ahh, Mr.P i used to love the hen house, the small chicks best of all. my chore was feeding the chickens, turkeys & geese. the geese took me for their own & would surround me, protecting me from my older brothers. i’d spend entire afternoons along the creek with the geese & ducks & family pup.
about raccoons: a bowl of ammonia works. smelly as they are they are very smell sensitive. o/c it helps not to have hole they can slip through, &, yes, they are smart with nifty pickpocket hands. once i had a family ensconced in the garden shed. the fellow i hired, told me, if you take a kit, the parents will scoop the remaining & abandon the ‘home’. so he took a pretty kit to a nearby wildlife rescue & the parents did indeed collect the remaining 3 & abandoned the shed.
i’ve a huge old cherry that every summer will bring a huge old raccoon soon as the cherries are lime green & far from ripe & he’ll take 2, maybe 3 days to strip every cherry. his agility, flexibility can be hypnotizing. he’s deliberate, methodical & never leaves the crows or me so much as one, no matter how we clamour or harass, the ground below is thick with the stones, the sum of all he cares to share.
best of luck, & hello to Mrs.P
