KrisK Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 I have a flock of Muscovy ducks including Duke, the drake. These are very large, heavy ducks. Would a raccoon be able to take down a full grown Muscovy? I've never had raccoons until last night! I know the eggs and ducklings are at risk but what about the balance of the flock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 My husband says, "Oh, yeah. And they can do it real quick." I believe him, he's had experience with raccoons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 ^^What she said. Raccoons can get to a pretty good size, and especially at night when poultry are sleepy they are vulnerable to coons, etc. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisK Posted June 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 The ducks free range during the day (which right now is from 7:00 am when I leave for work until 10:00 pm . which is dusk) Around 9:30-10:00 I lock them up in their duckhouse which is very secure. I'm going to set the live trap after work. My husband is home most days - am I likely to have problems during daylight hours as well? If so, I'll have to find a way to keep the peace in the duckhouse during the day until I get the raccoon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue R Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 Raccoons are not usually active during the day when they are healthy. I'm not sure if I would leave them out until dusk, though - we've occasionally had raccoons through our yard when it was still light enough to see them passing by outside. Other than that, I would think daytime was fairly safe but maybe you'd be better off getting rid of the coon first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted June 28, 2011 Report Share Posted June 28, 2011 When I was having possum problems, it was at night, but not necessarily late. I have seen coons out at dusk, especially on cloudy days (the dogs treed a coon once at around 5 p.m. on a cloudy day), so you may just need to put them up a bit earlier at night. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 If you live in a place where there's very little darkness this time of year (as I assume is the case if it's just dusk at 10 p.m.) then raccoons will start foraging in the daylight. They prefer to work under cover of darkness, but they also need a certain amount of time to tend to business. And yes, a muscovy duck would be on the menu. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrSnappy Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 I'm going to set the live trap after work. You should check with MNR before you live trap it ... if memory serves correctly, in Ontario as an unlicensed "trapper" you can only release the raccoon within a one kilometer radius of where you trapped it. This doesn't solve the problem as the raccoon will just come right back to where it was. But if you relocate it far away and it's carrying disease, you'll just be spreading the disease to another area. MNR frowns on that practice, so it's illegal. But doublecheck my info with MNR, as my memory is a bit rusty since I don't use this info for work anymore. RDM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWBC Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 I agree with a non professinal not relocating a coon. I think I would live trap it, then s,s,s and be done with the problem for my flock. With the added benefit of not running a risk of transferring a disease to another area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisK Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Well, lucky for me, the raccoon disappeared without my intervention. For future reference, I'll check the MNR site about the live trap limitations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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