Well...It happened...I'm sad and furious. UPDATED! CAUGHT 2!

[LindsayB]

wow, you don't want me to relocate them b/c its too tramatic but drowning is okay??? That is a very inhumane way to go. I don't care what the animal is, nothing deserves to die like that.

 

[Oven Ready]

Sorry if I misunderstood, I thought that by your comment

...We can't shoot the 22 in the neighborhood, unless we wanted the cops to show up at our house.

you meant that you would have killed the racoons had it not been for the trouble it may have caused you within your area.

I was only suggesting a non-firearm, quiet, way to kill the racoons. Without using firearms you are reduced to blunt instruments for such large creatures which is no guarantee of a quick painless death. I wouldn't want to hold one to cut it's throat, that's for sure.

I am neither one side or the other on relocation as I don't know the area you live in, I often relocate monitor lizards down to the canal near us. I never relocate feral dogs. I think it depends on the animal and the environment.

I apologize again if I have misunderstood and perhaps upset you, it was not my intention.​

 

[LindsayB]

We usually do kill any raccoons that we trap in our yard or neighbors yards for them. Or any critters that our GSD gets a hold of and can't kill. We usually use my husband's old pellet gun but recently it hasn't been holding the air pressure in, so we need to get it looked at. I'm not a 'tree hugger' or anything lol. We go hunting quite often and know a great deal about wildlife management. I have no problem shooting raccoons that are spinning the protein out of our deer feeders.

 

[aprophet]

drowning does not hurt (2) neither does asphyxiation(1) getting electrocuted(3) while wet is painful for several days I dispatch animals many different ways depending on where I am at and what type of animal it is different methods work better for different species.

 

[LindsayB]

I feel we are getting way off what the original topic was about, one of my chickens being killed.

 

[babyblue]

Quote:
Death by starvation, battle wounds from fighting for new territory and death by illness and disease from entering a new area is far crueler and much longer lasting then drowning.

My husband has recently shot and put down fox’s that were most defiantly trapped and released. They weren’t harming our livestock, they were just that sick and ill that it was the kinder thing to do. The poor animals still had the marks from the traps on them. They were fighting with the resident fox’s, got mange and just took to hanging around our house laying around hoping we throw food out. I will strongly disagree with anyone that says releasing a trapped animal else were is kind or the humane thing to do. I have seen the results first hand and its sad, pathetic and disgusting how these animals lives end.

 

[Penturner]

LindsayB, You might want to make a phone call to your local Department of Wildlife or Fish and Game and find out what you can legally do with a trapped Raccoon. Last year I had a problem with one trying to break into my house. It actually almost made it in one day, middle of the day with my wife and two dogs standing not more than a few feet away. I called the Department of Wildlife and found out that although I could trap it without a license or anything like that. Once I had it their was nothing I could do with it except kill it right where it was. It was illegal to transport it as well as release it. IT was actually illegal to even open the cage and let it out again, not that anyone woudl be able to know if I did that. Basically I just woudl not want you to be out turning coons loose and run into trouble you didn't even know you could get into.

As for your run. I agree that it is cute, but anything but safe. I have a run that is both. My first thought when I saw your run was that you have some great decoration and it is actually a nice start that can be added to. If it where me I woudl go get 4 8 foot long 4X4 posts and plant one at each corner of your run. then put 2X4 across the top of these. you can then cover this frame with hardware cloth and have a very secure run. you can still have the picket fence running around this for the visual effects it gives. This would give you a wire cage that is 6 to 7 feet tall. As for the coop, keep in mind that coon learn how to open latches of all kinds. securing against them can be a real challenge. They are also strong so be certain that boards and other parts of the cop cannot be pulled off. One thing is certain, if you stop them one one way, they will simply look for the next weak spot.

Best of luck, coons are a tough predator to beat. I know they are my primary concern here. I simply built so strong they don't have a prayer.

 

[LindsayB]

Our automatic door came in today! Alot faster then what we expected. Once my hubby gets home he will install it for me. No more problems with critters at night, I can sleep good now!

 

[Oven Ready]

Get him out there, come rain or shine.

Glad to hear you have the problem in hand and hopefully no more losses.

 

[Cetawin]

I am so sorry you lost the girl and glad you trapped the critters. I want to tell you one thing about releasing them...they will travel as far as 15 + miles back to their stomping ground....releasing them is also illegal in many places and if you take them to another county and release them you could be breaking the laws there.

If you cannot shoot them because you are in a neighborhood, then I would suggest to you your only recourse is a less than pleasant method of disposal or build fort knox for your birds. Personally, I would kill them by whatever means I had to...it is them or my precious birds...they lose.

Good luck with this issue.