Somebody has been creeping around the homestead at night!
Being aware and finding clues can be very helpful on the homestead and prevent a lot of heartache. Recently, we noticed something interesting. While I saw it first and drew my own conclusions, when Pinkie-Pepper noticed it, she came up with the same scenario. It's cool to see my children understand things like this.
HALT! WHO GOES THERE?
Down by our sheep and goats, we noticed something interesting. In the winter months, we feed them a variety of hay, alfalfa, corn, sweet feed, and grain because there is not as much grass and other plants to eat. Sometimes a bit will spill on the ground which can attract birds and other animals. Recently, I found some footprints.
Down in the bottom of a five gallon bucket were two little paw prints. From the looks of things, I'd say that we were dealing with a raccoon.
Yup, one of those guys, only bigger. This is one of the issues that people often run into. You've got a wild animal trying to live its life out in the wild, but being attracted towards areas where people are because of the food. One way to deter this is to try not to ever have any food laying around, but we've got to feed our animals. Even if none spilled on the ground a raccoon could still find it in their food dishes.
Water is another issue. While there are ponds and streams nearby, there are also places that a raccoon, or other animal, can stop and get a drink. Some of those other places are the watering stations that we have for our animals. Again, this can create issues.
We've noticed that a few of our sheep are much more afraid these days. Our interaction with them hasn't really changed so I suspected some sort of dog or wild animal may have been terrorizing them when we were gone. If a raccoon has been raiding their food and water at night, this could easily be the issue.
In the near future, we plan on moving our poultry down to the land too. We've been hesitant to so far because we will not be there to keep an eye on them. Even full sized chickens and guinea fowl can be prey for hawks, raccoons, and possums, and soon we plan on hatching out the next generation of babies too. Without proper protection and monitoring, our whole flock could end up dead.
In the end, this was a great way to find out that a raccoon was coming around. Dead animals can also signify their presence, but we'll take a few footprints over a dead animal any day. We'll be keeping a closer eye on things and probably set a live trap too. If we can capture it in a live trap, then we can relocate it somewhere more secluded.
If you want to learn a little more about raccoons, check out this short two minute that I made!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-footprints
Somehow, homestead raccoons seem more innocent than city raccoons.
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Yeah, anyone wearing a mask and running around at night in the city…
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Good post. I like the racoon video - informative, and interesting that he would follow your hand and turn with it. Thanks for taking the time to share. Love the close-up of the young'uns with the the baby chick. They're all cute!
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good luck
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Thanks!
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Welldone papa-pepper the animals are lucky to have a good shephered like you.
@paradise-found left you some words in my show TGIF WITH @jeaniepearl he would like you to see it and its my duty to draw your attention to it.
https://steemit.com/entertainment/@jeaniepearl/tgif-with-jeaniepearl-episode-5
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you need a guard llama, they don't take any shit.
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Yep, we have had issues with skunks and opossums over the years....oh and muskrats in our pond. There's always something to deal with in the country. Never a dull moment.
Rabbits ate some of my newly planted bushes. Deer grazed on our fruit trees. Someone left the gate open and the cows were grazing in the garden and knocked over the birdbath (and broke part of it by knocking it down). We even had a family of skunks that kept on digging into the crawl space under our house when we first moved in. Fun times!
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interesting work you are doing @papa-pepper! I think your poultry should be move to a place where the animal feels safe.
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This video is So educative. Thanks papa-pepper
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Very remarkable research @papa-pepper. You find with their tracks. Thank you for sharing your knowledge very useful. Good luck always for you.
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Is the raccoon dangerous? I like your children's research skills, I think they learn a lot more with you than in school :)
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wow im learning lot of things from your posts sir :)
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It could be an elfin bigfoot creature!
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You are doing a great job @papa-pepper. You must find something to do about it, I don't know much about animals especially wild animals but I know wild animals can be crazy sometimes, do something about it asap
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Racoons are cute but they can cause havoc on the homestead. If you haven't got your chickens secure at night you could lose a few. They love eggs, chicks and chicken. They are intelligent and can figure out how to undo latches on coops. They also are a bear to get out of attics once they take up residency.
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Hi Papa-pepper, reminds me of the comedic classic, The Great Outdoors, starring the late John Candy, remember that one?
Great Outdoors Raccoon Scene
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Lol- wow, thanks for the memories!
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Thanks for the live trap approach.
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In our place is also often the case the same thing. like wild animals that love our pets like chickens, ducks, and small poultry. But according to our beliefs in my area, we have a special way to protect pets by sowing salt around the cage. According to our belief this can make wild animals do not want to pass salt-garais that has been sprinkled with salt.
this is a wild animal who likes to eat pets
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Interesting, I actually wish that we had those here!
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The content has written a lot of beautifully, you have given a post very well. I respect you.
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I've watched some youtube videos of raccoons that were house pets. If you can raise them from birth they are playful and loyal according to the people making the vids.
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good post
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Yeah, we actually had a dead duck down here on our land. I couldn't believe that a raccoon could kill a full size male duck with wings! And then I had some potatoes I was sprouting, ready to go into the ground. Set them on our deck and all the good ones were eaten :( Time for some live traps!
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this is very good, what this animal is also your pet @papa-pepper or @little-peppers.
because this animal is interesting, and if not mistaken this animal is often wandering at night.
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How would they go in spare rabbit tractors?
You could start a racoon farm, sell the small ones as pets, shear them in summer and sell their fur.
A whole new enterprise
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Yeah, i read the post you made about the sheep getting scared, which is against their usual practise of running to you. Something need to be done fast, Papa. If you want to capture it live, then you need to do a vigil or keep a net trap somewhere. I really hope you come up with something that wouldn't harm the sheep fold too.
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This was a great read, and im glad ive found another great content creator to follow. Looking forward to reading through more of your posts. Happy homesteading ✌
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I love to see the smile on the face of the @little-peppers...
And that racoon! I think he is ready to bite once you touch his body!
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I always think of the 80's cartoon the Racoons haha
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what about getting a sheep dog, like a Border Collie? They are really good with stock and very protective.
They are also great with kids. Just having a dog on the property should be enough to deter most predators.
And they are sooooo cute when they are puppies!
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