Got it!

So, after losing two chickens, I was sad.  After losing the third, I was pissed!  I went to HomeDepot to buy a raccoon trap but surprisingly they were all sold out?!  Huh?! Really?! Raccoon traps are that in need?!??!

Not wanted to wait for new ones to come in, I jumped on good old Craigslist and found a guy in nearby Lakewood who had a brand new trap for sale for $50, the same price as HD.  I met up with him and he gave me some tips on catching a raccoon.  I set the trap up Sunday night with some wet cat food and came out the next morning to find the food gone!  That means he is still around!  I set it up again last night and made sure to put the food farther to the back and came out this morning to find this mean guy in the trap!!  

Caught inside the chicken run, I am blaming this raccoon for the death of our three chickens
 and sentencing him to banishment from Golden for life!

Not feeling good about killing an animal who was pretty much invited to eat my chickens, I thought the best way to keep him from coming back would be exile him from Golden and release him down near Bear Creek Lake State Park. Its probably only about 7 miles away, but there is C-470 highway and I-70 highway that I hope keeps him away.  Goodbye and good ridden Rocky Raccoon!

I'll keep the trap set for the next week or more to see if he had any friends that liked chickens too while we discuss as a family what we want to do next about chickens.

Rocky the Raccoon

I have named this scoundrel Rocky

One night, a couple hours after sunset, I went out to close up the chicken run, and saw something dark running across the yard.  The next evening, I was heading out for a night bike ride and parked my car in the back by the coop to load up my bike and caught the "something" in the act.  While he wasn't going for the chickens, he was going for the chicken feed.  I've heard stories of raccoons only going for the eggs, but I have also heard of the raccoons slaughtering a whole coop.  :(  I've started shutting the coop down before sunset and hope that Rocky doesn't get too hungry... I am guessing Rocky is related to these little ones from last summer... I wonder where his sibling is?

I'm watching you

So, my previous theory of not having to worry about predators for the chickens was debunked this past weekend.  While watching movies in the back yard, two little raccoons came out and said hi.  Here is a photo of them on top of the garage, only a few feet from the chicken cage. I hope that the chickens are safe in their coop and cage!