The
Raccoon - A Predator or A Talented Scavenger?
Article from Nov
- Dec 2002 Buckeye Trapper
by Rudy
Ackerman
Most people don't think of the raccoon as being a predator. Instead,
he's often thought of as a talented scavenger. We are all aware
of his fondness for ripe corn, and many trashcans have been de-lidded
and dumped over by a raccoon looking for an easy meal. If I were
to make a list of all the things a raccoon will eat, it would
go on and on. With so much food available for raccoons, you wouldn't
think they would resort to raiding hen houses. But they do, and
they're not looking for eggs either.
The first time my Mom found a couple of her chickens killed
and partially eaten I suspected a free roaming dog. Weasels are
scarce here and if a fox had done the killing he probably would
have carried the chicken more than just a few feet from the hen
house to eat it.
We decided to set a large baited live trap in the doorway of
the hen house, so any varmint trying to gain entry would have
to get by the trap first. The location was a good one, for the
next morning we had the culprit: a large boar raccoon.
Several years had passed without another chicken being killed
and I was beginning to think that it was just an isolated incident
when my Mom lost her chickens to that raccoon.
But a few years ago the raccoons struck again, and this time
with a vengeance. Mom lost four chickens in one night and our
neighbor, who lives no more than 500 feet away, found 14 of his
pullets killed the same morning.
None of the chickens were eaten completely. They just had a
bite or two taken from their neck or breast. It is very similar
to the way a raccoon works over a cornfield, pulling down dozens
of ears in a feeding frenzy.
I went about trapping this raccoon a bit differently. I closed
both of the doors on the hen house to make sure the raccoon couldn't
get back in at night, and placed a live trap near the small door
that the chickens used for getting in and out of their run. The
following morning the raccoon was waiting for me in the live trap.
I reset it and left it in place for a week without another catch.
At that time I was raising a beef steer and feeding him in the
big barn, several yards away from the hen house. Something had
been helping itself to hefty portions of the grain that I was
feeding to the steer. This grain was mainly ground corn, cob and
all, along with spelt, alfalfa meal and a lot of molasses.
I could see a faint trail coming from a hole under the barn
and leading to the big sack of grain, which was quickly becoming
a small sack of grain. I moved the grain sack to the safety of
the grain bin and replaced it with a live trap, baited with some
of the grain that was being eaten.
I wasn't surprised to find a large and well-fed raccoon in the
trap the next day. If I had dressed this grain-fed raccoon out
it would have been graded as USDA Prime. His high protein diet
surely had something to do with his excellent condition.
I have a theory that raccoons are all a little bit different
and all have certain preferences. Perhaps it is mainly the larger,
more experienced raccoons that consider chickens an easy meal.
I am sure the raccoons still visit the barnyard at night, but
so far they're only interested in the cat food my Mom puts out
by the back door.
My brother raises turtles on the farm, and since he fenced in
his turtle pond his losses have been held at two. He's an avid
fisherman but became a raccoon trapper last summer when two of
his prized turtles were crudely dismembered and eaten by raccoons.
This all goes to show that you never know what to expect from
wild animals. Not all raccoons will kill chickens, and so far
the coyotes haven't shown any interest in eating our calves. But
many animals are opportunists, and it is their nature to feed
on whatever is convenient for them at a given time.
If you have livestock, even on a small scale as we do, you are
likely to have some sort of depredation at one time or another.
Don't jump to conclusions about what kind of animal did the damage.
Instead, look for clues at the scene of the crime.
Our neighbor did this and found blood stained raccoon prints
which showed him exactly where to place a body gripper to remove
his chicken killing raccoon. Talk to other farmers as they may
have had similar losses and could possibly help you solve your
problems with predators. Better yet, seek the advice of a local
trapper. There is no better place to find ten solutions to a single
problem that an OSTA Convention.
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