No house is coon proof? The Woods has been and Victory house absolutely is.........and it has been tested.
So a house of this type protects the birds from all comers....all manner of varmints from coons to whatever....at night.
Then it's up to you to protect them by day. True free ranging is NOT protection. That is serving them up on a platter.....with a cherry on top.
So what is needed is a YARD. A confined area of protection that permits the birds to roam about, yet one that also excludes predators.
Physical fences may confine the birds, but only excludes a very small handful of predators. Most predators can get past any form of physical fence with ease. They do it daily.
What they are not equipped to deal with is an electric fence....one designed with predators in mind.
You can make those as large as your budget will allow. I have tried both the electric poultry netting and wire fences and have found the wire fences work best for me.
They look like this........
Bottom wire about 5 inches or so off the deck. Low enough nothing gets under it without getting zapped. High enough to make it easy to keep weeds, etc. from touching it to keep it hot. Each additional wire about 5 to 6 inches apart. Wide enough so that nothing can slip through it without getting zapped. Top wire about 20 to 25 inches above the ground. Low enough most adults can step over it without getting zapped. Low enough that it would seem that many dogs and varmints could jump over it with ease.....and they could.....yet they don't. So why not?
Most varmints never get that far. They are used to going under or through it and get zapped when they do. For most, that is enough to be turned away, never to come back. When we say zapped.....we mean really ZAPPED!!!
That is the mild fencer putting out 7,000 volts plus. The other one is tests out to 13,000 volts. That is a violent, painful shock. The last dog I saw get it let out a screaming yelp and the last I saw of him he was 100 yards away from the fence and still picking up speed. That level of shock.
Dog left still very much alive......but has not been back. I didn't have to shoot him, trap him, dispose of him, indeed, I had no contact with him at all. The fence did all that for me. On guard 24/7, day and night, rain or shine.
To make sure the animals get it, baiting the fence works. I was doing that before I read the fencer manual which offered the same advice to move the animals along on their journey to discovery. Bait it with the target animal in mind. For coons......try a piece of raw chicken skin.....drape it over the wire and hold it in place with a clothes pin. Or drizzle a few drips of molasses on the wire to dry in place. They will sniff and/or lick it. Ouch.
So why don't the larger varmints jump over? My guess is fear. Fear of the unknown if they leave their feet. Once airborne, they know that they have no control of what happens to them when the come down. They don't fear that with physical fences, but do with electric fences, so won't risk it.
So with tight houses protecting at night, and ruthlessly hot fences, protecting by day, I've never lost a single bird to a predator. Just saying.
So a house of this type protects the birds from all comers....all manner of varmints from coons to whatever....at night.
Then it's up to you to protect them by day. True free ranging is NOT protection. That is serving them up on a platter.....with a cherry on top.
So what is needed is a YARD. A confined area of protection that permits the birds to roam about, yet one that also excludes predators.
Physical fences may confine the birds, but only excludes a very small handful of predators. Most predators can get past any form of physical fence with ease. They do it daily.
What they are not equipped to deal with is an electric fence....one designed with predators in mind.
You can make those as large as your budget will allow. I have tried both the electric poultry netting and wire fences and have found the wire fences work best for me.
They look like this........
Bottom wire about 5 inches or so off the deck. Low enough nothing gets under it without getting zapped. High enough to make it easy to keep weeds, etc. from touching it to keep it hot. Each additional wire about 5 to 6 inches apart. Wide enough so that nothing can slip through it without getting zapped. Top wire about 20 to 25 inches above the ground. Low enough most adults can step over it without getting zapped. Low enough that it would seem that many dogs and varmints could jump over it with ease.....and they could.....yet they don't. So why not?
Most varmints never get that far. They are used to going under or through it and get zapped when they do. For most, that is enough to be turned away, never to come back. When we say zapped.....we mean really ZAPPED!!!
That is the mild fencer putting out 7,000 volts plus. The other one is tests out to 13,000 volts. That is a violent, painful shock. The last dog I saw get it let out a screaming yelp and the last I saw of him he was 100 yards away from the fence and still picking up speed. That level of shock.
Dog left still very much alive......but has not been back. I didn't have to shoot him, trap him, dispose of him, indeed, I had no contact with him at all. The fence did all that for me. On guard 24/7, day and night, rain or shine.
To make sure the animals get it, baiting the fence works. I was doing that before I read the fencer manual which offered the same advice to move the animals along on their journey to discovery. Bait it with the target animal in mind. For coons......try a piece of raw chicken skin.....drape it over the wire and hold it in place with a clothes pin. Or drizzle a few drips of molasses on the wire to dry in place. They will sniff and/or lick it. Ouch.
So why don't the larger varmints jump over? My guess is fear. Fear of the unknown if they leave their feet. Once airborne, they know that they have no control of what happens to them when the come down. They don't fear that with physical fences, but do with electric fences, so won't risk it.
So with tight houses protecting at night, and ruthlessly hot fences, protecting by day, I've never lost a single bird to a predator. Just saying.
