Since I have gotten chicks I have been especially wary of predators in our area. I know that there is a fox hanging around and of course we have plenty of raccoons traveling around the premises after dark. Yesterday evening as I was going about my work I came around the end of our garage and there in front of me was a raccoon looking at me from beside my sister in law's trailer. It wasn't the biggest that I've ever seen and it certainly wasn't the smallest either. This was still a couple of hours before it would get dark but it was overcast. It didn't even run when it saw me.
The girls were locked up in their coop so they were safe and secure and I did get the electric fence hooked up so any chances of them being in danger were slim. But still. A raccoon ambling around before dark doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Fortunately for the raccoon I had my .40 S&W handgun on me at the time rather than something a bit smaller. I hate popping that off in the afternoon as it disturbs the neighborhood even though it is 100% legal for me to do so. Guess I just need to keep my .22 handy when I'm doing stuff outside around dark. Imho raccoons are like rats. Where there's one there's a lot more.
The girls were locked up in their coop so they were safe and secure and I did get the electric fence hooked up so any chances of them being in danger were slim. But still. A raccoon ambling around before dark doesn't give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.
Fortunately for the raccoon I had my .40 S&W handgun on me at the time rather than something a bit smaller. I hate popping that off in the afternoon as it disturbs the neighborhood even though it is 100% legal for me to do so. Guess I just need to keep my .22 handy when I'm doing stuff outside around dark. Imho raccoons are like rats. Where there's one there's a lot more.
