HI EVERYONE! THIS IS THE UPDATE ON TRAPPING PROBLEMS AND DEPRESSING UPDATE ON MY BROODY HEN. WE !!! CAUGHT !!! IT !!! I THINK IT'S A 'COON,BUT AS IT PULLED BUNCHES OF STRAW AROUND ITSELF AND IS ROLLED UP IN A BALL ASLEEP,I'M NOT CERTAIN. NOW WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?CAN I SAFELY MOVE IT OUT OF THE CHICKEN YARD,OR WILL IT REACH OUT OF THE TRAP AND GET ME SOMEHOW?BOY,I SURE AM A WIMP!ALSO,SHOULD I CONTINUE TO SET THE TRAP AT NIGHT, OR WILL I JUST INVITE MORE ANIMALS THAT AREN'T PROBLEMS IN? IT'S SO HARD TO IMAGINE SOMETHING SO SMALL COULD CARRY AWAY A HEN AND EAT ALL HER BABIES(THEY WERE STILL IN THE EGGS-DUE TO HATCH W/IN A DAY OR TWO).IF EVERYONE WOULDN'T HAVE SHARED THEIR STORIES AND ADVICE,I'M NOT SURE I WOULD HAVE BELIEVED IT CAPABLE OF THAT! LASTLY, I KNOW I'VE GOT TO KILL IT ,BUT I REALLY FEEL BAD ABOUT HAVING TO DO SO.THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR ANSWERS,STORIES AND ADVICE-GOD BLESS,~~~~~~~~TRACY~~~~~~~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 28, 2000

Answers

Kill it or relocate it to a big state forest .Do not let it go near you it will just come back.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), June 28, 2000.

Please wear leather gloves when you handle the cage and hold it away from your body when you carry it! If it's a raccoon it can reach pretty far out of the cage. They always grab at my husband and can rip right through canvas gloves. We relocate them to about ten miles away, near the highway. But, if we had a gun, we'd shoot 'em. And we're working on that solution! (Thanks all, for your advice)

-- Jean (schiszik@tbcnet.com), June 28, 2000.

My husband always shot the coons after we caught them in the live trap. Maybe you have a neighbor that would do it if you dont feel that you can. They might be happy to shoot it knowing that otherwise it may relocate! Good luck, Tami

-- Tami Bowser (windridg@chorus.net), June 28, 2000.

WHAT ELSE COULD GO WRONG? I COVERED THE TRAP WITH A HEAVY DRAPERY AND USED L.GLOVES TO MOVE IT. I WAS AFRAID TO TAKE IT OUT OF THE C-YARD AS THE NEIGHBORS DOG WAS LOOSE AND UP THERE WITH US.SO, I MOVED IT INTO THE CORNER UNDER A TREE AND COVERED AND SURROUNDED IT WITH MANY BOARDS SO I COULD LET MY CHICKENS OUT SINCE MY HUSBAND COULDN'T GET OFF WORK EARLY TO BRING THE GUN FROM HIS PARENT'S.THE DOG TRIED TO RIP INTO THE CHICKEN WIRE,SO WE GOT HIM AWAY.MY SON HAS BEEN SICK AND WAS VERY TIRED,SO I TOOK HIM IN TO GET HIS NAP.MEANWHILE, THE DOG RIPPED INTO THE CHICKEN WIRE AND WILL NOT LEAVE THAT COON BE.YOU HAVE TO PRACTICALLY CHOKE HIM TO MOVE HIM 1 FOOT AWAY.HE IS TRYING TO TEAR THAT TRAP APART!HALF MY CHICKENS WENT IN,HALF WENT UNDER THE COOP,1 IS SQUAWKING MISERABLY AND OCCASIONALLY RUNNING AROUND THE CHICKEN YARD. I HAVE NO GUN,NO NEIGHBORS AT HOME!SO,I TRIED TO PUT THE THING OUT OF IT'S MISERY(IT HAD CONSUMED ALL THE RAT-POISONED LACED CATFOOD AND WAS ABOUT TO BE TORN APART IF THE DOG HAD IT'S WAY...)VIA PITCHFORK.WELL, MY PITCHFORK IS RATHER DULL SO IT DIDN'T WORK. SO,I CALLED MY NEIGHBORS AT THEIR BUSINESS TO SEE IF THEY COULD FIND TIME TO DISPATCH THIS THING VIA SHOTGUN FOR ME;THEY ARE ON THEIR WAY. WHEN AT FIRST I SAW THE COON IN THE TRAP LOOKING AT ME,IT LOOKED SO CUTE AND INNOCENT.HOW COULD SOMETHING SO SMALL EAT SO MUCH,I WONDERED. bEAUTY IS AS BEAUTY DOES AS THE SAYING GOES.THIS THING LOOKS MIGHTY VICIOUS WHEN BOTHERED BY THE DOG...NEIGHBORS HERE!GOTTA GO! GOD BLESS....TRACY WIRE(TWO LAYERS OF IT BURIED)

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 28, 2000.

IT WASN'T MY NEIGHBOR YET! BY THE WAY,MY SON HAS NOT HAD HIS NAP YET AND SO THE NORMALLY MELT YOUR HEART SWEET LITTLE GUY IS A REGULAR BEAR RIGHT NOW!!!! BYE EVERYONE![I'M SURE IT PAINFULLY(HILARIOUSLY?)HONEST THAT I'M NOT QUITE A TRUE HOMESTEADER YET!THIS FORUM IS GREAT;I'M LEARNING BUNCHES!!!~~~~~TRACY~~~~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 28, 2000.

I MEANT 'APPARENT' NOT 'HONEST'!WHAT HAS BECOME OF MY MIND TODAY??!!?

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 28, 2000.

Please don't type in all caps. It is very hard to read. Also, please reconsider if you are thinking about relocating this critter. It will likely just end up as someone else's problem. Kindest method will be to kill it. However, bear in mind raccoons are probably the leading carrier of rabies. Don't handle it with protection. However cute they look, consider them to be terrorist. Also keep the traps, bait, etc. out for several more days as there may be more than one.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), June 28, 2000.

Thanks Ken,I was wondering if I should keep everything out longer. Sorry about the CAPS! I was trying to type while holding my son and didn't want to mess with the shift continually.Also,however cute he is,I was not intending to release him anywhere.He's shown entirely too much interest in chickens!!I could not have him hurting someone else's chickens anymore than I would allow him to continue to feast on mine!Our hens are really friendly gals and just to think of how scared they must have been because of that 'coon gives me enough resolve to kill it.It was just hard to imagine at first that it could do so much harm as it has done.Beauty is as beauty does:this critter is not a beauty but rather a beast! God bless,~~~Tracy~~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 28, 2000.

Don't think for a minute that I wouldn't dispatch the raccoon had he been in my chicken coop or a bear in my goat barn, whatever. I'm a little bothered by "beauty is as beauty does." In people it applies but in nature, everything must eat and this raccoon was doing just comes naturally with your chickens a ready made buffet table waiting to be sampled--repeatedly from the sound of it. We are so willing to put up with songbirds because they are "beautiful" and we enjoy their music. Do we equally appreciate vultures? They are hardly beautiful but I'd hate to be around if these garbage collectors weren't. Have you ever watched robins going after worms in the spring after a shower? They are just as unlovely as a lion eating a baby gazelle on the African plains, it's just that the worm isn't as cute as the baby gazelle. Everything has a place in the ecosystem, in nature nothing is inherently evil or bad and now the raccoon has paid with suffering and its life for a few free meals.

Like I said, I would be out there with my shotgun in a fast New York minute if he were in my chicken house. When one of my cats was drowned and eaten by a snapping turtle, my neighbors were astounded that I didn't hunt down all the turtles in the pond but had the opinion that the cat was just another meal to the turtle. If I'd had waterfowl, I might have responded differently. (We think that's what happened to the cat because we knew there were snappers in the pond and I later found a cat skull and partial skeleton when the pond went down. I compared the shape, size and teeth to his mother and two brothers and it was too similar for coincidence.)

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), June 28, 2000.

Hi Marilyn, It sure seems I'm getting everyone all riled up today!All I meant was that this adorable, innocent looking creature was not going to be let go by me merely because of how cute he was.He has been helping himself grandly to my chickens and that makes him a beast where they and I are concerned!Never said he was evil-no animals are not sinful like we are.They are simply trying to survive in our fallen world as best they can.Sorry to have offended though;perhaps I could have worded it differently.By the way,I believe the Lord made each animal for a special purpose and I also would hate to see this present world without vultures etc. Thanks Marilyn and I hope you find out all you need on se Oh., If I can find you a contact in Highland Co.,I sure will. God bless!!!~~~Tracy~~~

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 28, 2000.

If you want to kill and you dont have anything else handy it you can make a homebrew gas chamber by using your car, a few boards in an A frame pattern, a tarp or plastic drop cloth, some duct tape and some hosing like a garden hose. Tape your tarp to your little A frame until its relatively airtight stick one end of your hose into to the exhaust pipe of your car and the other end into the chamber and turn on your car, let it run for about fifteen mins to half an hour. Make sure your hose doesnt melt though

I know it sounds pretty gruesome, but its a taxidermy idea and intended to kill small game without marking up the pelt.

-- Dave (AK) (daveh@ecosse.net), June 28, 2000.

Save another animal from rabies,maybe a human being also. Save a bullet as well, throw the trap with coon in pond retreave later. Problem solved. Joe

-- Mary Welshko (marwel@microserve.net), June 28, 2000.

Hi again, Tracy. I'm not at all riled, so please don't worry about that. I'm far too thick skinned. I wasn't solely referring to your problem because, as I said, you handled it just as I would have. You depend on the chickens as a food source for you and not the wildlife. I've heard many people make the assumption that because an animal in the wild eats another or a domesticated animal, ie., wolves and coyotes and I was just expressing an opinion. No insult perceived from you, and certainly none intended for you. You should have seen how quickly I contacted the MO Conservation Department animal damage control officer when I discovered a mama skunk had raised a family of 4 kits almost to maturity under our back porch before we discovered it. Fortunately, the remedy in our case wasn't so drastic--we flooded the den and kept it wet. She led the babies out, they hung around in the yard for a while then left, never to return. We kept the dogs in that night to avoid having to bathe one after an unwanted encounter with our "guests."

Thanks for keeping your ears open. I have found some contacts on my own that I will pursue when time permits.

-- marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), June 28, 2000.

Oh my Lord...I don't even want to think about this poor thing being jabbed at with a dull pitchfork...(or a sharp one, for that matter). Talk about too much information!!!!!!!!!!!

-- Shannon (Grateful Acres Animal Sanctuary) (gratacres@aol.com), June 28, 2000.

Tracy, I recently had a recent problem. It is in one of my earlier posts about a small, cute rat/mouse that got into my grain barrel and couldn't get out. I gave it some water and watched it as it grew. One day, it got big enough and got out on it's own. All I did was furnish food and water for something that might get one of my baby chicks some day. You can buy a .410 shotgun fairly cheap and just shot it. I recently shot 2 possums and 2 snakes that were into my chicks but I let the rat get away. This is one of those "do as I say, not as I did" deals. My advice is just shoot it. Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 29, 2000.

Tracy, in my above post: I meant I recently had a similar problem. not a recent problem. I was thinking one thing and my fingers were typing something else. Sorry, Eagle

-- eagle (eagle@alpha1.net), June 29, 2000.

It seems to be that time of year for everyone .I believe mostly live and let live "as long as they are not around the house or barn".I don't like to kill anything that we don't eat , but when it comes to safety well its us or them and us wins.We just had mamma racoon and 3 babies moving from our basement to the gagrage.Trust me if given the chance she would have gotton me first ! Nothing I like to do but it hade to be done .With baby animals,human babies,and rabies it leaves you no choice .Glad to hear all is calm .And yes its easier to kill what we preceive as an ugly animal than a cute one.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), June 29, 2000.

Dave, I liked your suggestion. Sounds like a humane way to kill it. I'm afraid I would be so nervous about shooting, and the fact that I have rarely shot a gun anyway, he would probably die of lead poisoning before I was able to get a proper shot into him. I'm going to remember your idea when I am confronted with a similar situation.

-- Colleen (pyramidgreatdanes@erols.com), June 29, 2000.

Hi Tracy,

It is the time of year when Mama is teaching babies to forge. Was your raccoon small? When you said bait was gone and trap sprung, that sometimes means the raccoon was too big for the trap. Mama may still be out there. Keep the trap out for a few weeks. I caught three babies (they were large enough for me) and finally the mother. All were relocated. If two people carry the trap, it is easier not to get grabbed. Also, to release, roll the trap over, the lock will disengage on it's own and raccoon will be let out. You could use a rope for that. Easiest way to do skunks.

Had husband shoot groundhog the other day. Still one more to go. Our driveway is sinking because of it.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), June 29, 2000.

Hi everyone, Calm is once again the norm of my house...well as calm as you can expect with two young children that is.Thanks so much to everyone who 'walked' me through this problem.That day(hard to believe it was only yesterday!)was just the straw that broke this camel's back I guess.Terribly embarrassed to have been such a panicking lil' baby on the net however! Dave,I also liked your suggestion.In fact,ya'all offered me some great advice and encouragement when I needed it! Shannon,sorry to be so grafic.I really didn't hurt the guy with it.It had managed to pull ALOT of straw in there with it and simply hid under it.I quit trying.The only reason I tried such a thing anyways was because of 1.Ive never seen a dog act like that in my life.He was rolling that cage from one end of the yard to the other and doing his best to tear it up.2.The 'coon had taken in alot of rar-poison from the other trap.3.I've never seen a 'coon act like that in my life(only ever saw pet ones and a big,fat silly one that feasted on catfood every night.This thing was growling, snarling,reaching,snapping and biting as much as he could from inside the trap.I was rather worried sick that it would get loose and really hurt our neighbor's great dog or worse yet,get away and hurt someone's child. Eagle,I sure did read your fat rat post!I understood perfectly. [This is bad I know:I actually rescue bugs from my rain barrel.] You reminded me of a very dear friend of mine who went to be with the Lord three years ago after suffering through an exceptionally bad sort of cancer.She would have done much the same thing.] Dee,I'd sure like to put the trap out again,but it is in need of quite a bit of repair.That dog did quite an unbelievable number to it.I sure hope this was no baby coon,but it didn't seem very large(about the size of a big cat). Oh, for the update:I got the dog home to his owners(finally!!), called my neighbor and told her not to bother coming over,and stayed inside with my kids till my husband got home.We then took a long drive while my husband shot it. Dee, now that I think of it,I'm sure this one couldn't have been fully grown!Here we go again!I guess if I ever want to truly homestead I better get used to it. Thanks again&God Bless!~~Tracy jo~~ P.S. my husband just got home from closing up the factory.On his way here,he hit a BIG 'coon.His comment was one that big never would've fit in the trap!I better fix my trap.

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), June 29, 2000.

My husband tied a piece of binder twine or small rope to the live trap and then he can "take care of it" usually with the gun, and then drag it back in the woods or field and bury it without touching it. You really have to be careful about rabies, especially if it isn't acting right. And unfortunately where there is one there are usually many. We got 3 one night in the same tree at the same time. And my father in law had to kill about 23 or more last year because there were so many and usually when there are alot they are not real healthy. Hope this helps and be careful.

-- cynthia (chemenway@hotmail.com), June 30, 2000.

Didn't have time to read all the answers, but I have 2 comments. 1. Get your own nice little .22 rifle, or even better, a shotgun. For you a .410 would be fine. 2. 'Coons are pretty tasty! GL!

-- Brad (Homefixer@SacoRiver.net), June 30, 2000.

Tracy, Yes, definatly kill it! If you are unable to do it yourself, find someone to take it away from your place and kill it for you. Releasing it somewhere else as I see suggested is a bad idea. These critters are very territorial and any new one dropped out in a strange territory will more than likely be killed by the dominant male of the area. Remember also that this animal now knows and enjoys the taste of chicken & eggs. There really isn't anyplace you can drop him where he won't become a problem for someone else. Lastly, there may well be more than one. Keep the trap set for awhile. John in S. IN

-- john mengel (jsmengel@freewwweb.com), July 02, 2000.

The primary reason for the explosion in raccoon growth is they aren't hunted much anymore since there is no longer much of a demand for the pelts. The area where I live in West-central Tenn. at one time was about as bad as the Appalachians as far as poverty was concerned. A well-cured pelt from a large male raccoon could bring $12, which was a lot of money at that time (used for raccoon hats and coats). My neighbor said when he was a kid they ate so much roast raccoon or raccoon stew he is surprised he doesn't have black rings around his eyes. What they didn't eat was thrown to the hogs. While skunks carry rabies (as do bats and other things), raccoons are probably the leading cause of its transmission. It doesn't even have to be a bite as the virus (or whatever it is) is in the salava. Perhaps because they look so cute and cuddly people don't think of them as dangerous. Raccoon are not territorial and can range widely. How I got the one which apparently killed my ducklings and ate the eggs is the adult ducks came up on my deck and told me he was in the garage again (I'm not kidding). Going back to this area, what turned it around was TVA. When they created Kentucky Lake they hired local men at $1 an hour, at a time when $1 a day was considered to be good wages. Neighbor's dad worked for them. He said you went to work even if you were sick since there were guys at the employment office waiting for your job. He worked days, came home, ate, took a nap, went out coon hunting, took a nap, ate breakfast and went to work. His farming was done in-between work and hunting. He and his wife are in their late 70's and still have chickens and a large garden. To this day she still prefers to cook over a wood stove, and does most of her canning there in a summer kitchen. During the summer it is not unusual for her to be up by 4AM to start canning. He called me one evening to ask if I could fix the hitch on his hay wagon. I told him to bring it by first thing in the morning. For him first thing was 6AM. He had probably sat at the kitchen table saying "Ken has to be up by now." While I bought my cattle farm about nine years ago, I have only been here full time for 4 1/2. I love the area and I couldn't have nicer neighbors if I had ordered them from a catalog. The raccoon episode has apparently been quite a learning experience for you.

-- Ken Scharabok (scharabo@aol.com), July 04, 2000.

Hello again everyone,

We've been pretty busy here lately,so I haven't had time to answer. [Tonight I'll probably be up quite late canning blueberry syrup- bunches of it!] Just wondering,what's the difference between a shotgun and a .22? Thanks everyone for your help and info! Thanks Ken for the neat response!Did you know that I actually thought Brad was Kidding about coons being tasty!!! Yes, this was quite a learning experience for me.I really think that if I had a gun I could probably do it myself next time.[I definitely liked the idea if having a string tied to the trap.The farther I stay away from some potentially rabid critter the better!!!] All this talk of rabies has me feeling creepy!! Thanks so much everyone!!!!! God bless you all this holiday! In His Love, Tracy Jo

-- Tracy Jo Neff (tntneff@ifriendly.com), July 04, 2000.

Hey Tracey,

I met a young woman (about 28) who was homesteading with our renter.

She told me to my face that you've never had something good till you've had barbecued coon.

Sorry, I'll pass.

-- Robert Addison (FarmerbobMO@netscape.net), August 08, 2000.