Raccoons are certainly one of the smartest animals there is. They can open doors, undo latches, and will even shut them back after they are through. They are also pretty vicious. I would certainly recommend giving one a wide berth if you walk in on one. They can get nasty in a hurry, and don't usually back down! My chickens are lucky because I also happen to raise Bluetick Coonhounds. So, unless a coon decides to be a kamakazee; they pretty much steer clear of our place. I'm also surrounded by large scale chicken farms and other poultry lovers; who encourage us to help them out by hunting near them. Now, we don't usually kill the raccoons. Unless they are actually causing problems, as in eating the neighbors chickens we just let the hounds put them up a tree, pet the dog, go to the house. If they do get started killing chickens, they usually return every night for the buffet. If we killed all the coons, what would we hunt? I also know lots of fellow hunters that put out corn and build nest boxes for them in the woods. So, we do try and help the coons out too. They should leave our poor chickens alone. Should be enough freebies at the compost bins. Amy