THE SECURITY GUARD
A few years ago, we had a dog named Toby, a black lab mix, a great security guard she was. She would bark to tell us when there was an animal or human intruder. One night she would not stop barking, we could not see or hear anything and told her to stop it. Next morning our vehicle was missing from our driveway and would not be found by police until 3 months later, stripped to a shell!
Toby passed away at 15 years old we realized she protected our chickens as well. Three days later some four-footed intruders (raccoons) marauded our coop and murdered 4 of our chickens! We almost immediately covered and secured the run and the coop for the remaining stunned fowl.
Cute as a button, extremely adaptable, they live in hollowed out trees, sheds, sewers and attics. They are opportunists, omnivores and they love human foods (thrash). As well as all kinds of fruit, frogs, snakes, slugs and birds.
They are mostly nocturnal in nature and active in Spring, Summer and Fall and hibernating in Winter.
The raccoon’s life span is 2 to 3 years in the wild, they often collide with cars. In captivity however they can live up to 20 years old.
Raccoons only pair up in late Winter for mating. The females care for the young (kits), which are independent at 12 months of age. The female gestates for 65 days and gives birth to 1 to 7 kits. Females den with other females and their kits, for protection.
The male raccoon is called a boar, females are called cows.
Some say the purpose of their bandit like masks, reduces the glare (streetlights, car lights etc.) so they can see their prey better at night. Think of Tom Brady… (Stadium lights)
Raccoons use 50 different sound to communicate with each other.
Their hands are more like the human hand, with 5 fingers on all paws, and are very dexterous and therefore able to climb trees and open almost anything!
Raccoons always look like they are washing or rubbing their food with their “hands”, in ponds and puddles before they eat it. Raccoons wet or rub their food with their paws to stimulate nerve endings to get more sensory information about the food! This sense of touch is called “Dousing”. This behaviour is believed to be rooted in their aquatic foraging behaviour in the wild, they dip their “hands” in water to find crayfish and other edibles, they have learned to associate food with water.
A group of raccoons is called a “nursery.” In German and Dutch raccoons are referred to as wash bears”.
To keep these marauders out of your yard, get a dog…. pen up and secure your chickens and their food, keep cat-food and dogfood inside or safely stored away. Please do not feed these wild animals!