Raccoon help! Please help settle an argument with my husband

[Birdinhand]

I don't think it's necessary to kill the coon, but I agree with the post above about fortification. hardware cloth is the key, with no more than a one inch gap anywhere, wall to wall, ceiling and floor... the best investment I've ever made! coons and rats and cayotes and foxes and bald eagles all "hang around" in our neighborhood, if i were to try and kill them all i'd be an obsessed nervous wreck. the key is to assure the coop is impervious. I kind of feel like you are both right, to a degree. something probably should be done to take the threat seriously but not necessarily the extermination of the latest critter to come by, if you remove one, there will be more, always, it's just a matter of time.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Since your married to a city boy I imagine it will be hard to adjust to a farmers life. Killing isnt pleasant or easy. It will be necessary at some point however. I have had coons pull chickens out of chicken wire and smaller piece by piece. I agree with when its gone others will come and secure your coop best you can. Also get that food in a coon safe container and when nothing is left there for it/them to eat they should leave. In the meantime since this one is brazen enough to show itself around you (we normally see signs there were here) I would consider destroying it. A trap set with some tuna will do the trick . Then if you are able a 22 or whatever you have will make short work of it.

 

[Folly's place]

I'm with GH on this; your visiting raccoon is just too bold for comfort, and needs to cross that 'rainbow bridge' soonest. And your coop needs to have no openings larger than 1/2" diameter, child (raccoon) proof latches, and a dig-proof foundation.
In bear country, electric fencing is essential. Everywhere else, everyone from rats, weasels, and 100 pound dogs loves chicken dinners, so being proactive is best.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

It gets easier to kill a predator after finding chicken parts out there in the morning!!!
There are times when it's just the right thing to do.
There's no substitute for building that Ft. Knox coop!
Mary

 

[Granny Hatchet]

It gets easier to kill a predator after finding chicken parts out there in the morning!!!
There are times when it's just the right thing to do.
There's no substitute for building that Ft. Knox coop!
Mary

Yes Ma'am , it sure does. Down right enjoyable sometimes.

 

[Unexpected chicken lover]

IMO it must die
Unless y'all want to wake up to the horrible sight of headless chickens. Raccoons are THE WORST

 

[Zinjifrah]

Coon was there first. That doesn't mean you need to feed it - you need to fix the problems with the coop. If there's loose wire, get it secured. Make sure there's a top that a tenacious, hungry animal couldn't break through, too, and that all doors have latches that a child - some say three years old, I'd say five - couldn't open by unlatching or using a pry-bar. Raccoons are very clever engineers of destruction. Killing the raccoon isn't going to make your coop secure - it's just going to mean another raccoon comes and breaks in, instead.

Predator-proof the coop, and then it doesn't matter if the raccoon is out there or not. But be aware that if you have cats, and you let them go outside, raccoons will eat them as well. Again, the solution to that isn't to kill the coon, it's to keep your animals secure where one can't get to them.

 

[April’s Zoo]

Thinks he can just keep checking the coop for any signs of chewing, damage, etc. I disagree, think that damage sufficient to get the raccoon into the coop could be done all in one night.

So what do you all think? Try for peaceful coexistence or get rid of the thing?

Not to mention, a raccoon will reach right into the coop/run, pull a chicken to the side and kill it.... even when there’s no way it could get to actually eat any of it.

{I haven’t been able to find the post I was looking for.... maybe someone else remembers it——
someone used a game cam to see a young raccoon climbing in through a small gap.... the posted photo showed the ‘coon poking its head up next to a post(?) looking right at the camera.... and when they tracked back how it got in, it had basically crawled up through the space between walls, up between rafters and finally emerged in the coop... (might not be the exact description, but it was something like that) I think they said the opening was less than 2 inches, at the widest point. They were completely surprised because they had thoroughly examined the coop and never found an opening that went from the outside to the inside.... because it was such an indirect route, it wasn’t immediately obvious that it was there.}

 

[Trux]

Make sure the weak spots are fortified, and add a electric fence around the coop and run. Take away the easy ways in and it will look else where for their meal. If there is one there are others, and they are smart and crafty, and they adapt. So if you kill one, they will adapt and come when you are most likely sleeping or not around. So keep an eye on that coop and inspect it every morning for signs like chewing etc. Oh and am not sure what you have for a run, but 1/2 inch hardware cloth is the ticket, and not the light gauge stuff, unless your covering welded wire.

 

[RWise]

IF the coon wants in it will get in, they tear the doors out of have a heart traps to get out. Note the coon has found your tasty birds!
My dogs keep coons out of the yard, which is good enuf for me.
My GF would tell me to grow a pair and take care of the critter!