Raccoon! May 2017

We had a visitor help himself to some tender young chickens and to a few older hens as well.  He would dig under the coop and eat just one bird a night.  Because of his behavior we guessed we were dealing with a fox. 

But when the traps were set out we nabbed a big boy Coon!   I bet he thought he was being pretty generous, only eating one bird a night.  Raccoons usually make sport of a hen house and will kill lots of birds and leave them head-less and tossed about.  Yet after this boy was dealt with, all coop attacks stopped and we saw no more signs of digging under. 

So we conclude that he was the culprit.

I've always liked Raccoons.  I think they are cute and so fun to watch.  This boy was pretty mad about being caught.  He wanted to rip me up a bit and never stopped growling or attacking the side of the cage.  I nearly let him go because I felt sorry for him.  But then my favorite hen (and last Breda) walked up and looked at me.  She lost her two pure bred sisters to this fellow and I would have felt so so bad if she would have been killed too. 

So he got rehomed, and my Breda lives to see another day!