Racoon invasion
My year old chickens roost in the tree next to the pole barn. Normally, the young ones will roost in the barn on supports. Last few nights they were being nutty, not going to roost.
I thought maybe the king snake had them spooked, but just to make sure, I set the varmint trap. So, it appeared a racoon mama and her cubs were visiting the chicken pen. I was sitting on the deck when the trap closed.
When I got to the barn I had two little ones in the trap and a third one was escaping out the back. Now I have two little ones closed in the chicken coop.
I can't let them go on their own since they aren't old enough to survive alone. I will continue to set the trap to attempt to catch mama and baby number 3.
The other scenario is that the three littles are orphans and are braving the pen to eat the chicken feed and veggie scraps I throw to the chickens.
-
.22 short or long takes care of that problem 0 -
Have coped with the coon problem for years. Coons are territorial. Get rid of one family, you have a short hiatus until lot another moves in. Have taken out over a hundred over the years and the cycle goes on.
They destroy everything. Gardens, bird nests, birds, bird feeders, fruit trees, they will enter crawl spaces, attics storage buildings and cause damage. They will eat pet food and manage to get into trash bags and cans and spread the mess everywhere.
They also crap on cars and anything in storage and in attics.
The most effective way to keep them away is have a big dog. Walkers, Blue ticks, etc will keep them away. The only other alternative is to not have anything that attracts them around your home.0 -
This is a gun forum. Not using a gun as a solution is near maddening. 3 -
Mr. Perfect: 31540792532635/comments/31540760248219
This is a gun forum. Not using a gun as a solution is near maddening.
Lol. Not legal at the moment. There is a racoon hunting season. I wouldn't kill them now. Babies and mama no different than does and fawns in the area. I live in their world so I respect their space. I'm surrounded by forest land. Typically I don't have a raccoon issue. No raids on garbage, small garden area or dog food feeder on the deck. That's why I suspect they may be orphans.
3 -
They're sure cute little farts, but man-oh-man can they raise hell!
(I used to resemble that remark!)3 -
Mom will be looking for them. 0 -
If you do not kill them they will eat all of your chickens in short order. They are smart and destructive as hell. I have 60 acres here, they are welcome to 59.5 of it all the time any time. The first indication they have invaded my half-acre exclusion zone is a dead chicken. I trap and shoot them right in the trap without mercy. There is no other way to keep them out once they find the coop and kill a chicken for dinner. 0 -
we have them wonder thru some take up house keeping
over the years they do share the cat food with the cats and steal a few eggs , lucky for them they don't get into the trash or cause any issues. we had one many years ago that wondered in killed a chicken , I live trapped him hauled him off to the river a couple miles give or take away , he found his way back and I caught him in the act , he did not know but he was having his last dinner that night .
currently we have a few hanging around along with a couple opossums and a last count three skunks so far we all have gotten along ok. ( four dogs and a dozen + cats and assorted poultry )
we had two groundhogs move in over the last couple weeks now they have to go asap
as for the other "democratic free loaders" I listed above as long as they behave they will get a pass ( welfare )0 -
susie said:","bodyRaw":"This is a gun forum. Not using a gun as a solution is near maddening.
","format":"wysiwyg","dateInserted":"2020-06-08T18:41:04+00:00","insertUser":{"userID":383873,"name":"Mr. Perfect","photoUrl":"https:\/\/us.v-cdn.net\/6031683\/uploads\/userpics\/697\/nA6MO6FMMJ9MJ.jpg","dateLastActive":"2020-06-08T21:10:18+00:00","label":"✭✭✭"},"displayOptions":{"showUserLabel":false,"showCompactUserInfo":true,"showDiscussionLink":false,"showPostLink":false,"showCategoryLink":false,"renderFullContent":false,"expandByDefault":false},"url":"https:\/\/forums.gunbroker.com\/discussion\/comment\/11192115#Comment_11192115","embedType":"quote"}'> https://forums.gunbroker.com/discussion/comment/11192115#Comment_11192115Lol. Not legal at the moment. There is a racoon hunting season. I wouldn't kill them now. Babies and mama no different than does and fawns in the area. I live in their world so I respect their space. I'm surrounded by forest land. Typically I don't have a raccoon issue. No raids on garbage, small garden area or dog food feeder on the deck. That's why I suspect they may be orphans.
If I lived in the country I would keep mum and the shovel will get lots of work out under a moonless night. Actually they might provide my pooch sustenance and me a ccoonskin coat to keep me warm. I think using many of their tails as fringe low afoot to sweep the floor. Fancy.0 -
We haven't tried to have chickens out here because everyone around me has such a problem trying to keep them alive......hawks, weasels, dogs, snakes, the weather, sometimes just the stupidity of being a chicken is just too much to overcome. I applaud your efforts and I hope it all works out. Those are some cuties in your pictures. 0 -
Heard a story just last week about a guy at the gun club was hospitaized and almost died.He was tested multiple times for c-19, always negative.An expert from the CDC in infectious diseases was called in and knew what it was right off.Apparently humans can get some nasty virus from exposure to raccoon and possum urine.Had a raccoon getting on my roof that tore a whole in a dormer roof. Shingles, aluminum siding and roof wood. Could not believe it, I would have needed a crow bar and hammer to pull that off.
0 -
Coons and yotes are the primary reason quail and turkey have been reduced to almost a memory in some States. I've seen as many as 8 on my deer feeder at the same time.
We need a major program to remove those pest.0 -
Save your ammo, a dip in the water tank trap and all cures the problem. 0 -
Hicoons are probably the most destructive critter on four feet. You name it they will kill it if possible and eat anything.Tough as nails too and it takes a good dog to whip one. Had one running the deer away from the feeder, hit him dead center with a 7mm magnum, sucker crawled about 10 yards with nothing from chest down.They will wipe out a sweet corn patch in a couple nights and worse thing about that they know it is ready 2 days before you decide to pick it. Grapes, favorite food, they will eat them before they get ripe on the vine. If you use a live trap be sure it has a locking door and tie it to something. The trash panda buddies will roll the trap and away they go.Susie, those little ones are big enough to fend for themselves. The 3 S method works the best. I have trapped them and hauled them as much as 5 to 10 miles away and they make it back in short time. Orange spray paint makes a good marker to tell who is sneaking back.
0 -
Susie, "cute" is their major defense mechanism. But they are vermin, pure and evil vermin. Do not hesitate to dispatch them forthwith, because you can have raccoons OR chickens. If you try to have both - you end up with just raccoons anyway.
Almost all states have a "predation" clause in the hunting laws that allow you take predatory animals that are harming livestock or crops. No penalty. But you do want to call your local DWR first to tell them you have the problem and intend to take care of it.
6 -
Hunters use to keep them at bay but not much so anymore, old timers can't keep up with the dogs and young timers just ain't into it. You can't do it on Facebook and the likes. Posted land don't help things much either. Not too may years ago it was pretty much open range until the outsiders started buying up the land to "protect the critters". Some of the hunters were pretty sorry to and that didn't help matters.
I could write a book on hicoon hunting antics.
Change the tune, bears are becoming the next plague around here, joined by a refuge, posted land, no hunting in town limits, and bad hunter ethics is setting up a perfect storm. You think whacking a trash panda out of season is a no no, just try fixing Yogi and the rabbit sheriffs will fall out of the sky on you.
0 -
They are cute little guys. The woods around here are full of raccoons but I haven't had trouble with them.
One day, though, my little dog was barking down in the woods 200 feet from the house. I went down there, little Sparky had a young raccoon cornered, it was like a "teenage" raccoon. Broad daylight the animal was sitting on his a** and drooling.
I caught Sparky up and put him in the house. These are nocturnal animals and are not supposed to be around in daytime.
I went back with the .38 and shot the sick coon. I called the North Carolina DNR and asked them if they wanted the body they gave me a bunch of bureacratic BS. Basically, "I work for the government and I get paid whether I mess with you or not."
So I double bagged the little beast and put him in the dumpster. The girlfriend took the doggie down for a rabies shot, the dog was current on rabies but Doc said it wouldn't hurt.
On another occasion I was down in Atlanta visiting the girlfriend. A sunny warm Saturday morning. I was driving around, there in the neighborhood where the Rich Folks live, I saw a big raccoon in a front yard, and he was sitting on his a** and drooling.
There was a 17 year old kid, and 50 year old dad, standing there looking at the animal. The kid was holding a rake.
And I stopped and told them that animal surely had rabies. They said they had called animal control. I was itching to pull the .38 and end the suffering of the animal there. But I knew I could get in more trouble than I could imagine discharging a gun in Atlanta, looked like the teen ager and dad had it under control, so I drove off.
Had there been just a couple of 6 year old girls standing in that yard in Atlanta, I would have had to do something more aggressive but I really didn't want to get arrested.
And, in the long run, even if a little 6 year old dollie has to get the rabies shots, that would be better than me getting a felony conviction and a year in jail.
As Tom Selleck said, "This ain't Dodge City, and you ain't Wild Bill Hickok." Times have changed.0 -
I noticed you just got rid of your dog that was chewing up things.
If you want to have chickens you are going to have to come up with a dog that will keep them Racoons agitated and a dog that is not normally a chewer. (like a hound such as a part bassett or a larger Walker dog. Starting a young dog you can break him from running deer. Two coon dogs will be a problem because the will start running deer and both range farther out away from the house vs a loner dog.
Racoons are thick now days due to no fur market. They will keep coming and at dark mommy will be back looking for her little ones. Racoons once they find chickens and can get to them will kill all and just eat their heads off. People that have chickens and are bothered by Racoons and owls usually turn their chickens out at daylight and have a enclosed wire coop and can close a door after the chickens have gone to roost.
If you cannot pen your chickens at night in a coop, which is a everyday chore and do not want a coon dog that kills or chases them away them you will have to sacrifice your chickens and eggs because both won't live together. You miss one night penning the chickens and they are dead meat. I tried to tell a new neighbor such that got chickens and was a animal lover and coons and owls wiped out her chickens/pet rabbits. Coons would kill almost all chickens when they got to them. When you try trapping they will just keep coming. Also owls just love chickens and guinias that roost in trees.
Racoons carry all kinds of diseases, fleas, ticks, distemper, rabies and they will be similar to little bears eating holes in things to get to anything they can smell that indicates food, even chewing holes in convertible tops.
A dog moving around outside also will keep snakes crawling in a different direction most generally.
I cannot believe how many are at my deer feeder even during the day. Them racoons will slow down somewhat when Blackberries/fruit get ripe and when acorns fall in winter, but it's a constant pest without a good outside dog.
Good luck to ya and stay safe.0 -
Most states have laws, Ohio is one, that protects land owners from critter invasions regardless of the season. If you have live stock and critters are killing or harassing them you can legally shoot them here in Ohio. If you shoot a dog that is harassing your live stock the dog owner is liable for the vet bills not the one protecting the stock. 0 -
Anymore raccoons are like rats, no one really traps or hunts them anymore. We have set up a food chain for them the last 100 years with are corn and soy bean fields, they all manage to survive through the winter by being able to find food, it’s not natural for all to survive. You have heard the saying, cold weather kills off the sick ones and the strong survive, this is a true statement of nature. The worst thing you can do is feed the babies thinking that your helping them out, they will only learn that there is food to be found here. Mother raccoon is around, her rule is this, I eat first, any danger I will run, if you can’t keep up your on your own. Most states allow you to dispatch them if they are causing damage, and I doubt they were in your chicken coop to make friends. My advise, 12 gauge.
0 -
Mama showed up tonight and I reunited her with the babies. They vacated the premises. I have a blue heeler that keeps an eye on the chickens and rousts varmints.
Chickens are doing fine. Son-in-law had thrown some veggie scraps into the chicken pen and I do believe that is what they were after. He won't be throwing them out there anymore. I will be feeding the chickens on the deck. Have a chicknic table on which to put their feed.
0 -
You can shoot Raccoons out of season in Missouri if they are damaging your property (chickens):
The impression I got from my Hunter Safety Course with MDC Agents giving the class was that calling them was only necessary if you were going to "Keep" the meat or the hide of the pest. Varmints - possum, raccoons, squirrels, etc can shot, trapped, disposed of w/out keeping or calling.
Figure the vultures need to eat too.
0 -
That's exactly what I did yesterday. He's laying out in my buzzard feeding zone. Last year I attracted a Bald Eagle to a dead raccoon. It was cool watching all the buzzards stand around in a circle back about 15' watching the eagle eat.bpost said:If you do not kill them they will eat all of your chickens in short order. They are smart and destructive as hell. I have 60 acres here, they are welcome to 59.5 of it all the time any time. The first indication they have invaded my half-acre exclusion zone is a dead chicken. I trap and shoot them right in the trap without mercy. There is no other way to keep them out once they find the coop and kill a chicken for dinner.
0 -
Growing up, my brother and I hunted them for the fur. Took a .22 and the hounds. Area is surrounded by creeks and hardwood timber. Only time we had an issue with the .22 was when we got one wedged in a tree after shooting it.
Dogs were going nuts over dripping blood. Had to shoot it out of the tree. Ruined that pelt.
0 -
I've eliminated 8 so far this year. I average about 25 or 30 every summer.
0 -
I know there are people out there that have shot more coons than me, but not many. Most coons I've shot (99%), I shot with a .22. I don't know for sure how many I've shot with .22 cb's but 300 would be a short count. Who knows how many I've rolled out with 22lr. I hunted them for over 40 years, and I may take it up again. When fur was worth something I made a fair living through the winter between coon hunting and calling foxes and coyotes. 3 -
lkannes: 31540792532635/comments/31540780474011
I've eliminated 8 so far this year. I average about 25 or 30 every summer.
My point in not killing them. It doesn't eliminate them. Just means the others move into the same space. I attempt to live with, not against the wild ones. Two things I will shoot; venomous snakes in the yard and coyotes.
The first because the grandkids live next door. The second because they are one of the reasons for the declining quail population.
0 -
You don’t have to shoot them, no, that is your choice. But you are wrong about coyotes and quail population being down, quail build there nests on the ground and the raccoons find the nest and eat the eggs. Around here quail are about nonexistent account of the coons, coyotes have taken about all the fox out of the picture, and rabbits have been pretty thin for a long time. I really think hawks have taken more of a toll on the rabbits than the coyotes.
0 -
Our record was 32, that was the year they peed on my Ultra in the pole barn. Had horses so it was normal to have the doors open for air to move through.
We had one big Rottweiler named Ruger. He took out 3 younger ones and their mom as they went through the yard one afternoon. Worked his way from the back to the front of the group. One of our daughters friends from town was over that day. I still remember her reaction. That was 20+ years ago, I’ll have to ask her if she remembers it.
It seemed we had them in check for a while, but nature abhors a vacuum. So they seem to repopulate unoccupied territory. At 16 so far this year.
0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
29 comments