I live in a suburb of Los Angeles, just twenty minutes or so from downtown by freeway. Hardly a rural setting, and while I've seen raccoons a few times in my yard over the past decade, I haven't seen any for a few years. Still, as a new chicken owner I read this section of the forum and worry.
So tonight, I get a call from my girlfriend who is in France on business. (Skype is wonderful!) I'm delighted to talk to her so I lose track of time and don't notice that the sun has gone down...no worries, my chicks have surely returned to their coop from their hardware cloth protected run. So I go outside to shut the pop door, but when I round the corner I see an enormous raccoon looking into the coop window! Startled, I scream "GET OUT OF HERE!" and stomp my feet in a menacing manner...of course the raccoon just looks back at me, without a care in the world. So I pickup my pool brush which is on a 12 foot pole, and start jabbing at it. Still, it's hardly impressed and just jumps up on my cinder block wall and continues to stare at me.
Time to step up my game. Sunday I used my MAPP torch to light some lump charcoal (highly effective BTW) and it's still sitting next to my smoker. So I spark it up and direct the flame at my masked nemesis, while waving a cedar fence picket like a wildman. The critter wants no part of this fiery escalation, so it dives into the neighbor's yard and I hear it crashing through bushes as it retreats. At this point I realize that I'm livid with anger and can feel my pulse pounding in my neck.
Stuff just got real...we've moved beyond theoretical threats. What's my next move? My coop itself is pretty darn secure, I'm sure no coon can breach it. The run is not far behind but I'm not quite as confident about it. What worries me is another scenario like tonight where I'm distracted, have to work late, or otherwise am unable to secure the pop door before dark. What's my next move...electric fence, or is that overkill? I'd love to send a message to these evil critters and I'm happy to spend the money, but I'm not sure how to configure the install on a tiny setup like mine. (9 square feet of coop and 18 of run.)
So tonight, I get a call from my girlfriend who is in France on business. (Skype is wonderful!) I'm delighted to talk to her so I lose track of time and don't notice that the sun has gone down...no worries, my chicks have surely returned to their coop from their hardware cloth protected run. So I go outside to shut the pop door, but when I round the corner I see an enormous raccoon looking into the coop window! Startled, I scream "GET OUT OF HERE!" and stomp my feet in a menacing manner...of course the raccoon just looks back at me, without a care in the world. So I pickup my pool brush which is on a 12 foot pole, and start jabbing at it. Still, it's hardly impressed and just jumps up on my cinder block wall and continues to stare at me.
Time to step up my game. Sunday I used my MAPP torch to light some lump charcoal (highly effective BTW) and it's still sitting next to my smoker. So I spark it up and direct the flame at my masked nemesis, while waving a cedar fence picket like a wildman. The critter wants no part of this fiery escalation, so it dives into the neighbor's yard and I hear it crashing through bushes as it retreats. At this point I realize that I'm livid with anger and can feel my pulse pounding in my neck.
Stuff just got real...we've moved beyond theoretical threats. What's my next move? My coop itself is pretty darn secure, I'm sure no coon can breach it. The run is not far behind but I'm not quite as confident about it. What worries me is another scenario like tonight where I'm distracted, have to work late, or otherwise am unable to secure the pop door before dark. What's my next move...electric fence, or is that overkill? I'd love to send a message to these evil critters and I'm happy to spend the money, but I'm not sure how to configure the install on a tiny setup like mine. (9 square feet of coop and 18 of run.)
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