Raccoons? I have a situation!!

[TheBigWRanch]

Quote:
You probably had a mom with babies, and you just caught one of the babies. I would never release a wild animal, just shoot it. Not all raccoons have rabies.

 

[YARDBIRD]

Thankfully this one did not.

My boyfriend scraped his hand on the livetrap, which is ok if it is dry per the state vet. Rabies can live if it stays moist, also per the state vet. The coon chewed on the wire and it was not dry.... There is a lot of stress involved waiting to see if it or the human get sick. We were going to let it loose somewhere far away, but the park service will even tell you kill it. You can send the carcass off to have it tested. My personal vet also said that when you vaccinate an animal, it only builds the resistance to infection. I'm not brave enough to not immediately dispose of a coon next time no matter how sorry we feel for it, or how cute it looks. We've had a bad experience and learned from it.

 

[TheBigWRanch]

I know in my area we haven't had a case of rabies in over 20 years, so I personally don't worry about it at all (unless I was bitten of course!). Some areas have more rabies than others.

 

[chickenranchwife]

Sorry about your loss, and congrats on getting the fox. You should take the fox and get money for it's hide. I know what you're going through.

Last fall my flock of chickens was rapidly depleating. My husband and I would check the chickens and roosters daily and nightly with me getting a count on them each time. One time we went out to check and there was a skunk in the coop, so I ran and got the gun. What a smell that was. LOL Another time I went out and there was a big ole coon in the coop that had gotten my roosters. I ran and got the gun and shot him too. This was getting disheartning, but I never gave up. I was down to about 9 chickens by this time. We borrowed a live trap from a friend of ours and baited it with one of the dead roosters. The next morning I went out and low and behold we caught a skunk and a coon in the trap. I went into get the gun and tell my husband and he didn't believe me that we caught the two of them in one so of course he followed me out with the gun. He laughed. I shot both of them in the trap and haven't had any problem since.

 

[Deanw]

Chickenranchwife,

I don't blame you for shooting the coons and skunks, I dont care if it is a live trap or not, if it is a wild animal I'm shooting it.

 

[tomlisa]

Shoot all the foxes, possums and raccoons that you see close to your property.

 

[ivan3]

Shoot all the foxes, possums and raccoons that you see close to your property.

Absolutely the best advice (if you live in an area where this is an option). It does not matter that one has 6ft. welded wire and electric fencing, if one expects to do any freeranging at all. Live traps are not the best option for foxes (great for coons and poss), I'm posting Foxtrapper Steph's links (I followed the instructions and have had good results), and a thread on live traps and fox - I remain skeptical of the utility given the poor results with a large model.

http://p072.ezboard.com/The-HAY-SET...rdchickensfrm7.showMessage?topicID=1216.topic

http://p072.ezboard.com/prepping-an...rdchickensfrm7.showMessage?topicID=1468.topic

http://p072.ezboard.com/Fox--Is-the...rdchickensfrm7.showMessage?topicID=1833.topic​

 

[outbackbill]

An electric fence close the ground 2 to 3 wires one above the other. turn on at night and when your not home. If a coon get hit by and electric fence it will not return. Got that from Texas Ag when I was down there. It does work, Plus other small critters make a racket when hit by the electric fence. Keep it close the you run fence and the coop. Don't let it touch the ground.