Raccoon -- feeling guilty

[CarriBrown]

Quote:
Exactly. I don't like "getting rid of" animals and I'll relocate them when I can, but at the same time, I can SSS with the best of 'em.

 

[beckt]

No soft spots for preds. here. If they are after my birds they are done. I don't care if its a cat or a dog either. I know folks don't take to kind to shooting cats & dogs, but I do what I have to to protect my birds. Except for the Red Tail. It is against the law to shoot them & I just covered my run so he/she could not get in. Now the fur berrin ones I take care of even if they are not in the pens. I know they will be before long. I must say the first coon I got I did bury, but all the ones after that were buzzard food. Heck the buzzards got to eat too.

 

[SpottedCrow]

I love your new avatar Paganfish...The Aztec calendar rocks.
I've even treed a raccoon myself...that should've made it onto America's Funniest Home Videos.

 

[paganfish]

Thanks Spotted.

I've never had any kind of encounter with predators...other than hawks.

In fact, today, a red tail hawk swooped by and my roos went crazy! I mean they raised an alarm to chill your blood! It chilled mine.

I saw the hawk coming my way--gliding over the yard! I told it this was not it's personal buffet and slowly started to get up when I saw it was lowering altitude. When it saw me get up, it swooped up again but by that time the roos had raised quite the ruckus it was not even necessary for me to get up. LOL!

I'm SO glad I got roos...mostly, they fight amongst each other but, when there's a hawk about...they forget their differences and protect the ladies/kids. I learn so much from them!

~c:->

 

[skatcatla]

I have both raccoons AND hawks in my neighborhood.

I simply built a coop that they can't get into, including a combination lock on the door and eggnest.

Nobody dies and everyone's happy.

It's that simple, folks.

 

[seedcorn]

I never feel sorry for a predator. They are MY chickens, he or she is trying to eat them, so if I get them, they lose. Go hunt for their own, leave MINE alone.....

To those who think they are doing something good by relocating predators, YOU are doing MORE DAMAGE than you realize. How would you like it if people started dropping off their problems on your place?

 

[chickbea]

We should clarify what relocating means. It doesn't mean bringing the critter a few doors down and letting them loose in the neighbor's yard. State or National forest land is a good place to do it, where there aren't houses around, and where there is adequate habitat to support the critter once it gets there.

 

[mullers3acers]

Three years ago, we had just purchased our meat birds and our new laying hens. For about two weeks straight we kept finding chickens dead and half eaten. Frank thought the older hens were being cannibals. We filled all holes in the little coop and the big coop the next morning we had lost half our flock. The next night he put out traps and put bait in the big coop. I couldn't sleep and heard a noise in the coop. Took a flashlight and it was a large raccoon that had been eating our chickens. It was getting in by lifting the coop door that we lift with a rope. I am sorry but that raccoon had to go!!!!

Just so you know we aren't talking about 2 or 3 chickens it was more like 30.

 

[skatcatla]

It was getting in by lifting the coop door that we lift with a rope.

A simple combination lock probably would have done the trick. That's what we have on our run door and the egg door..its just one of those little luggage-type ones with the three numbers.

 

[mullers3acers]

Ya'
We figured this out ,still it was too late! Our chickens were already dead. Now we have that. Haven't had a problem since.