Mission Complete

by Linda Patton ~July 18, 2015

     I awoke this morning and ran to the bathroom window. I didn’t even take time to turn on the light. I brushed the curtain aside to confirm my suspicions. For the last two weeks, we investigated the chicken house every morning to find signs of a visitor seeking a free meal during the night. The extra precautions we added to the chicken house did their job and the visitor’s plot to eat my chickens failed. Two weeks ago, we lost a guinea to such a visitor. The varmint waited until sleep invaded and then took the mother to be from her nest of eggs. We employ dogs for such a time as this, however, the predator managed to evade them while they were off chasing something else in a different part of the yard. We quickly invested in another dog along with a live trap.

     The first night came and went with no signs of progress. The second night sleep detoured us from remembering to set the trap, and last night was night three. There sat, a sweet, beautiful raccoon, snuggled up like the most adorable kitten in the world.  That was only a ploy. Its teeth sharp as razors and its goal to slaughter my chickens. No amount of “cuteness” made up for the fact that raccoons will kill chickens just to murder them. They will eat chickens, but mostly they assassinate every bird in the house and just leave them for farmers to find the next morning. Occasionally, someone will tell us that one hen barely survived, but only after horrific terror incurred.

     Chickens must be locked up every night. Their chance of survival is extremely low if not tucked in, securely away from predators such as this. We cautiously relocated this snuggly looking creature to a nearby Conservation area, where he will no longer endanger the lives of any local chickens.