We all have been afraid at some time in our lives of things that go bump in the night. For a chicken the bump that scares them the most.....Raccoons! Raccoons are a danger that lurks in the night or in our case sometimes the day.
Chickens have a unique behavior when it starts to get dark out they go home to roost. But in roosting lurks another danger because they become "sitting ducks" Anyone or anything can just pluck them right out of their roosting place they have no defense. That is where we come in......the first line of defense a good coop.
The second line of defense....a good dog.
The third line of defense and proved to be the best and the most costly a good trapper.
All in all that week we caught six raccoons. We are back to relying on our first and second lines of defense and have seen no sightings of the nasty bandits. We were all very tired and a bit crabby but have recovered and are enjoying our girls once more. The girls have had other dangers in their lives....cats....eagles but we have been able to protect them successfully. Sadly I did not get a picture of Jeff saving them from the Eagle with a ski pole.....very funny!
Great post and photos! I am so glad "the girls" are safe and that things have settled down a bit. I had an eagle fly about 5 feet over my head while getting the mail a couple of weeks ago...too close for me...maybe I will carry a ski pole when getting the mail from now on!!
ReplyDeleteThank you....I am kind of getting the hang of it. The lurking dangers of Nature! The deer have eaten and broke a big limb off of our newest flowering cherry tree. :(
ReplyDeleteI don't know why the wildlife has gotten so comfortable with coming close to our homes...especially with dogs in our yards.
ReplyDeleteGreat post mom!! Poor girls!! Maybe its time to thin out some of the other wildlife as well!!
ReplyDeleteI thought with all of the Global Warming that the wildlife was going to suffer and grow smaller in population. We have more Bald Eagles, Deer, Bear, Raccoons, Squirrels etc. than we have ever had before. Not to mention the very cold weather we are having :(
ReplyDeleteI can't believe he caught six! But at least (I hope) that solved the problem.
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