Chicken Killers ....

Every couple of years I have an issue with raccoons here on the farm. This was one of those years and I lost a couple of chickens in the coop last week....the hit was ordered and the termination conducted.

I usually leave one of the chicken corpses in the coop for the next night after finding a kill. This year I set a live trap baited with smoked oysters. Then set up the trail cam to gather intelligence, this is why .

The next night he got into the coup and headed straight for trap and was captured. This was the next pic, it's important, because it captured proof of a 2nd coon.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...psvssuj4hz.jpg

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...psevpsrfz5.jpg

So I repeated the next night but got rid of the chicken corpse due to the heat this week. I baited the live trap with a product called 'Ramik'..it was on sale at TSC and I wanted to try it out.

The same scenario played out, trapped the 2nd coon and surprisingly a 3rd one showed up.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...psaxsnffmg.jpg

So I reset for the next night and caught the 3rd coon using the Ramik bait again.

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...psqnwem6iw.jpg

Last night the trap wasn't sprung, I'll leave it out one more night to make sure, then fix the coop where they were getting in and pick up some new chickens for the summer.

I usually use a conibear set, but I had picked up a live trap last year, so this was the first time using it for coons. More work involved, have to use the .22 which makes it messier, but easier to set up. Pro's/Cons as with most everything.

The Obituary pics..they came for a meal to the wrong place :)

Attachment 33098Attachment 33101Attachment 33102

Done right...now some tanning to do...

Not sure what happened to the post pictures..the box called 'attached thumbnail' has a pic that is a repeat of one the coons in the embedded pics...I only had 3 trapped. Can't seem to get rid of it.

No there will be no tanning of these guys Mark....primarily because I'm lazy and it's too hot out.

Not to mention I have no use for the pelts and apparently neither does anyone else in the fur industry :)

They came for dinner, but did not know they where on the menu.. ?

Did you dispose of they all yet? Was thinking of trying Racoon in slow cooker....have to really trim the fat off and remove the gland right away..!

MP not sure if you saw my post last week about an infestation of coons, at the time I had "rehomed" 9, the count is now up to 12, the buzzards are now leaving when they see me coming. Doesn't seem to be any end to them!

Smoked oysters ???? That's a damn shame Mike. ;)

We have some chicks growing out now, not sure if you wanted ready to lay right now or not but we have chicks and we will have a couple medium sized hens we are getting rid of at the end of the summer, they are laying smaller eggs then we want.

Glad you took out a few, I have not had anything on the cameras as of yet but did catch a skunk in the spring, I got lucky and it did not spray when shot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Hunter John

Smoked oysters ???? That's a damn shame Mike. ;)

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They like sardines better but the oysters work well...once the can is open, 4-5 for them and the rest for me with a beer on the porch...LOL

X2!!!! Did you use cocktail sauce too? Pelts would not be prime this time of year either.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by jlmorgan

MP not sure if you saw my post last week about an infestation of coons, at the time I had "rehomed" 9, the count is now up to 12, the buzzards are now leaving when they see me coming. Doesn't seem to be any end to them!

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I haven't found they are any worse than other years around here. I don't often have them come to the barns. I usually have free ranging dogs that keep them at bay, but the past few weeks the hound has wanted to sleep in the mud room (doesn't like the deer/horse flies) so with the guard down the coons took advantage.

Such is farm live...constant battle with predators...had some yotes in the hay field on the weekend and the dogs felt obligated to sound off and keep the whole house up at 2:00 am..LOL...