would a strong scent deter racoon?

[centrarchid]

Thankyou. 
George is beautiful <3

electric fencing isnt an option unfortunately as the maple tree is one of 100 acres, so raccoon could merrily find his way in if he tried. 
We are trying the live trap version, I like your idea of using vanilla as 'bait'. I've been concerned about catching my own barn cats lol. Not sure what we would do about a skunk :-/

Sharon 

No.

The fencing option would easiest if giunees roosting same tree and they cannot be contained. The raccoon is very unlikely to go tree to tree without getting on the ground as such reserved for trying avoid a threat You could also wrap tree trunk in sheet for about 24".

This assumes raccoon is bad guy.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

There are still some messed up laws, for example it's illegal to kill raccoons in Washington, DC they mandate it be live trapped and taken 25+ miles into Virginia or Maryland and dumped on public lands... BUT, and it's a big BUT. it's illegal to relocate raccoons in Virginia and Maryland, so the Washington DC law is basically instructing you to become a criminal in another state and violate another states laws by committing a criminal act...

Miss MeepBeep, please consider the source of these mucked up laws before you condemn them. As the famous humerus Mark Twain once said; "Lets suppose that I was a Congressman and then let us suppose that I was an inmate in an insane asylum.... oh never mind I repeat myself."

The problem is that way to many people without a clue show up continually at city council meetings with proposals to solve non problems. These people would be better served if they kept their weekly appointment with their psychiatrist. The ugly truth is that if you plan on keeping chickens long term and in numbers too, then sooner or later your going to have to off something cute and furry. If you don't you'll only have feathers left laying on the ground. Learn to live with it. Those Natural, Organic, Sustainable, Free Range, Heritage, chicken keepers of the past that many of us want to emulate recognized this truth and they dealt with every problem as it arose. I should add that they dealt with each each and every problem with extreme prejudges. This is what made them successful.

 

[MeepBeep]

Miss MeepBeep, please consider the source of these mucked up laws before you condemn them.

It's Mr. and I'm well aware of the dolts that write these types of lays...

The problem is that way to many people without a clue show up continually at city council meetings with proposals to solve non problems.  These people would be better served if they kept their weekly appointment with their psychiatrist.

Politicians are professionals at creating a hypothetical problem so they can create a law to solve the fake problem they imagine then proclaim they did something constructive... I have sat in on many a local village meeting, as well as watched many live streams of both State and Federal governments at work... A few hours of live streaming of State or Federal Congress and you will wonder if any elected politician actually has a clue or even an education in many instances... The mindset of many politicians is that if they are not creating new laws to forbid something they are not doing their job, it's become a sad cycle and the reason there are so many stupid laws on the books...

The ugly truth is that if you plan on keeping chickens long term and in numbers too, then sooner or later your going to have to off something cute and furry.

I agree, and I dispatch without prejudice or remorse... I have a local coyote in my sights right now that has been buying his time and staying just out of the range of the lead slinger I carry on my sidewhen doing stuff around the property, just a matter of time before I catch him close enough or happen to have a bigger lead slinger handy when I see him next... I personally have no problem removing a threat to my livestock any time I encounter it or any time they pose a threat...

 

[Donna R Raybon]

This is as much a reminder to my own self as aimed at anyone in general.
If anyone keeping poultry doesn't understand you are now at war with everything out there that loves to eat chicken? Then learning curve in dead birds is pretty steep. Those cute little coops you can now order on-line are not going to stop racoon or even neighbors dog.

Just like in a war, each side is gathering Intel, making scouting trips, etc. And, I don't care how knowledgable you are, there is always something smarter out there and lesson to be learned. With keeping livestock sooner or later you have dead stock. That hurts, a lot. If it doesn't you have no business keeping livestock. So, clean up the feathers and dead birds and figure out how to beat the varmits.

This is real life, not Walt Disney. Predation is natural. Death is too. My experience has been softer, easier way just puts the crap further down the road to pile up and overwhelm later. However, new skill sets to learn and new technology works.

If you have at least a couple acres fenced and no close neighbors look into LGD. Find someone who is successfully using LGD under same circumstances you have and learn from them BEFORE you get one. I have had them almost 30 years and can not imagine trying to keep livestock alive without them. Even your pet dog, if not a chicken killer, can help deter predators if the dog can patrol around coop at night.

The electric netting is amazing at fending off four leggeds. Premier 1 has quality products and support staff to help you install correctly.

Understand, no one is perfect at keeping poultry. We all have suffered losses due to all kinds of things over the years. Persevere, learn, get smarter, better, and know we help one another by sharing our experiences. Both the experiences with happy outcomes and those with casualties.
OK, all you lovers of fowl I have coffee in hand and out the door to chill with the peeps.
Donna in Dandridge, Tennessee

 

[chickengeorgeto]

This is as much a reminder to my own self as aimed at anyone in general.
If anyone keeping poultry doesn't understand you are now at war with everything out there that loves to eat chicken? Then learning curve in dead birds is pretty steep. Those cute little coops you can now order on-line are not going to stop racoon or even neighbors dog.

Just like in a war, each side is gathering Intel, making scouting trips, etc. And, I don't care how knowledgable you are, there is always something smarter out there and lesson to be learned. With keeping livestock sooner or later you have dead stock. That hurts, a lot. If it doesn't you have no business keeping livestock. So, clean up the feathers and dead birds and figure out how to beat the varmits.

This is real life, not Walt Disney. Predation is natural. Death is too. My experience has been softer, easier way just puts the crap further down the road to pile up and overwhelm later. However, new skill sets to learn and new technology works.

If you have at least a couple acres fenced and no close neighbors look into LGD. Find someone who is successfully using LGD under same circumstances you have and learn from them BEFORE you get one. I have had them almost 30 years and can not imagine trying to keep livestock alive without them. Even your pet dog, if not a chicken killer, can help deter predators if the dog can patrol around coop at night.

The electric netting is amazing at fending off four leggeds. Premier 1 has quality products and support staff to help you install correctly.

Understand, no one is perfect at keeping poultry. We all have suffered losses due to all kinds of things over the years. Persevere, learn, get smarter, better, and know we help one another by sharing our experiences. Both the experiences with happy outcomes and those with casualties.
OK, all you lovers of fowl I have coffee in hand and out the door to chill with the peeps.
Donna in Dandridge, Tennessee

Remember. To keep from losing a bird you the chickens' guardian must be successful each and every day, while the varmint only needs to make one kill to succeed. It hardly seems fair to me.

 

[Donna R Raybon]

Yes, that is true about a kill. From the varmit's pov it is about making a living and feeding babies. Varmit is not mean, cruel for taking easy pickings that human provides.

I have sometimes said I wish I had a varmit I could put inside coop/runs/pens for test and if it could not get out then most likely means varmit could not get in. The National Park Service have a pen full of several problem bears that they use for research on how to build bear proof items. A couple times a year we get black bear moving through and they usually end up over at interstate exit raiding fast food dumpster. I can always tell as George sounds and acts really different when it is a bear or feral hogs.