Help! Raccoon eating legs through wire!

[FenDruadin]

Last night something--presumably raccoon, maybe possum--ate the leg right off one of our quail, and several toes off the other foot (bird died, probably from blood loss). Judging from the location of the bird and the blood, it looks like something grabbed her toes through the 1/2" wire mesh on the bottom of the hutch they live in, and pulled the rest of the leg through.

What do we do? We have some portable electric fencing mesh that we use for the goats, so tonight we'll make a "safe zone" around the quail pens with that, but we can't very well move it back and forth between the goat day pen and the quail night pen twice a day.

What do you do? Anyone else have this happen?

 

[aprophet]

I just trap it the possum or coon and dispatch it until my problem stops most times there are only 2-4 of them in a coupla days my problem is gone from 3-9 months then I do it again

 

[urbanfarmer101]

Coon will come back again and again. They are truly agile and amazing critters, so you will have to be crafty to keep them out. I would go around the coop with a smaller mesh wire AND electrify it.

I once watched a coon look in my neighbors ground floor window, then it climbed up a trellis to a second story porch roof, looked in all three windows up there, then it climbed back down. It then went to the trash can, unhooked the bungee cords holding the lid on and proceded to have a fest and make a mess. Sneaky and smart.

 

[Ga.chickenman]

That happen to me last year,I put hardware cloth 1/2x1/2 around the bottom of the pen so nothing can get to the under side of the pens.
my attacker was the a house cat from next door.

 

[FenDruadin]

Thank you all SOOOO much. We live in a heavily wooded neighborhood with a 60-acre city-owned forest across the street and more wild acreage just north. Predators are NOT in short supply. I have had to learn how to protect my ducks, including the 1/2" mesh around the bottom of their pens for raccoon protection. I guess it's a whole new set of rules for protecting quail.

Anyway--I think we're going to put the mesh around the bottom of the pens, so nothing can get in to reach through. That's a start. I imagine we'll adjust as we go--it's always a dance, one step ahead and occasionally one step behind the predators. We'll probably also try to devise some sort of permanent electric arrangement, but right now the quail are in a temporary location while we build their ultimate quail palace. To which we are going to have to make adjustments from the original plan to accommodate our new knowledge.

I really appreciate all the input. I am amazed by the story of the raccoon looking in all the windows before enjoying the buffet. Incredible creatures.

And for that reason, I am extremely reluctant to trap & kill. I have a lot of respect for wildlife, even when it's inconvenient. I TOTALLY respect people who *do* trap and kill though--I completely get it. It's just not my way. So we'll keep dancing ahead of the predators as best we can and occasionally feeding them a free meal.

Thanks again for all the suggestions!

 

[DLS]

Coon/? possum & sweet taters are really good eating!!!

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
Quite a few folks on this end think so and for a small butchering fee..............

 

[cathunter10]

Sound more like a rat problem than coon.
Bill

 

[95yj]

^naw coons can do that too.

 

[FenDruadin]

Rats or coons, could be either I guess. The leg was pulled clean out of the socket, so I'm thinking larger rather than smaller animal, but who knows. Either way... any thoughts on building a completely solid-walled nest box and shutting the quail into it every night?

Meanwhile... devising something for tonight anyway....

Thanks for all the feedback.