Visit in the snowy night

[maizey]

So, we had the first real snow fall last night. when I went out this morning to let the chooks out, I discovered That we had a nocturnal visitor. A racoon left his unmistakable little paw prints all over my coop in the layer of snow. I had been suspicious after finding my feed cans open the day before. I figured my kid had knocked them over, but it was no kid. Now I have to decide what to do about it. I really don't like the idea of killing it...it's jut trying to make a living like everybody else. I could even accept chicken loss but for the fact that hubby's and I will be away for a few days and the boy (13) will be on chicken duty before and after school and in the care of the grand parental units...I don't want granny and boy wonder chasing coons or picking up chicken parts. We set up a game cam tonight to see what exactly the little bandit is up to. I'm sure it's no good. The girls are locked up tight. I had planned to leave the coop door open while we are away as the run is reasonably secure...no fort Knox or anything, but I hadn't counted on a prowling raccoon.

 

[OkChickens]

I use live traps for the animals. I have had opossums like crazy this fall/winter and I caught them in the trap with a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. This has worked great to catch 7 or so!

-Nate

 

[maizey]

It's what to do with it after you trap it that's the problem

. Hubby's had the game cam at the wrong angle, so we didn't get to see if it was after chicken feed or chickens.

 

[CopperCT]

I'm in the same boat. Saw two raccoons earlier this week on my porch roof...only about 50 feet away from the coop and the run.....they looked young. After a fresh dusting of snow a couple days ago I saw tons of coon prints around the run and on top of it. We have deer netting on top of the run covered by tarps for the winter but where the tarps meet, snow has gotten in there and onto the netting and has stretched the netting way down into the run. A raccoon could get in there if they wanted too and with all the snow and very little to eat I'm sure they'll want to at some point. I have reinforced the area where the netting sags with welded wire. The chickens are locked up at night but I worry about the late evening and early morning when the door to the coop is still open. I have disabled the auto coop door so I'm there when they get let out for the day instead of the door opening at sunrise when coons might still be active but we are also going away soon and have a 16 year old chicken sitter helping us out and presumably will resume using the auto door. I have traps but I can't dispatch what I catch with a firearm in my close quarters neighborhood but I don't want to make them someone else's problem either. Not sure what to do. I look forward to seeing what advice BYC members can come up with for the OP as hopefully they can help me too.