What could be doing this?

[leec]

In my experience with chicken murdering dogs they dig under things. I haven't seen a trash panda claw at things like this either. Keep us posted if you use the trail cam

I will. Thank you for your replies. If we had bears in SW Michigan, I'd be leaning that way because of the major damage to the side of the coop within the fence.

 

[aart]

I would say definitely claw marks. I stained over the original marks which covered about 50% of the front, 30% of the back and over 60% of the coop that was enclosed by the chain link fence. It was scratched down to bare wood. The attached picture is their most recent attempt and no, not too bad yet.

Spacing of claw marks should have given you an idea of critter involved.
Doesn't take much to claw thru stain.
Wish you had better pics.
Game cam is probably the only way to know for sure what you might be dealing with.

 

[leec]

Send that cat over!

 

[leec]

Thanks to all who responded. I'm going to try spraying pepper spray on the siding but hoping for a feral cat that hates squirrels (that one made me LOL!).

 

[cmom]

We get so many squirrels around here and they are destructive. I put out a bait pile and shoot them. I have a great vantage point from my back porch and haven't missed one yet. I also have several game cameras up around on my property especially for the nighttime when the predators roam here. Good luck...

 

[WIchickMama]

do you have bears? could be lots of things but i know bears can be pretty destructive

I thought that too but the scratches don't seem deep enough. The bears around here gouge out pieces of wood

 

[leec]

Lol…. They were just trying to find those picnic baskets. But, seriously is it possibly a dog?

I did think of that but couldn't picture a dog climbing the 6-foot chain link fence. We've lived here for over 20 years and have seen one dog back here that didn't belong.

 

[leec]

Well I had to google what kind of critters you do have. Is it possible a cougar is lurking around? They can and will scale things. We had one take out half a flock and leave nothing but footprints and one flattened chicken. They were outside when it happened so no idea if a cougar would claw at something like this but I wouldn't put it past them

We have had incidences with cougars but nothing that the DNR is talking about in this area, even with pictures of livestock being killed or injured so that might be something worth considering. Thank you for responding and giving me something to think about!!

 

[leec]

Spacing of claw marks should have given you an idea of critter involved.
Doesn't take much to claw thru stain.
Wish you had better pics.
Game cam is probably the only way to know for sure what you might be dealing with.

I agree. I wish I would have taken a picture 3 weeks ago. There weren't any distinct claw marks because it was just one whole area of bare wood and in two places a 4 or 5 inch square was actually clawed or bitten off down to what I felt was a thin layer. I didn't notice any marks that would look like a bigger cat raking claws down the siding. The siding material is rough sawed and not even a year old. An expensive coop which makes matters a little worse.

 

[HomesteaderWife]

100% also saying get yourself a game camera and/or another type of recording seecurity camera if you can hook up to power. They make some very cheap ones that run of electricity, and you can get alerts to your phone if triggered.