Cute but Unwanted Guest

[Chucky]

I was watching TV last night and heard something fall out on my deck. Here's some pics of an unwanted guest. Sorry they are not better, I had to take them through the screen.

Tonight the trap will be in place and he will be moving to a new neighborhood

 

[Jacqui]

How do you decide what neighborhood to gift? Don't you worry she may have babies somewhere that will starve?

Sorry just curious as to how others decide on these matters after having problems last year with coons in my chicken house. I bought the live trap, but then started thinking. I couldn't trap one not knowing if it had young depending on it.

Then where to release it. I live in the country and folks from the city always think they should bring problem animals out to the country to dump. Folks thinking hey this is a wild animal, it should be in the country where it can be free and safe. However, I think maybe the reverse is true. In the city there is a lot more trash and pet food left just out in the open, so it wouldn't have to work for food. You don't have coon hunters and trappers to worry about, so city life should be safer.

For me the end choice was simple. I never used the trap. Instead I stayed up guarding the chicken house a few nights and actually got to watch those coons. I came to have an entirely new appreciation of them. Meanwhile during the day, we covered our outside pen and reinforced any place in the chicken house they might squeeze in. Costs us more money and time, but I ended up feeling it was the best thing for all involved.

As a side note, we had actually at least three coons visiting.

 

[Itort]

I have a sheltie farm dog that makes life a neverending hassel for the visiting coons, so they avoid barn and henhouse, to much trouble to raid with her raising a ruckous and calling me out with shotgun or long pole. As long as they stay in woodlot and eat rodents, everything is cool.

 

[Crazy1]

Yep chucky that's one guest you won't want around your torts let alone your house.
A friend of mine had one that came through her doggy door and was going into here cubboards in her Kitchen. Even the dog was scared. He too was trapped and moved to a new neighborhood were hopefully he will not get into trouble again. Good Luck with the trapping.

 

[Chucky]

I'm really an animal lover but when it comes to destroying my property, eating my Koi and endangering my pets, they must go. We usually have 10 to 15 of them every year and take them out to the woods which is only about 5 miles away. I think they come back. Last year we caught a mama and 3 little ones and took them all out and released them.

 

[Jacqui]

I have a sheltie farm dog that makes life a neverending hassel for the visiting coons, so they avoid barn and henhouse, to much trouble to raid with her raising a ruckous and calling me out with shotgun or long pole. As long as they stay in woodlot and eat rodents, everything is cool.

I think that's why we don't get them here at our house too, because of the dogs. We don't keep any dogs down at the brown house, which is where the horses and poultry live.

What I found interesting was I would allow them to get near to the chicken house, then I would burst out the chicken house yelling, screaming, and chasing them away. Yet within less than an hour, they would be snaeaking back in again. This would go on several times a night. They became more cautious, but never gave up trying.

They also one night came in before dark and sat there watching us from about eight feet away. I just happened to see them out of the corner of my eye as I was working on the building. There lacked the fear of us that I expected.

Am slowly putting covers on all our outside habitats, just because I know the day will come when they will be entering the yard here at the house too.

 

[Itort]

I have a sheltie farm dog that makes life a neverending hassel for the visiting coons, so they avoid barn and henhouse, to much trouble to raid with her raising a ruckous and calling me out with shotgun or long pole. As long as they stay in woodlot and eat rodents, everything is cool.

I have also used hotwire around the poultry and am going to put it around perimator of tort enclosures ( 12" and 24 to 30" up). It seems to work to the critters (possums and coons). Of course this is not an option for city ( little Johnny may be stung).

I think that's why we don't get them here at our house too, because of the dogs. We don't keep any dogs down at the brown house, which is where the horses and poultry live.

What I found interesting was I would allow them to get near to the chicken house, then I would burst out the chicken house yelling, screaming, and chasing them away. Yet within less than an hour, they would be snaeaking back in again. This would go on several times a night. They became more cautious, but never gave up trying.

They also one night came in before dark and sat there watching us from about eight feet away. I just happened to see them out of the corner of my eye as I was working on the building. There lacked the fear of us that I expected.

Am slowly putting covers on all our outside habitats, just because I know the day will come when they will be entering the yard here at the house too.

 

[Chucky]

That one came back 3 times within 2 minutes after I chased it off. He was not really afraid at all. Even when I chased him away, he didn't run, just walked a little faster than normal.

 

[Laura]

It appears to be eating dog food out of the bowl.. you need to remove the food sourse so it goes away...Trapping and relocating is actually illegal to do. Or highly frowned upon. The adult could have babies, racoons are very wormy and by releasing one into another envoroment, they are now spreading the parasites to another group, the food sourse is different and they may not know where to find foo, andif its a problem animal,, it may be a problem in the new area as well.. once one is trapped they are very hard to trap again.. best to critter proof as best you can or sadly euthanize them. We have a county trapper to take care of problem critters.

 

[Chucky]

It was the cat food that's been there all winter on top of the table. The Raccoons don't come around until springtime. The food is now in the workshop locked up with the cat as well.

So what's more cruel, getting rid of the raccoon or keeping your pet locked up so the raccoon won't kill it. So now that the food is gone, it will go for the fish. BTW it is not illegal here to trap and relocate them. Matter of fact it's the preferred way from what I hear.

They are a big problem here and are living and multiplying like rats. On any night if you drive down a street you will see 2 or 3 of them diving into the sewers. Doesn't sound to healthy to me. The reason they're here, easy pickings. The forest of 1000's of square miles is just a couple blocks away and that's where they belong.

Oh yeah, he came back tonight and smelled around and didn't find anything so he left

 

[Jacqui]

Chucky, I don't think anybody is saying to not do what it takes to protect your animals. Larry is just pointing out that you need to not make your yard into a buffet line. Petfood left outside and garbage cans with no lids or poor fitting lids are asking coons to stop for a bite.

Sounds like with the numbers you have in your area, they are going to be heavily diseased also. I would worry about what they could be spreading to your animals, such as rabies to the cat (and yourself). Can't recall if distemper is transmittable between the cats and coons. With those densities already there, I think actually it would be more humane to kill the coons who come into your area.

I know that seems cruel, but think of it in tortoise terms. Would you want a Desert Tort that has been in captivity and carrying a high chance of disease, to be relocated into a wild Desert Tortoise population?

Living in the city, your raccoon is almost a captive animal. It has changed it's living arrangements, food supply, learned to not fear humans/dogs, and has increased it's population within a small area way above what would naturally happen (thus the disease blooms). It looks like it's wild country cousin, but doesn't think/act like it does.

Glad he left, am sure he knew where other easy pickings were found.

 

[Chucky]

Oh no, I wasn't really getting defensive about the food, I always keep it inside the shop during the summer, it just snuck(is that a word) on me. I did go out and buy an air rifle to do just that but just can't seem to get myself to do it. It's like, ok, give them another chance before taking drastic measures.

As far as being city dwellers, I think half of them just walk in and out from the forest when food gets scarce. They all seem to disappear before and after the breeding season. Maybe they come in just because of the babies and it's easier to feed them.

BTW, the one visiting me now is a male probably in the 2 year old range according to his size.

 

[Jacqui]

I did go out and buy an air rifle to do just that but just can't seem to get myself to do it. It's like, ok, give them another chance before taking drastic measures.

You sound like me. My son's friend stopped by while we were working on the chicken pen and offered to either shoot or trap the coons for me at no charge. (He and his dad do a lot of hunting/trapping during the winter). I could no more have him harm them, then I could a few years back have the foxes hurt that eventually wiped out the chicken flock. I figure they were here before me, it's up to me to try working with them (the animals) to fix the situation so everybody ends up surviving.

 

[Itort]

Out on my place we do have coon control. We have a thriving population of coyotes, horned owls (I've found young skulls and bones under butcher tree), and I suspect bobcats (I live approx a mile from some river bottoms). So we have natural controls but sometimes the shotgun is called for.

 

[Chucky]

The main problem or should I say cause of so many of these critters is that we do live so close to the wilderness and right on the edges are many vineyards and pear orchards. Here's 2 pics I shot today. The first one is looking from my deck and into the beginning of the many 1000's of square acres of nothing. The second pic is just my back yard. If you notice, I have a net over the pond to try to keep the Heron from getting my fish. Of course it's no problem for the coons, they just yank it off. Since the 6 years we've lived here, we have seen Elk, deer, coyotes, geese, mountain lion and bear in the field in that first pic. So far none of them have made it into our yard but we did have a black bear in our neighbors back yard last year. The authorities were called in and they used a tranquilizer gun and took him back to where he belonged..a long way away

 

[Jacqui]

Our places are located with the brown house (where the chickens are) is right next to a cornfield. Actually the back of the chickens pen is the fence line to the field. The field is maybe a fourth a mile wide and then you have the nicely wooded riverbank. Our house proper has a house between us and the cornfield/river on two sides of us. Of course we don't even have 90 folks living in my village.

Sounds like you have the same major predators as we do Larry. I was not prepared for a Bobcat when I saw the first one. Wish I could see one of the rare reported, but never confirmed mountain lions we are suppose to get.

Chucky can I have one of your mountain lions and a bear or three? Those are two animals on my "Wish List to See in the Wild".

Great view Chucky!

 

[Itort]

Jacqui, what part of Nebraska are you in? The mountain lion has been confirmed in eastern part of state as well as a road-kill wildborn tom outside Atlantic, Iowa and a train hit one in southern Ill. They are apparently dispersing east out of Black Hills area. Personally I'll pass on big cats and bears (which I have plenty of experience with).

 

[Chucky]

Come on over and take as many as you want

 

[Jacqui]

Jacqui, what part of Nebraska are you in? The mountain lion has been confirmed in eastern part of state as well as a road-kill wildborn tom outside Atlantic, Iowa and a train hit one in southern Ill. They are apparently dispersing east out of Black Hills area. Personally I'll pass on big cats and bears (which I have plenty of experience with).

The closest confirmed ones have been in Omaha. Here we have sightings, but no bodies or tracks. I live down the the Southeast part of Nebraska. If you look on a map between Beatrice and Fairbury and a couple of miles from the Kansas border

 

[purpod]

Perhaps now that the food is gone, he will come to realize that your property is a no win situation..?

The issue of speading disease is a good point to keep in mind, tho ~ better to care for your critters & avoid such a risk, no?

{I have always liked raccoons from since I was a kid camping, and they would come over, wanting a marshmellow, and would have a very hard time killing such}

Anyways, bestest luck with your ringed friend ~
Purpod