We caught the varmint .. now what ..

[llombardo]

We have families of raccoons and oppossums. They live in the trees within 20 ft of the coop. They do make me nervous. I'm not one to kill anything. I do my best to keep everything secure. Hardware cloth all the way around and two feet out and a very heavy duty net plus an electric fence all the around and on two sides on the top tree side.

My neighbor lost his older girl to an oppossum. The tooster fought the best he could and was slightly injured. That oppossum was killed, then another came and it was also killed. Last week a raccoon attacked the man and it was killed. My neighbor sees them all the time my trees. He knows I can't do it so he offered to help me if needed. So they are walking across the road to his property. The raccoon was trying to getOn the container with the feed on the porch when he attacked.

 

[The Dapper Duck]

Drowning any animal to death is in my opinion incredibly cruel, regardless of what species it is. If it's not a death you would wish on yourself, you should never perpetrate it on an innocent. And all animals are innocent by nature. Animals are emotionally complex creatures with their own lives, capable of the same range of emotions as us, including panic and fear and confusion. To me it's morally the same as drowning a human infant. Just my two cents.

This is a good point. However, the thing about drowning is that it is fail safe for those who do not know how to place a shot in the head, where to properly bludgeon, or do not have the means to attempt either of these. Yes those other methods are quicker, no drowning doesn't sound fun, but no death sounds fun and a half death followed by a second or third attempt.

Put on your Talking Heads album and follow the instructions (I hope someone gets that). Besides, if you kill mom and not the babies, they will starve anyway. Better to finish them off as fast and reliably as you can and be sure they go down and stay down.

 

[llombardo]

This is a good point. However, the thing about drowning is that it is fail safe for those who do not know how to place a shot in the head, where to properly bludgeon, or do not have the means to attempt either of these. Yes those other methods are quicker, no drowning doesn't sound fun, but no death sounds fun and a half death followed by a second or third attempt.

Put on your Talking Heads album and follow the instructions (I hope someone gets that). Besides, if you kill mom and not the babies, they will starve anyway. Better to finish them off as fast and reliably as you can and be sure they go down and stay down.

Drowning is actually against the law here and considered inhumane. If you trap you have to bring it somewhere to be euthanized.

 

[Serin]

Opossums are sweet animals and beneficial, they eat ticks. Release it away from your property. They do not travel far and will not return if you go a couple miles away.

 

[Bug n Flock]

Wow. Yeah, drowning is torture no two ways about it. Very cruel and very illegal.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Honestly I have a soft spot because I have rehabilitated several opossums through wildlife rehabilitation. Even if I knew one individual was going after my coop, I would probably remove it with a live trap and take it to the middle of a wildlife preserve and let it go. I have rehabilitated many wild animals and that's what I always do. I don't really care if it's legal to do so or not. Nobody's business if I want to dump an opossum out in the middle of the woods where it actually belongs. Nobody is ever going to prosecute you on something so petty.

The reason they're going after our livestock is because we're diminishing their natural habitats, so I feel personally responsible for the welfare of wildlife no matter how inconvenient it might be to me. It's not their fault they're hungry and desperate - it's partially ours (as a species).

If you have a wildlife preserve to take the critters to, do it. We don't have such things here. No judgement from me. Good luck.

 

[Peppercorngal]

Drowning any animal to death is in my opinion incredibly cruel, regardless of what species it is. If it's not a death you would wish on yourself, you should never perpetrate it on an innocent. And all animals are innocent by nature. Animals are emotionally complex creatures with their own lives, capable of the same range of emotions as us, including panic and fear and confusion. To me it's morally the same as drowning a human infant. Just my two cents.

"Animals are innocent by nature"??? I don't even know what that means. Animals are instinctive. They do things automatically without thinking, because they have instincts. Innocence and guilt are connected to conscience and animals do not have conscience. Yes, they have emotions, but usually more in the domestic animals than wild. I wouldn't drown anything, that would be cruel.

 

[Serin]

There is nothing more special about a domestic animal than a wild one than circumstance.

I never understood people who love dogs but hate, say, foxes or coyotes. Ultimately both animals experience the same feelings and emotions and deserve the same respect.

 

[Jammerz]

I would tie a rope on the trap and throw it in the ditch for about 5 minutes then dump them in the garbage- usually how I handle skunks. She will be back otherwise. If relocated she will find someone else's henhouse. Nature is tough, you have to be tougher.

 

[Anime2lover]

I agree with the relocating or human uthanizing.