What footprints are these
- Thread starter kalbert12
- Start date
Racoon it looks like. Note the hand front paw. Also common for them to only eat head and leave carcass.
Agreed. Raccoon.
If you can get your hands on a live 'havaheart' trap, set it using a can of cat food for bait. I set mine against our exterior barn wall. Then dispatch with extreme prejudice if and when you catch it. You can also try to set out with a firearm of your choice if you are rural and try to nail it when it comes around.
In the mean time I would definitely confine my flocks. He dined once. It will come back for more now that it knows where the gourmet buffet table is located.
Sorry for your loss. We had a neighbor that had a dozen young pullets in a pen in his yard. Woke up one morning to find two dead birds minus their heads. Something had obviously reached in through the chicken wire, snared the necks, pulled the heads through the wire and bit them off leaving the bodies in the pen. Several days later he heard his flock raising a ruckus and went out with his hunting rifle to find a big raccoon in a tree near the coop.
Needless to say it didn't bode well for the raccoon.
If you can get your hands on a live 'havaheart' trap, set it using a can of cat food for bait. I set mine against our exterior barn wall. Then dispatch with extreme prejudice if and when you catch it. You can also try to set out with a firearm of your choice if you are rural and try to nail it when it comes around.
In the mean time I would definitely confine my flocks. He dined once. It will come back for more now that it knows where the gourmet buffet table is located.
Sorry for your loss. We had a neighbor that had a dozen young pullets in a pen in his yard. Woke up one morning to find two dead birds minus their heads. Something had obviously reached in through the chicken wire, snared the necks, pulled the heads through the wire and bit them off leaving the bodies in the pen. Several days later he heard his flock raising a ruckus and went out with his hunting rifle to find a big raccoon in a tree near the coop.
Needless to say it didn't bode well for the raccoon.
- Thread starter
- #4
We had a family of 'coons burrow under the concrete floor in an out building, so yes, they can which is why everywhere you read about runs and coops press the importance of burying fencing a foot underground around your run to discourage that behavior.
They are very opportunistic. We had a large one, by the size of the scat we found in our driveway, pass through this past spring that was big enough to scare the snot out of our tougher than nails Australian Cattledog. The poor boy tried tore out two screens trying to get into the house.
Your raccoon might be on a route where he passes through every few days also. Don't give up trying to get it, just out stubborn it.
They are very opportunistic. We had a large one, by the size of the scat we found in our driveway, pass through this past spring that was big enough to scare the snot out of our tougher than nails Australian Cattledog. The poor boy tried tore out two screens trying to get into the house.
Your raccoon might be on a route where he passes through every few days also. Don't give up trying to get it, just out stubborn it.
- Sep 7, 2008
- 575
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Get yourself a dogproof coon trap. They work great. Caught 6 coons in one week with ours, and never caught a dog or cat (or anything else). Cost around $20.00. Be SURE to have them staked down extremely well. Coons are unbelievably strong, and can drag off traps. I had one fastened to 2 large cement blocks, and a coon dragged them nearly a half mile before I was able to catch up with him. Good luck!
19disbre
Chirping
- Jan 26, 2015
- 157
- 4
- 61
about 14.99 some 12.99, when I trap my rule I go by is if I can pull it so can he
Try marshmallows for bait.
- Mar 4, 2008
- 40
- 1
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Bones from takeout fried chicken work great! I tie them to the trap trigger plate.
Some raccoons are smart and try to reach for the bones from the side of the trap. The trap springs, but has no critter. So I put the trap into a black plastic trash bag, or some boards on the sides. Leave the opening of the trap clear and free. That usually works. By the time you come back, the raccoon will usally have pulled all of the plastic back into the trap with him!
Yes. Stake down the trap. I've had a raccoon in the trap in the morning when I didn't have time to tend to him and come back to see he was able to move the trap 30 feet up the driveway.
One raccon, I called "The Mechanic". He laid down on his back in the trap and reached for various parts of the trap door and latch! He had also removed some of the metal covers. When I approached him, he stopped and pretended he wasn't doing anything. Theoretically, he could have eventually lifted the bar that held the trap door down to escape! If I was a raccoon capable of abstract thinking, I would rock and roll the trap over, so the bar would fall off the door, then push the door open. One of these days a raccoon might figure that out through dumb luck and teach others that behavior.
I wedged a brick on the trap door to prevent further tampering and went inside for some tools to dispatch him. One less raccon who will not spread the knowledge to his peers.
Some raccoons are smart and try to reach for the bones from the side of the trap. The trap springs, but has no critter. So I put the trap into a black plastic trash bag, or some boards on the sides. Leave the opening of the trap clear and free. That usually works. By the time you come back, the raccoon will usally have pulled all of the plastic back into the trap with him!
Yes. Stake down the trap. I've had a raccoon in the trap in the morning when I didn't have time to tend to him and come back to see he was able to move the trap 30 feet up the driveway.
One raccon, I called "The Mechanic". He laid down on his back in the trap and reached for various parts of the trap door and latch! He had also removed some of the metal covers. When I approached him, he stopped and pretended he wasn't doing anything. Theoretically, he could have eventually lifted the bar that held the trap door down to escape! If I was a raccoon capable of abstract thinking, I would rock and roll the trap over, so the bar would fall off the door, then push the door open. One of these days a raccoon might figure that out through dumb luck and teach others that behavior.
I wedged a brick on the trap door to prevent further tampering and went inside for some tools to dispatch him. One less raccon who will not spread the knowledge to his peers.
Last edited:
HOLWACHAGOT
In the Brooder
- Feb 16, 2015
- 41
- 13
- 31
coon for sure
Holwachagot
Holwachagot
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