Steel wool = coon deterrent?

[Big Red Roosters]

If you bait your trap with marshmallows or fruit, your cats won't care. I don't activate my live traps in rainy weather either, so nobody is out there overnight soaking wet.
Mary

Good point, I've got plenty of stale marshmallows in the cupboard. I'll have to get a trap and give it a try.

One issue I see with steel wool is rust, it is not going to last long.
If you have a machine shop near by, you might ask if they have shavings from stainless steel you could get,,, it will be heavier than the wool but wont rust out. It will also be sharp, handle with care!

I've gotten 3 years out of it so far and no rust, not saying it won't rust though. If the coon wouldn't have dug it up it wouldn't be exposed to any elements.

My thought too...as well as the possibility of the chickens eating broken off pieces.

Do you have a pic of where this is installed?
Am assuming it's at the bottom of a coop or run wall?
Have you thought of anti-dig aprons?
Good examples of anti-dig apron installation, tho I'd not recommend 1/2" HC (unless you have small rodents like rats)...go with 14ga 1x2 or 1x1, will hold up much longer and is easier to lay flat.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1110498/wire-around-coop#post_17093528
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/new-coop-project.1169916/page-2#post-18481208

I've been using it 3 years and haven't had a problem yet, doesn't mean I won't ever have problems.
I do not, it's at the bottom of the coop. I like that idea, I'm saving that for future reference, thank you. I did not originally state this, this particular coop being bothered by raccoons is actually built on a cement pad, but there is a small hole in the backside from it being moved onto the cement pad. That is were I stuffed steel wool to keep mice and rats out, I then buried it in sand to hold it in place. Maybe, just MAYBE if he yanked all the steel wool out and moved all the sand out, he could squeeze his hand in, but nothing more. I can't even get my fingers in it. What got my attention, is he stopped digging as soon as he hit the steel wool, he never touched the cement underneath. That's where I got the idea, maybe I could use steel wool on my other coops set on the dirt, as I do have a floorless one by the house.

I'm not sure where in the world you live ... but in the USA steel wool I've used never cut my bare hands ... it's used like sand paper ... they even make brass wool ...

This is the common steel wool ... https://www.acehardware.com/departm...ainting-tools-and-supplies/steel-wool/1361054

I am in the USA, I got the heavy duty stuff, extra coarse or something like that. I tried to tear the chunk in half bare handed, hand slipped and it cut me, so it's my fault. Seems like the critter didn't like it much either.

I remember using Steel Wool to clean showers in the Navy... it was the only cleaning supply that worked. The other Abrasive pads would get clogged up fast and we didn't have enough storage space for something that didn't last long. Never cut my hands up on it though. But I can see it cutting up fingers of anything who tried to dig through it. I never thought of burying that around a coop to keep out predators. I am currently having rat and Possum issues. They are digging in and eating feed. I relocate them... But a Raccoon has to be executed due to a high likelihood of rabies. I won't move an animal that is likely to spread rabies. Kinda sad because they are beautiful animals. After they kill a chicken its gets easier to execute them.

Thank you for your service. I purchased the extra coarse pad, I was worried super fine would be too easy for something to remove. I screwed myself by trying to tear it in half bare handed, I was swiftly reminded I am not the hulk.
Steel wool IN my coop has kept out my rat problem. I stuffed it in the window sill and floorboards where the chickens can't reach. The rats were attacking roosting chicken feet at night, took entire bantam toes. After the steel wool, haven't had a single rat since. I traumatized the last opossum trying to walk through my open coop door. I was working inside and left the door open, an opossum waltzed through the door, surprised us both and my first reaction was to hit it with my ladder. Broke my ladder and the opossum ran off, hasn't came back since.
I completely agree, raccoons are beautiful and are fun to watch. But yes, after a chicken death it wasn't a hard decision to form hunting parties around the property.


Whoo, long post. Hopefully I didn't miss anything.

 

[Acre4Me]

We’ve used stainless steel wool to stuff into the corregations in steel wall panels where mice were getting in. Seems to have kept them out. We bought stainless to avoid any rust potential.

 

[Big Red Roosters]

We’ve used stainless steel wool to stuff into the corregations in steel wall panels where mice were getting in. Seems to have kept them out. We bought stainless to avoid any rust potential.

I should've saved the bag, I wonder if mine is stainless. It's never rusted so I would assume so? I have no complaints so far - its kept everything out. Hoping it stays that way.

 

[RWise]

If it has not rusted out yet, it must be SS as the iron kind rusts very fast!

 

[aart]

I'm not sure where in the world you live ... but in the USA steel wool I've used never cut my bare hands ... it's used like sand paper ... they even make brass wool ...

This is the common steel wool ... https://www.acehardware.com/departm...ainting-tools-and-supplies/steel-wool/1361054

Steel 'wool' might be the 'wrong' word...I knew what they meant right off the bat.
Probably something like this scouring pad...found fast by googling 'stainless steel wool':

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm curious to know if it works. I cut off little strips of hardware cloth (one or two rows of squares), crumpled them, and crammed them into any holes I saw when I finished my coop. I wore gloves and shoved them into any opening I could see daylight through with a screwdriver. Then I tried yanking them out to see how easy they'd be to remove. Couldn't get them to budge. I think the stray wires on the edges dug in and wouldn't let go.

I'm just worried that I didn't plug up the holes enough. Stainless steel wool might do the trick...

 

[Acre4Me]

I'm curious to know if it works. I cut off little strips of hardware cloth (one or two rows of squares), crumpled them, and crammed them into any holes I saw when I finished my coop. I wore gloves and shoved them into any opening I could see daylight through with a screwdriver. Then I tried yanking them out to see how easy they'd be to remove. Couldn't get them to budge. I think the stray wires on the edges dug in and wouldn't let go.

I'm just worried that I didn't plug up the holes enough. Stainless steel wool might do the trick...

You are a brave person to crumple up random bits of HWC. Even with gloves....that stuff is hard to deal with - great, but difficult. I’m sure it’s keeping the little critters out because it probably did embed into the surrounding wood in the holes.

 

[Acre4Me]

Steel 'wool' might be the 'wrong' word...I knew what they meant right off the bat.
Probably something like this scouring pad...found fast by googling 'stainless steel wool':
View attachment 1595015

Our SS wool is the very fine stuff - like those scouring pads with the pink soap embedded...but without the soap. We purchased a 1lb roll of it, so it’s a bit like unrolling ribbon. We cut off strips and stuffed them into areas we wanted to block rodents using a metal rod. Took awhile to fill in a few hundred corregations in the wall, but considering we had just had the barn electric redone, in part due to chewed wiring from cozy mice living in the insulated walls, we figured it was time well spent.

 

[Compost King]

Just installed some steel wool scrubbers I got from the dollar store. You can get 3 baseball sized ones for a dollar. Not the highest quality if it works good, if not it was worth the small price of trying. 2 rat holes I found under the bedding and stuffed them with those scrubbies and sand. I was using hardware cloth (left over bits and pieces from rabbit cage construction) I was running out of scrap and didn't want to buy a whole new role. I will no longer be making dirt floor coops unless its completely enclosed with hardware cloth which honestly isn't worth the money when I can just construct a floor on blocks/bricks with wood from free pallets. But for the coops I have now that are dirt floors I am hoping this does the trick. Thanks for posting this solution.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Just installed some steel wool scrubbers I got from the dollar store. You can get 3 baseball sized ones for a dollar. Not the highest quality if it works good, if not it was worth the small price of trying. 2 rat holes I found under the bedding and stuffed them with those scrubbies and sand. I was using hardware cloth (left over bits and pieces from rabbit cage construction) I was running out of scrap and didn't want to buy a whole new role. I will no longer be making dirt floor coops unless its completely enclosed with hardware cloth which honestly isn't worth the money when I can just construct a floor on blocks/bricks with wood from free pallets. But for the coops I have now that are dirt floors I am hoping this does the trick. Thanks for posting this solution.

Keep us posted!