Racoon in Run at night

[SandyRiverChick]

My coop is solid, it's a bomb proof building, nothing is getting inside after lock up. But I can tell that at night, something is messing around inside my run which is a 6ft. chain link dog kennel partially covered. It's clearly used a wood pile I had temporarily leaning against the chain link to get out (so I just removed all of that.) My HOPE is that with no food for it to get, it will eventually go away but I'm here to hear how people detour them. I have barking dogs that go out at night if they smell anything through the window and I have a live trap, but I also have 3 feral cats that will wind up in the trap..... Also have a boyfriend with a shotgun but he actually sleeps at night.

 

[Sally PB]

Wow, that's scary! Here's what I would do.

1. Be SURE-SURE-SURE your coop is secure.
2. Put 1/2" hardware cloth over the chain link of the run.
3. If you don't have a roof over the entire run, do that first.
4. I've heard peanuts/peanut butter is a good bait in a trap for raccoons. If you trap any, do you plan to shoot them? You mentioned the BF with a shotgun. Relocating them might not be legal. Not sure how to keep the cats out of the traps...

I trapped 2 raccoons about a month or so ago with peanut butter. There are a couple feral cats in the area, and they stayed out of the traps. Maybe I was just lucky?

 

[SandyRiverChick]

If you trap any, do you plan to shoot them?

I'm not going to resort to trapping unless this doesn't stop. I'm more looking for ways to convince them/it to not even get in there.... Lights? Noises? Smells? At this juncture I'm just dealing with nigh time riff raff. I used to feed one of the Ferals just outside my run and I think the cat food drew in the Racoon, not leaving that out anymore.

 

[nuthatched]

I'm not going to resort to trapping unless this doesn't stop. I'm more looking for ways to convince them/it to not even get in there.... Lights? Noises? Smells? At this juncture I'm just dealing with nigh time riff raff. I used to feed one of the Ferals just outside my run and I think the cat food drew in the Racoon, not leaving that out anymore.

Lights and noise have never worked for me.