Ouch

Jimi said:

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I know all you city folk are going to hate me for this, but let me tell you the OTHER side of the story. One of the raccoon's favorite foods is fresh chicken, and if you have chickens, even locked up in a coop, a raccoon can and will get in and kill them. Those cute little opposable thumbs make it just as easy for them to open your chicken coop door as for you to open it. And if there's chicken wire? At night, when the chickens are sleeping and the raccoons are looking for a snack, they can pull a chicken THROUGH chicken wire, if it's roosted close enough to the wire. They'll just keep pulling and tearing and get that chicken through one bite at a time, unless they can tear a hole in the wire and get in and kill the whole batch of chickens.

Raccoons and foxes (oh, yes, aren't they CUTE?) are the main reason we have our Akbash dogs. Before that, we had to sit up half the night with guns, waiting for a bad guy to show up. Now the dogs just chase them off, so it's better for everyone. The foxes and raccoons get to live another day, and so do my chickens. I paid good money for those chickens, and the housing they live in, and I depend on them for my egg supply, so I don't take any crap from raccoons or foxes. I know they have to make a living, too, but they can live on the wildlife (rabbits, rodents, etc.) around here, NOT my chickens. They only go after the chickens because they're locked up and it's an easy meal. So go ahead, hate me, but here are some other stories and opinions to educate you as well:

Truth About Raccoons & Chicken Wire? Please add your experience

The moral of this story is, if you love raccoons, don't ever try to keep a backyard flock of chickens. Unless you have big livestock guardian dogs patrolling your property.

The highway was shut down after a beer truck flipped... then a herd of deer showed up to host happy hour."
Traffic came to a complete halt on the highway after a semi-truck flipped over, spilling hundreds of cases of beer and sending cans rolling across every lane. Drivers pulled over and pulled out their phones to record the chaos while waiting for emergency crews to arrive.
But before the police showed up, the local wildlife decided to crash the scene.
A whole herd of deer emerged from the woods, wandered onto the asphalt, and immediately started sniffing around the spilled brew. Within minutes, they were licking the road, nudging cans around, and helping themselves to the unexpected open bar.
By the time officers arrived, the situation had gotten even stranger: several deer were casually lying down near the shoulder, completely unbothered and looking totally relaxed.
The highway remained closed for hours while crews cleaned up the mess, towed the truck, and wildlife officials safely guided the "partygoers" back into the forest.
No humans or animals were hurt—but the deer definitely got an early start to their weekend!