raccoon living in neighbors hedge - what can I do to protect my chicken

[MissChick@dee]

Just googled “wildlife removal” in your area. You should look at that. BTW the pic is of caged raccoons. There are people to help.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There are way more than 2 juvenile raccoons living in your area. If the truth is known there may be 20 or more of all ages. Assuming that your raccoon population is not into virgin births means there is a minimum of 4 coons who call your yard home.

 

[Zwillingsmama]

Just googled “wildlife removal” in your area. You should look at that. BTW the pic is of caged raccoons. There are people to help.

Like I stated you can call those companies but they are expensive 225 to set the trap plus 150 for each animal trapped. +\- minimal Company differences. I can look into illegally trapping them myself but I bet my husband will object to that one - he is a city boy lol

 

[chickengeorgeto]

The son of a friend of mine can call a raccoon down out of a tree and make that coon jump into a pack of baying coon dogs just by mimicking the squalls and squeals of a coon.

If a coon would do this to attack a nonexistent coon, how many real coons would gang up on a transplanted or transient coon?

Relocating coons is almost a sure recipe for a cruel dead and rabid coons, mostly because raccoons live by the law of the tooth, claw, and fang.

 

[Biddybot]

When I first started live-trapping problem animals, which were raccoons of course, I phoned our local lands and forests department and asked for recommendations or possibly restrictions on what to do with the trapped animals. The guy on the phone hemmed and hawed a bit, asked me a few questions which in retrospect were likely to determine whether I was a Disney type animal lover or a practical animal lover and upon finding out that I was the latter, informed me that I could certainly relocate any animal I trapped, BUT that once a raccoon in particular got used to the idea that it could grub food from people, then it would simply redirect its attentions to any people living in its new location. In other words, all I would do is relocate my problem for someone else to deal with. He suggested that disposing of the animal was the only sure solution.

So that's what I do now. I give any raccoons and most of the other critters I trap a swimming lesson (one of those huge Rubbermaid tubs is big enough to submerge any Havahart type trap in fully). Then I heave the carcasses over the back of the fenced portion of my property (I have almost two acres and the lower acre I've left wild for, well, wildlife) and the local foxes, coyotes and ravens have a feast. One of the guys at work laughingly calls it my match-making service for all of the creatures in the forest...a bringing together of different species...and I suppose in a way I'm just one more predator among many. Anyway, that's how and why I handle the nuisance animals I trap the way I do. You can also just bury the resultant carcasses. That'll make the worms and earth organisms happy, I suppose, and add nutrients to the soil...

Edited to add for your specific situation: There's an old farmer's saying about dealing with nuisance animals...shoot, shovel, shut up. In your case, since shooting is obviously not an option, I would simply live-trap, drown, shovel, shut up. Or maybe you could even wrap the bodies up and put them in the trash for pickup. Either way, problem solved. Chickens (and you!) are safe.

 

[bigz1983]

Ok its illegal to use a live trap/relocate or live trap/dispatch with firearm in your area?

Ok trap it with a live trap don't relocate it or use a firearm. Instead live trap/dispatch of it with another means.

You could dispatch of it(after its trapped)with a 22 caliber short rifle its so quiet the neighbors couldn't hear the shot. I believe they make a really quiet 22 long rifle round too.

You could place a tarp over it, take a vent tube and connect it to your lawn mower muffler carbon monoxide it to death?

 

[llombardo]

When I first started live-trapping problem animals, which were raccoons of course, I phoned our local lands and forests department and asked for recommendations or possibly restrictions on what to do with the trapped animals. The guy on the phone hemmed and hawed a bit, asked me a few questions which in retrospect were likely to determine whether I was a Disney type animal lover or a practical animal lover and upon finding out that I was the latter, informed me that I could certainly relocate any animal I trapped, BUT that once a raccoon in particular got used to the idea that it could grub food from people, then it would simply redirect its attentions to any people living in its new location. In other words, all I would do is relocate my problem for someone else to deal with. He suggested that disposing of the animal was the only sure solution.

So that what's I do now. I give any raccoons and most of the other critters I trap a swimming lesson (one of those huge Rubbermaid tubs is big enough to submerge any Havahart type trap fully). Then I heave the carcasses over the back of the fenced portion of my property (I have almost two acres and the lower acre I've left wild for, well, wildlife) and the local foxes, coyotes and ravens have a feast. One of the guys at work laughingly calls it my match-making service for all of the creatures in the forest...a bringing together of different species...and I suppose in a way I'm just one more predator among many. Anyway, that's how and why I handle the nuisance animals I trap the way I do. You can also just bury the resultant carcasses. That'll make the worms and earth organisms happy, I suppose, and add nutrients to the soil...

Edited to add for your specific situation: There's an old farmer's saying about dealing with nuisance animals...shoot, shovel, shut up. In your case, since shooting is obviously not an option, I would simply live-trap, down, shovel, shut up. Or maybe you could even wrap the bodies up and put them in the trash for pickup. Either way, problem solved. Chickens (and you!) are safe.

So you feed predators that can be just as dangerous or more dangerous? What do you do with those once they become a nuisance to you? Why would you want to attract coyotes and fox? I'm not getting the whole point at all. We have more raccoons now because there are less coyotes, because people are killing them. Everyone talks about the balance of wildlife and sustainability but all I see is people messing with that balance and most likely causing more issues. Brludve me in going on no sleep due to my raccoon issue. I'm up all night and running out there with the littlest noise. Did this bother me before I got chickens? No. Options are limited where I am, so I have to do what I can to keep them out, but I sure could use some sleep..lol

 

[Biddybot]

llombardo: The foxes and coyotes don't trouble me because the acre about my house is fenced with five or seven-foot fencing with a two -foot strip of poultry netting all along the bottom. Raccoons, alas, climb. And mink and the odd skunk have squirmed under the chain-link gate in my front laneway, even during the daytime. Those are the ones I come in conflict with.

The roosters have so far successfully kept an eye out for aerial predators and they're brave enough to run ravens (and seagulls and crows) out of the yard.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

https://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs...esources/dsc00183-6-w640h640.jpg&action=click

Here is some quite, and I mean QUITE .22 caliber ammo. Back in the day when you went out for a brewsky or else a shot of liquor you could also do a little target plinking while inside the bar getting waisted. The ammo of choice was BB ammo of about 15 grains per slug. In fact Parlor ammo was popular for folks to shot inside of their residences to entertain the kids or guests. At zero range these loads will prove deadly for captive coons etc. Word of caution, this ammo will not operate the action in semi-automatic .22 caliber rifles and pistols. I think that they will shoot satisfactorily in these rifles and pistols if you use them as single shot weapons. Of course Parlor ammo will function A KO in single shot .22 rifles and in .22 revolvers. In the revolvers there is an increased report because of the open space between the front of the cylinder and the back of the barrel.

 

[Kfults]

OP already said that her husband is a city boy so I take this as even if legal they would not be comfortable shooting or trapping a wild animal. OP stated upgrading run or hiring someone to trap the animal is too expensive.
Here lies the problem..... keeping chickens and keeping them secure from predators can be expensive and sometimes messy (dispatching predators) Not everyone thinks through what it actually takes to keep chickens. Everyone had some good ideas! The OP really only has two options, create a secure run or deal with the preditor. There is no magic answer!