raccoons harassing my chickens

[AirShot]

Had the same problem with our chickens. If they were on my property they were dispatched but as smart as they were, they started comming around in the middle of the night. So the live traps were set, yep had quite a few days of take your racoon to work day. Being 20 miles away in farm country they never found their way back. After making about 6 dissapear, havent had any issues in past two years. Now we are over run with ferral cats !! Time to get the traps out again, take your kitty to work day will be here soon !!

 

[Guest]

@cornpone: there are reasons everyone call them trash panda. If people let their dog dig through trash and eat what they find then yes they are likely to carry the same deadly parasites but for the most part people don’t. Also if the ground has covering like plants and mulch the poop is not always easily spotted. Then they are the most prolific rabies carrier. While cooking thoroughly would make them safe to eat but having them around certainly isn’t if you have pets and kids playing in the yard. Dogs love to sniff poop as we all know and keeping kids from putting their fingers into their mouth is an ongoing battle all parents had to fight.


Coons are very tough with amazing immune system which enables them to forage and eat just about anything but that makes them carriers for all sorts of nasty stuff that doesn’t affect them but deadly to others.

Yeah, you seem to think I don't understand they can be a nuisance.

I literally and I mean literally grew up eating coons. We didn't call them trash pandas we called them food.

I guess you believe they are the only source of "deadly" parasites in your world?

Your info on rabbies sinks is almost correct. Feral cats are the number one rabbies sink in nature, then racoons, then skunks.

Fear mongering is a product of ignorance. Don't be that guy. Deer and pretty much every creature in nature can carry diseases and pathogens. That is why we pasteurize milk and make sure pork is properly cooked.

In Viet-Nam the montanyards raised rats in cages. That kept them clean and they were food. In Peru they raise guinea pigs likely poltry. For that matter chickens are certainly not the cleanest critters in the barn yard.

Like I said, just educate yourself ... Don't get your panties in a wad when someone speaks truth to you.

Don't teach people to fear these creatures. When they are a problem they need to be handled. Know about them, yes. Understand the risks, yes.

Don't teach fear. That is for children.

I'll give five to one you didn't even read the link I dropped

 

[Guest]

Had the same problem with our chickens. If they were on my property they were dispatched but as smart as they were, they started comming around in the middle of the night. So the live traps were set, yep had quite a few days of take your racoon to work day. Being 20 miles away in farm country they never found their way back. After making about 6 dissapear, havent had any issues in past two years. Now we are over run with ferral cats !! Time to get the traps out again, take your kitty to work day will be here soon !!

You really shouldn't relocate problem animals. If for example one of those cats or coons IS in the early stages of rabbies you probably won't be able to tell.

I tend to prefer traps that kill when I can be sure pets are not endangered and I can avoid catching unintended critters. When I live trap I dispatch the animal in the trap. If you are like me you probably feel a bit of pity for the critter. If you don't well that's a different problem.

Don't release your pests on other people's property.

 

[Ezana4CE]

@cornpone I was thinking skunks were the main carriers of rabies (at least in my region) because a vet warned me about them considering that my dog seems to fight them on a regular basis and has for years. I didn’t know that about feral cats. However, I haven’t read up on it much, but from what I have read skunks are up there. I’ve hunted raccoons from childhood. My father trapped and kept a few for training hunting dogs. I don’t recall ever having issues with disease or parasites with our hunting dogs from raccoons. Many dogs came back with split ears, noses, and minor facial wounds. Some of these dogs were were worth several thousand dollars, so it wasn’t as if their internal heath was neglected. We were usually able to handle and care for the superficial wounds at home. We had a lot invested in these animals.

In response to the OP and commenters, I think the best course of action in the OP’s scenario would be to use common sense and consult with your state game and wildlife department on how to handle nuisance animals. I’ve raised chickens and killed numerous animals in effort to protect them. I’ve been the guy who shot a fleeing dog on the other side of the property line after it killed an entire flock of hatchlings. I told the owner of the dog and the adjacent property owner after it occurred. But the dog expired beneath a structure on another property later in the day which presented an entirely separate issue. It’s a headache dealing with property owners in this scenario. It’s more complicated when law enforcement gets involved. Knowing the rules beforehand and abiding by them can save you a lot of time and headaches. 

 

[qball]

@cornpone: believe it or not I actually did read the link. The article specifically said healthy adults may not have symptom but small children are a lot more at risk. It’s not fear it’s just knowledge, also please understand your coons aren’t the same as coons else where. Given that you ate coons at all, one can safely assume you are in more rural areas where they don’t dumpster dive because there aren’t any dumpster to dive into so they are probably cleaner. However there here in urban environments they have evolved to be different and trash cans unfortunately are their favorite dinning spots. 


We also have many “outdoor” cats with crazy owners that would spend thousands on them so chances of rabies is rather low except when they get into fights with infected coons. Again, here in suburban/urban environments they are main carrier for rabies and warning are put out by animal control every year telling people how many coons they caught with rabies, which is over 60%. 

I have no problem eating a pigeon from a farm out in middle of no where but I certainly won’t eat a pigeon from the city, same principle applies to coons. 

 

[LostinTejas]

if theyre not on your property there is no justification .. thing about chickens or a garden or whatever is theyll be back, and theyll be into it eventually and there isnt anything much better than whacking them in the act lol ...

Scare them to death. Racoons will be back if they find a food source and they have. Nothing will keep them out for too long, the buggars are intuitive, and problem solving. 

If you have to get permission, do so. If you can snipe them off the coop, then go for it. You'll see them until the coop is empty, and for a while after that. 

 

[Flintsack]

I think you should just watch them, see what they do. Probably be cool if you film it.

Or you could take the other course, and eliminate them with prejudice. Because there’s absolutely nothing good that’s going to come from them hanging around.

I would use a raccoon hand trap, and dispatch them in the morning. They can’t resist peanut butter.

Have you ever heard them fight each other? Have you ever heard them fight your dog or someone else’s pet? Omg.

mike