Raccoon killed (and ate) my peahen last night

[nevsma]

Hey everyone, this is actually my first post, I just wish it was better news. It starts with really good news, but then gets bad. Yesterday I got home from work and I noticed one of my peahens up and around with a brand new little loud pied chick under her. I quickly checked the nest and noticed other eggs starting to pip, and thankfully the hen (Lucy) went back to the nest and continued to sit on the eggs. Well, to make a long story short, I have been battling raccoons for several years. The coons had always been finding weak spots between the netting and the fencing and slide in, or they would chew through the top netting. When they would get in, they would gorge themselves on the birds food, and eat any eggs laid during the previous evening. With modifications to the pen, I thought I had the problem fixed, the hens relaxed, laid eggs, sat, and hatched, everything was good. Well, this morning the birds were honking up a storm so I went out to check. I noticed egg fragments all over the pen, and no mother or chick. I ended up finding Lucy in a far corner of the shelter completely eaten. The chick was missing as well. I noticed a hole that the raccoon(s) came though. They were able to pull the stapled netting away from the wood to squeeze through. Tonight I will be nailing another 2x4 to create a "sandwich" of 2x4's and the netting. I have been setting a trap and catching a coon every single night. They are really overpopulated over here. This is really frustrating, and now I am worried about the other adults in the pen. Before, if the coons got in, the would only eat the food, or eggs, they never bothered the adults. Now, I am afraid that they learned that the adults can be a viable target as well. Any suggestions?

 

[jcatblum]

So sorry you lost your girl & baby! Have you set traps yet? Or do you have a pair of livestock dogs? My dogs keep most things away at night. They have even chased a bobcat up a tree a few months ago. However, dogs are only good if they guard your birds & don't play with them.

 

[Imp]

I'm so sorry for your loss. I am having issues with raccoons also.

Imp

 

[nevsma]

I actually have been setting traps. Two years ago, I caught 17, last year, 19; this year I have lost count. I have been putting traps out every night, and I catch one. They really seem to like sunflower seeds or the peafowls food mix. The problem I have is that I never catch the adults. They are all juvenile or young raccoons. I also don't want to keep trapping them. I would love to be able to make my pen completely proof, but so far the racoons are winning. They can't dig under, they are just coming from the top. I think I might need to put an electric fence wire around the top. The area I live is fairly wooded, so there are plenty of coons around. I will never be able to be rid of them. I just need to try live along with them. I thought on getting a dog, but I am really allergic, and I can't touch them.

 

[CORNISH_MAN]

Quote:
NEVSMA,

First of all welcome to BYC!!!!! Sorry for your bad luck with coons. I had problems a few years ago when I moved to my new place with coons and the only thing that has kept them at bay is I got a Great Pyrenees. Have you tried putting electric fence around there coop. That wouldnt work for me as I have alot of free range birds but if yours are in a coop you may want to try that. Where are you located? You may want to let some local coon hunters hunt on your property and thin them out.

 

[MinxFox]

I think you should go for a nice coon hunt tonight! I love coon hunting, I do like raccoons but in this case there are too many of them and they ate your precious birds.

There was a point were I was worried raccoons were coming into the pen because I was finding broken egg shells. I don't know if the peafowl were doing it or what. Maybe dogs would help...Some coon dogs perhaps? Sorry about this, I know you must have been so excited for your peahen and her pretty pied chick only to have this happen.

 

[Kedreeva]

Are you trapping them and killing them or trapping them and moving them? Because in the numbers you are quoting, it sounds like you're trapping and removing. I don't know how it is where you are at, but we tolerate no raccoons on the property- if we see it, it gets greeted with a shotgun to the face.

If you've shot a pile of coons already, you might try purchasing predator urine online to spray around your yard, or getting one of those subsonic pest wards that emit a sound they can hear that annoys them terribly but you can't hear it.

 

[nevsma]

I actually am trapping and killing them. I then drop them off in the middle of the corn field where the turkey vultures come in to complete the circle of life. All that are left of the raccoons after a day are the carcasses. I live in SW Wisconsin. My property is up against some pretty serious woods. About 5 miles away is a very large state park, and I have heard that they are also having terrible raccoon problems. I like the idea about the predator urine, I have never heard about the subsonic pest wards, I will need to try those. Thanks for the ideas!

I do have some good news, I was able to rescue two eggs that the coon missed and have now placed them in the incubator, and I am hearing chirping from inside one of them, so hopefully all is not lost.

 

[CORNISH_MAN]

Quote:
I would stay far away from subsonic pest control devices. I have yet to see or hear of one that actually works. Do a google search on the net and you will see there is plenty of research that will back up what I am saying. Also most animals including insects do not have a vastly different hearing range than do humans & any noise so raucus or discomfitting that it would truly annoy small mammals, insects, or any other creature, would annoy humans too.

 

[Kedreeva]

We don't use the subsonic devices, because we don't get much in the way of predators where we are at currently. But there are two great pyraneese in the yard, so that probably helps.