2 down

5/27:  I took out a raccoon last night. damn thing came around at 6 before the chickens were in bed and was chasing the chickens and chicks around when Q heard it and told us. I went out screaming like a berserker with a baseball
 bat and scared it away.

I hung around outside until the chickens and chicks calmed down, then we watched them to make sure they all went inside which they did. I closed up the coop and we relaxes. We did not loose any of the 5 chicks.

And the raccoon came back, it sat there eating spilled chicken feed for an hr before I quietly walked around the front of the house with the 22 rifle. It saw me as I was lining up my shot and took off up the tree. I was able to get a head-shot and it fell down out of the tree and I finished it off with another head-shot. Unfortunately it was a bloody mess so we decided not to skin it. It was a young female.

We'll see if we get any more that brazen. I setup the leg trap to see if I can get another.


5/29: Went out to release the chickens and they were making a lot of stress noises in the coop, the leg trap got a raccoon. I grabbed the 22 rifle again, lined it up on the head between the eyes and shot it. It died quickly and I took it off to the woods. It was a large female with extended nipples, so it probably has a litter of kits (?).

 I'm not happy killing females, but I'm also not happy having them drag my chickens away and eating them. Law of the jungle.