SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/chick-predator-latches

What can a raccoon do even when it cannot get inside the coop?

It can reach through the wire and grab birds.

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  1. Give up and leave for good
  2. Only eat the spilled feed
  3. Reach through the wire and grab birds ✔

Why: Raccoons have clever hands. If the wire mesh is too big, they reach through it and grab chickens or eggs that are close to the fence.

Huh, didn't know that: Colorado State says raccoons are less likely to work at a wire pen when they must sit out in the open to do it.

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Why are raccoons good at board games? They always have a hand ready.
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References

Answer: Reach through the wire and grab birds. Raccoons have clever hands. If the wire mesh is too big, they reach through it and grab chickens or eggs that are close to the fence.

  1. University of Kentucky Extension: Predator Management for Small-scale Poultry (ID-245) publications.ca.uky.edu/files/ID245.pdf
    If a raccoon cannot get into the coop they can catch or grab birds or eggs through the wires of the enclosure
    Checked 2026-10-11.
  2. Colorado State University Extension: Chickens and Predators extension.colostate.edu/resource/chickens-and-predators
    Raccoons are less likely to try to work their hands into a welded-wire enclosure when they have to sit in the open to do it.
    Checked 2026-10-11.

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That's stuff everyone should know.