Squirrel killers?

[centrarchid]

The fence is for people and dogs, in that order. Keeping nocturnal climbers out is best served by coop design as those guys will visit when poultry containment can be most advantageous. I have no fear of nocturnal predators when birds properly provided for at night.

 

[marcus connor]

we live out in middle of the woods 25 miles from the closest town and what i would do (but you can't do because your in a residential area) i would get my 22. and blow it's head off but i would eat it later

 

[MeepBeep]

I have no fear of nocturnal predators when birds properly provided for at night.

Well I can't say I 'fear' them, but I do carry a sidearm every time I go out to the barn(s), especially at night as I'm not silly enough to believe any are fully nocturnal... In my area, all spring and early summer when they have extra mouths to feed and during harsh winters when food is slim, many of those 'nocturnal' predators extend their hunting hours well past sunrise, and get an early start at night well before sunset...

I have seen more than my fair share of coons, possum, skunks, and coyotes snooping around my livestock buildings in full daylight as well... I even had coyotes walking all over my property at all hours of the day last winter because of the harsh weather...

For me the concern is far from limited to nighttime housing, it extends into their outdoor time as well...

 

[centrarchid]

Well I can't say I 'fear' them, but I do carry a sidearm every time I go out to the barn(s), especially at night as I'm not silly enough to believe any are fully nocturnal... In my area, all spring and early summer when they have extra mouths to feed and during harsh winters when food is slim, many of those 'nocturnal' predators extend their hunting hours well past sunrise, and get an early start at night well before sunset...

I have seen more than my fair share of coons, possum, skunks, and coyotes snooping around my livestock buildings in full daylight as well... I even had coyotes walking all over my property at all hours of the day last winter because of the harsh weather...

For me the concern is far from limited to nighttime housing, it extends into their outdoor time as well...

We enjoy exceptional predator control. Gun is employed only for treed raccoons. Dogs keep the baddies at bay very well. Fencing slows baddies down and funnel them for dogs. Proper roosting setups make so predators have to invest effort and time allowing dogs to be even more effective when predators try to harvest. Even before dogs, the predators where not a problem if they knew they were about. Generally, no firearms needed as my simply moving towards them caused them to retreat. Daytime hunters of concern only included red fox, coyotes and occasionally a bobcat. I have been where raccoons operated during day and that is not typical when larger diurnal predators are present.

 

[Primo]

Geez, no kidding. Sure they can't jump or climb like a squirrel, but after watching one climb up the 8' smooth pipe leg of my deer feeder like a monkey I would never underestimate their ability to get into anything they wanted.

 

[ChookRanger]

A .22 might be too loud for a back yard. A good pellet rifle should be strong enough to dispatch squirrels. If you are poor like me you can buy a cheap one at Walmart. If you don't want to eat him, you can boil him up and feed him to the chooks or the dogs.

 

[centrarchid]

Geez, no kidding. Sure they can't jump or climb like a squirrel, but after watching one climb up the 8' smooth pipe leg of my deer feeder like a monkey I would never underestimate their ability to get into anything they wanted.

I have seen them do all that and even a kid (type of monkey) can climb 8" pipes. The raccoon cannot climb sheer surfaces, is unable to go out onto distill branches like a squirrel, nor can it jump up more than twice its standing height. Instead of using talking points based on what is seen on television or animals scared for their life, setup locations with bait to have raccoons and other predators demonstrate their abilities. Use that information to then guide design of fences, runs, coops and possibly simply roosts like I employ.

 

[jhd9201]

True, they can't jump, but the OP posted a picture that showed a standard 4 or 5 foot tall cyclone/chain link fenced area, that is not even the slightest challenge for a coon or possum...

Does that mean they are more likely to get into the coop?

 

[jhd9201]

It's a vinyl (I think) covered poultry fence.

 

[chickman66]

yeah squirrels go after bird feeders for the seed so they just want the chicken feed but you can get chicken wire for it and nail or staple it on the roof and tie the side on the sides of the fence so it would be like a roof but with wire but chicken wire would be cheapest because if you got line they would chew through it