap and dispatch, you'll have to do something about the run.

 

[upriver]

Thanks!

Is there a safe/sane/humane way to dispatch without a firearm?

 

[silkiechicken]

A high powered air rifle (pellet rifle) will work the same and almost silently if you can't get a hold of a fire arm.

The city animal control may also dispatch animals, but that can be regional. Learning where to shoot would be ideal though. I hear of drowning and gassing, but both those methods aren't as fast as a single well placed shot.

 

[aprophet]

most times there will be more then 1 coon you need to trap until you do not catch anymore then wait 2-3 weeks and trap again for a week or two at that point you will have a little bit of time to fortify your coop / run depending on density in outlying areas you may get 6-8 months before they filter back in. I run " bait piles" about 150-200 yards away from my birds keeps the preds where I can work on them and keeps them away from my birds.