Washingtonians

[Chicken Rustler]

Quote:
a baseball bat or golf club can be useful too

Racoons WILL attack you and hurt you BAD!!!!!!!
Stay away from them!
Do NOT even get within baseball bat range!!
They go nuts and will be all over you in seconds like a furious house cat, and they can bite HARD!!!!!!!

Thier skin is also very loose and they can (so to speak) turn in it. Have ya before you know what happened.

 

[HoneysuckleHills]

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Beautiful!!!
Hope you are feeling good and getting some rest!

 

[RustyHen]

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I want one of those too but I'm afraid that it will be very confussing to set up. DH get real upset when things don't go smoothly, I just keep trying till I get it right. Please let me know how your set up goes. Okay?
Thanks

 

[jbear]

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[HoneysuckleHills]

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Personal to Broodytood (posting here instead of PM to make it easier for her)
I understand the "hiding out from life" all too well.
Ps. 32:7

I will pray for you.

 

[jbear]

Quote:
he was NOT afraid of me really at all. Just sort of 'O... you, are you trying to chase me? I'll amble on off to the side here..' My husband asked if I was afraid of him, and I replied, --not at the moment, I was panicking for the ducks! lol!

I was really afraid of the raccoon when I was trying to pull my golden away from it the other morning. When it's 2 feet away from your face it's HUGE. But I was even more afraid for my dog who was trying to protect us. I'm going to have to keep a shovel or heavy tool by every back door now since I found myself unarmed.

Sure gets your adrenalin going, doesn't it?

Yes..it did!!

 

[Kaneke]

Quote:
Racoons WILL attack you and hurt you BAD!!!!!!!
Stay away from them!
Do NOT even get within baseball bat range!!
They go nuts and will be all over you in seconds like a furious house cat, and they can bite HARD!!!!!!!

Thier skin is also very loose and they can (so to speak) turn in it. Have ya before you know what happened.

both true ... but if you are out there, and they are out there, it is good to have something that at least can stun them

agreed, avoid whenever possible --

of course something shooting projectiles is much to be preferred, over clobbering type equipment, especially if you can manage a "head shot"

wildlife "in the act of depredation" is considered fair game, other than those on the endangered lists

 

[Stumpfarmer]

I have one thing to say about nocturnal wildlife:

DON'T LEAVE CAT OR DOGFOOD ON THE PORCH OVERNIGHT

It's called *bait*

Raccoons and coyotes (and worse than that, feral cats and stray/feral dogs, not to mention the possible young, dumb or old, sick bear) are lazy opportunists, but if you present them with a sure thing they will come around, and keep coming around, and sooner or later they will decide to have a little something extra in the shape of a chicken, or one of your pets.

Sorry, but it needs to be said: leaving food out is what my wildlife biologist friends call "subsidizing predators" and what it does is get them used to being close to human habitation, increases their caloric budget so they raise more young, and let them slack off on eating the wildlings that should be their primary foods, so that you can have, as I do, too many freaking native hares AND lots of coyotes, which is just wrong.

 

[Jake Levi]

What he said!

Leaving food out is for sure bait for things that go bump in the night. Trail cams are great! I am setting mine up soon, I got a long list of things to get done, including building a goat and chicken shed. As of last eve I am here in NE Wa 2 weeks since leaving northern MI. I love it here, shoulda come years ago !

I used to hunt, and trap coons, also foxes and whatever, a louisville slugger is a great weapon to have if you dont have a handgun. I keep a .22 marlin rifle by the door, and use it. Coons love chicken, and will slaughter a coop full just for the fun of it. But the LS is the weapon of choice most of the time. Keep in mind that a stray aggressive dog will go under it when you swing unless you are reall good at it, best solution for them is SSS.

Boar coons can get up to 40lbs, I have a .45 for one of those. Tough critters, dont give them any benefit of any doubts, shoot and question later. BTW, the past two seasons the market for the pelts has gone up to where it pays to skin and stretch them now. I strongly reccommend something like a Havahart for coons, by the chicken shed, they have little luck swimming when in the trap underwater. No bites, either.

I dont really worry about skunks, they are very live and let live unless you are a mouse. I had a mother with her litter once eating in a barn with my kittens, they werre there about a month til she took them on, I missed them.

Congrats on the new one ! You are blessed, looks like a keeper to me !

 

[T Hi]

HI!!!

Baby Drake is precious! You did good mommy!

Ok I'm done with the rain now.... ugh...... I hate continuous gray, gloomy, wet, cold weather! I think that is why I love my ducks! They are little specks of sunshine even in the grayest days. They get just silly when it rains. Quacking happily, flapping all around they even look good all wet! It makes them SHINEY!.... awww....