Uninvited visitor

[Carla D]

I was thinking probably raccoon. Maybe get a game camera set up and see. Im sure if its come around once it will again.

That’s what I’m thinking as well. It’s also pretty brazen to come that close to the barn doors. My only hope is, if it’s not a domesticated critter, that it’s bigger than our large farm cats. Hopefully they’d be too big to squeeze into the barn.

 

[Carla D]

@Rammy , how would I keep any of our three farm cats from tripping the trap? Is it possible?

 

[Rammy]

They might go in but what I did, and it worked, was if I caught one of my barn cats in a trap, Id douse them with water an soak them down in the trap, then let them go. They wouldnt go near the trap after that.
It also made sure that anyone else who put out a trap wouldnt catch one of my cats and dispose of it.

 

[Carla D]

They might go in but what I did, and it worked, was if I caught one of my barn cats in a trap, Id douse them with water an soak them down in the trap, then let them go. They wouldnt go near the trap after that.
It also made sure that anyone else who put out a trap wouldnt catch one of my cats and dispose of it.

That does sound harsh and drastic. But I bet you and nobody else will ever catch any of your farm cats in that type of trap.

 

[Rammy]

Since Ive done that not one of my barn cats will go in it. Thats the reason I did it. There are people here that arent nice to animals and I dont want one of mine getting hurt by them. This makes them wary of a trap and not get them in a vunerable position. Yeah, its mean, but it works.

 

[Tonya Morrison]

I hadn’t even thought about that. Since they are in frozen sand I’ll try to get them later with an object to compare them to.

 

[Tonya Morrison]

We shot (relocated) a 40 pound Bore coon.
Size is important, but densidies and moisture in various sand or dirt can also help identify size. I'm an idiot. But I think it's a heavy coon.

 

[babsbag]

Not opossum and not raccoon. I vote for canine, could be domestic or coyote.

 

[Mini Horses]

Unless you can show more than 2 prints, I don't see any indication of walking or four legs. The prints look more like a very large bird would make.

So, in addition to something to judge actual size, any walking pattern?

 

[Carla D]

I believe it was my SIL domesticed but ill behaved basset hound. Both of her dogs escaped the house that afternoon. I finally had the opportunity to ask her if one or both got loose on her. They had. So that is a relief to know it wasn’t any bada** wildlife getting that close to the doors of the barn. We do have a few coyotes that hang out about 100 yards away from the barn though as well. That’s a bit unnerving to me. The pigs may be enough to keep them away from the barn. I hope.

I was unable to get a complete set of four tracks the sand has only been randomly spread on the icy driveway to reduce the risk of falling and help our vehicles stop before hitting the front of the barn.