[blackdog]

From May through November, raccoons are the farm version of the Viet Cong. When hens hatch chicks, raccoons eat them. When hens are sitting on clutches, raccoons chase em off and eat em. Sweet Corn is ravaged by them in July. Corn Cribs are torn to bits by the beasts. They have discovered that I won't shoot them(and yes they do rove in packs) when they are clinging to the rafters in my machine shed(don't want to shoot holes in my roof). Now whenever chasing them off from one building to another they run into the machine shed and sit there. I've tried dislodging them with long poles but by the time I drop the pole, pick up the gun, put a round in the chamber the damn thing has scurried back up the wall and is sitting with his brethren again.

I have an Australian Cattle Dog that is viscious with them. The only problem is that she gets mighty bit up in the conflict. She kills a few each year. I shoot about a dozen or so inside the barn or at the corn crib each year. We don't make a dent. The wost thing is when you trap or kill a momma coon. For weeks you have unsupervised coon yout's wandering around.

The only thing worse than coons is skunks. Anyone who can tell me how to shoot or rid me of skunks without them spraying gets a free leg of lamb. A friend told me that if you soak marshmallows in acepromazine that the skunks will eat it and become anesthetised. I just ended up with staggering cats, coons and skunks. The skunks don't like being drugged and they just spray at will. The same guy told me that if you trap them and pick them up by the tail that they won't spray either. I'm not falling for that one. One skunk incident can really ruin the home life for a few weeks.

[null and void]

They have discovered that I won't shoot them(and yes they do rove in packs) when they are clinging to the rafters in my machine shed(don't want to shoot holes in my roof).

Use CB caps - squib loaded .22's. They won't penetrate the roofing, but a well placed shot can kill a racoon. A not so well placed shot will make 'em move on...

[Diddle E. Squat]

Poison.

[SauronOfMordor]

They have discovered that I won't shoot them(and yes they do rove in packs) when they are clinging to the rafters in my machine shed(don't want to shoot holes in my roof).

Have you tried a CO2 pellet gun? Seems like it would hurt them while not making a hole in your roof

[eastforker]

It is true,a skunk must lift his tail to spray,had a pet skunk as a kid.Dad caught the skunk laying in the manger where the cows fed,had a baited spot,when momma and two youngens appeared he grabbed one by the tail and got outa dodge.We got it to the vet who knocked it out and did the surgery to eliminate the smell gland.We still got forty year old film to show it,along with the coons,owls,foxes and wild white rabbits we had as pets.We didn't have pet stores.

[strela]

Anyone who can tell me how to shoot or rid me of skunks without them spraying gets a free leg of lamb.

If you just want to keep them away from a specific area, get a couple of boxes of mothballs and sprinkle them around (not too thickly - you only need one or two every several feet). Skunks detest the smell and won't come anywhere near an area staked out with mothballs.

Works wonders keeping them away from my chickens. While my neighbor's coop gets raided about once a week by skunks, its been months since I've lost a hen to them. (Now the coyotes are a different matter - they've been tough on all of us).

[Pablo64]

Skunks are indeed a bigger nuisance than coons are (IMO) even though we lost several chickens to coons when we first started raising chickens. Couldn't figure out how they were getting them, since they weren't getting into the fenced in area any way, but there were definate coon tracks all around the outside and asside from a few feathers, we never found a trace of the poor chickens.

Skunks will just tear things up for the heck of it, while the coons are generally just looking for food (although they can get mighty curious about stuff that's not at all food related).

As for the skunks; there are traps that will let you catch them live but don't allow them to lift their tails high enough to spray (they have to lift it to expose the openings to the scent glands and work the muscles that cause it to shoot out). Once you catch them, you could do away with them in a number of ways that would keep them from spraying, or if you wanted a less "drastic" measure, you could drive them way out into the boonies and turn them loose (I put that in for the bunny huggers who might read this).