Patti Oakley Is Back!

Bad news.....I lost another chicken day before yesterday to a raccoon. The raccoon got into the coop and took one of the red hens at night. I'm sure it was a coon because I saw the tracks. I can't believe he was able to get the chicken up and out over the barn stall and then back up another wall to get out of the barn. It must have been a pretty good size coon. This probably would have never been an issue if the workers that are residing the barn didn't leave the walls exposed and this coon found out that there was food in there. I specifically told them that the barn always had to be sealed up at the end of the day. They aren't rocket scientists, so what did I expect? That's a whole nother story. Anyway.......I found out Brad had a live trap, so I set it up in the barn last night. It wasn't very big, but I thought I would try it. I slathered it with peanut butter and cracked corn. I also set up the baby monitor so I could hear any commotion that went on. Joe thinks I'm crazy, but it's not like he's just figuring that out now. Lastly, I loaded my .22.
We went to bed about 11:00 and all was quiet. A little side note here; chickens don't see at night and are very docile. That is why they are sitting ducks for predators at night. Back to the story......At 1:00am I woke up to some noise coming from the monitor. It was a steady kind of cracking noise. No chicken squawking, so I listened for a minute. It continued so I thought I better go investigate. I grabbed the rifle and a spot light and headed for the barn. Anyone that has been to our house at night knows that it gets very dark and scary at night. I didn't care, I was going to kick me some raccoon butt. I decided to sneak in from the back; which is where the trap was set. I saw that the trap had sprung and the snack that I prepared had been taken, but no raccoon. I opened the back door of the barn. It can't be opened quietly however, because it sticks. I decided I better open it quick and run in! When I did, I heard the sounds of scampering in the rafters. I shone the light around but didn't see a thing. The chickens were all ok. I walked the perimeter of the barn. No sign of him, so I went back and reset the trap. I sat there crouched down in the dark for a little while. I walked out of the barn slowly all the while surveying the area. For some reason, I looked behind me and up. I saw the outline of something that looked rectangle shaped on the roof. I thought for a second and said to myself: "self, there aren't any roof stacks on the barn." I shone the light on the roof and lo and behold there was a raccoon with his glow in the dark eyes staring right at me. He was scrunched down, so it was hard to tell how big he was. After seeing him however, I figured he probably just stuck his arm into the trap and scooped up the food. His butt never would have fit into that trap. So now the dilemma; how to get a shot off. I can't hold the spot light and the rifle at the same time, and if I turn off the light I can't really see him. I took too much time to figure out what to do and he started to crawl over the peak to the other side of the roof. I followed him around to the other side, tried to scope him in and I took a shot. I don't think I hit him, but it made him scurry back over to where I first spotted him. When I got back around to the other side, he was trotting across the peak of the roof. He got into an area where the lights from the garage and the moon light made him really visible. Ready, aim, FIRE! That Son of a Bitch went flying off the roof. I grabbed the spot light and ran around the barn. Of course the spot light ran out of juice right at that moment so I could hear him, but I couldn't see him. I searched for him awhile, but he was long gone. I realized the .22 wouldn't do him in unless I got a really good shot, but that's all I had. I didn't think it wise to go running around with a handgun in the middle of the night. Regardless, it worked! He didn't return and the chickens were safe this morning. My agenda today is to get a bigger trap, fence up some areas of the coop, and give the siding people a piece of my mind.

The silliness of this whole episode does not escape me. I realize that I'm a little obsessed about my chickens, however: if I do this for my chickens just think what I would do if my family was in trouble. I got your backs people!