Raccoons are dangerous.  They used to come into our garage to eat our
cat food until we got our dogs and started closing the cats and dogs in
the garage at night.
 
When we put up our chicken coop and pen, we used 5 foot high chain link
and wired it to metal flashing which we put a foot deep into the ground.
Above the chain link, we put poultry wire so the outdoor coop wire goes
up for a total of about 9 feet.  Well, one year a coon family figured out
how to get up and over in spite of our efforts.  They killed and injured
so many chickens, and there were chicken parts everywhere.  It was a
bloody mess.  We bought a large live animal trap and put it outside the
chicken door with dry cat food inside.  It took a couple of weeks but we
trapped out about 6 coons, each one bigger and meaner than the one we
caught the night before.  The man who removed them for us took them to
a steep slope near a lake about 45 minutes from here where the only way
they could go when he opened the trap was down and away from him.  He
said that if you go 5 miles or less, they will find their way home.  When
you release them, you have to be very careful so that they don't turn
around and rip into you.  Even a pet coon ripped up the leg of a
neighbor's friend when the woman was preparing raw chicken for supper
and some of it got on her.
 
You're lucky the coon wasn't cornered, because they have been known to
kill dogs when they are.  I don't know whether they eat ferrets or not,
but again you're very lucky none of them were injured or worse.  I used
to think coons were so cute until I got to know them.  Now I know how
truly vicious they can be.  We bring in any pet food at night to
discourage their visits; and, as long as they leave us and our pets
alone, we leave them alone.
 
Nancy
Wichita
[Posted in FML issue 4499]