ost people regard raccoons as pests, especially around chickens. But we have housed one raccoon per year in the barn loft for each of the 24 years here. The trick is to have solid protection for the chickens, a self-contained unit that is impenetrable above and below ground.
This little girl is barely weaned and was very hungry when she arrived. She is so naive that I can get within a metre or so before she bcks up. I will not tame her though as her adult years should involve fear of most humans. She was grateful for some cat food, and greeted me morning and evening for food until this morning, when she had already retired to sleep in the loft, having fed herself. This is a very good sign and it has relaxed the barn cats who now enter the loft and check her nest to confirm she is sleeping.
'Poppet' is lucky we have a vacancy- sometimes a raccoon will stay for up to 4 years, but this year we can house her. She has a private exit under the eaves and until the snow gets very deep and she goes into torpor she can come and go as she pleases. And guess what? She has been litter-training herself, so I can leave a box near the nest, the little darling.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all. ~Emily Dickinson
Poppet turned up on her own, so far as I know, though problems with people relocating them do occur. Ellie is one the property using the abandoned burrow underneath an abandoned chicken coop from the 1970's. She flounces around in the goatweed, thinking I can't see her, but her tail sticks out above! She'll stock the burrow with seeds for winter, even dried apples. We should see her on warm winter days. I hate the thought of harming a wild animal, so David built a chicken fortress!
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all. ~Emily Dickinson
Truth be told, David maintains a sanctuary at the base of our property where deer and other animals can shelter during hunting season. We have a large number of ringneck pheasants year-round, and we can allow the fox dens to remain where they are. One of our neighbours placed some game cams in the crown land beyond it and apparently the big buck that all the hunters crave has moved there over past years during hunting season. Heh.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all. ~Emily Dickinson
A cub can certainly lern to be handled, but trouble starts when they reach sexual maturity. Even the females can get nasty. Besides, she is a wild creature and if she assumes all humans can be approached to food and cuddle, she is more likely to be shot. But yes, she is a cutie! She makes an enticing trillling sound, something that makes you want to substitute for her mama.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all. ~Emily Dickinson
I feel very lucky. I get to see all kinds of wildlife, and since David has the coops fortified, the chickens are safe. Both Miss Ellie and Poppet are settling nicely, I see them briefly at sunrise or sunset and they are no trouble whatever. I think Poppet revealed herself to see if I were a danger or not. Sometimes she peeks down from the loft when I rattle a container with cat food, and I hear that enticing sound. She comes down very quietly as I leave the barn. She will be luckier than most because we keep electric dog bowls on the barn floor for water in winter.
One of the easiest ways to see wild animals is to be in the chicken run just at sunset. The wild animals don't notice me and I get glimpses of deer, foxes, groundhogs and various birds and mammals.
Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all. ~Emily Dickinson
Beautiful pictures Lynne...they are lucky little critters to stop by your place
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(¸.✰´¨(¸.✰ Manda
Living our version of the Good Life with 1 dog (who feels like we're living with 4!), 1 cats, a few sheep and 11 chooks. Don't get your knickers in a knot..it solves nothing ~ just makes you walk funny
Lucky critters.
