# Are raccoons and possums a threat to goats?



## BethW (May 3, 2007)

This may be a silly question, but I just have to ask. We had something get into the barn a few nights ago and kill one of our chinese geese.  I suspect it was a skunk, but it may have been a raccoon or possum. Only one goose was attacked...the other goose and our ducks were fine.

The thing is, our ND goats are penned in a stall a few doors down. They're full grown (and big for NDs: each one is easily 90 lbs.). Would this kind of predator be a risk to them? Losing our goose was just awful, but _nobody_ messes with my goats. :flame:


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## Clovers_Clan (Jul 17, 2012)

I don't know if a healthy raccoon would bother goats. But I do know you don't want raccoons, skunks or possums in your barn. My GP LGD killed a rabid skunk in our barn last year. Thankfully he wasn't near any of the goats. The critters are likely looking for feed in there and, yes, skunks seek out chickens as an easy meal. For that reason I don't keep feed in the barn, it stays locked up in the mudroom. I don't feed in the barn or leave out anything but hay. And the chickens are in their own secure pen. There is a rabies vaccine approved safe for goats but its efficacy is still under debate. Best not to tempt fate, when incapacitated rabid animals are hungry they lose their normal caution of humans. This skunk walked right up to the barking dog, while we were in the barn!


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

if it was big enough to attack and kill a full grown goose its big enough to attack and kill a goat kid or even a Nigerian, Skunks will kill and eat a nesting bird on the ground if they can but would likely only get the eggs, skunks are not mobile enough to get a good hold on a goose, a large **** MIGHT, but was the bird taken out of the barn or eaten there? what part was eatin? Fox and even bob cats have been known to sneak into barns and out buildings to get a meal, not sure if a fox would do anything to a goat but a bobcat could.


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## nehimama (Jun 18, 2005)

If the possums are defecating in/on your hay, that could cause disease problems with your hay-eating critters. I can't remember the name of the disease transmitted in this fashion, but it's devastating.


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## Mattie420 (Apr 2, 2013)

Good info to know!


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

I highly doubt a **** would even take a second look at a goat. An opossum or a skunk wouldn't stand a chance. Goats aren't just going to lie there and get eaten. 

That's what fowl do at night. To see the difference, try to catch one during the day and then catch one at night. 


Living the good life


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## McCoys farm (Nov 10, 2013)

they may not be able to kill a full sized goat but their droppings if you have feed outside the droppings in the food will make your animals sick

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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

Possums are intermediary hosts for the protozoa that causes EPM... Equine protozoal myeloencephalitis. There are a number of different strains of protozoa that have been found to cause EPM. Some of the strains also infect/affect other mammals besides horses. I did read something about some strains causing abortion in goats and other mammals, but I'm not sure if goats get the same kind of neurological symptoms that horses do when infected with that protozoa. EPM in horses is kind of like meningeal worm in goats.

While the possum is a host for some strains of protozoa, dogs and coyotes are host to other strains.

I think it's just safe to say that any animal's poop _can_ carry pathogens and should be kept off other critters' food.


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## Hollowdweller (Jul 13, 2011)

nehimama said:


> If the possums are defecating in/on your hay, that could cause disease problems with your hay-eating critters. I can't remember the name of the disease transmitted in this fashion, but it's devastating.


 
Interesting. I'd like to know more about this.


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## Josie (Mar 30, 2012)

Is this what you were referring to? EPM in horses...http://www.epmhorse.org/The_Disease/Opossum.htm


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## Josie (Mar 30, 2012)

Toxoplasmosis: http://www.extension.org/pages/31070/goat-toxoplasmosis#.UoPGUeKmZHY That article says from cat feces...which is what I've always heard...This article: http://www.zoologix.com/horse/Datasheets/EquineProtozoalMyeloencephalitis.htm
also stated from dog & opossum feces...hmm...


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## Frosted Mini's (Nov 29, 2012)

Toxoplasma infects many species. It's definitive host is the cat and the intermediate host is usually mice/rats or ruminants. It makes cysts in the meat of various animals, which I guess it expects the cat to ingest.  Studies in mice show that having toxo actually changes behavior and makes them like the smell of cat urine, so they will be around cats more, and therefore, more likely to get eaten by and infect the cat. Crazy stuff. But, anyway, it does cause abortion in goats. It can also abort humans, but weirdly enough, it is only a problem if you get a NEW infection while pregnant. If you already have toxo and get pregnant, it doesn't cause a problem. I think something to do with gaining immunity. I don't know if the same applies to goats, though.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

Possums and ***** are not on the endangered species list.  ***** do make a tasty BBQ.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwX5QrNqwcM[/ame]


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## Frosted Mini's (Nov 29, 2012)

o&itw said:


> Possums and ***** are not on the endangered species list.  ***** do make a tasty BBQ.


Gosh, we can't ever seem to catch the dang things in the act! They seem to like to strike after midnight. We had almost all our ducks eaten by ***** (we assume) one year. That pen is set up for goat kids, but I am scared to death to put the little ones in there after that!


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## BethW (May 3, 2007)

Thanks for all of your input. We had a skunk dig into the barn a month ago. We found out he was in there when he came running out from under the mower blades of the ZTR while I was driving it out of the barn. Never seen DH move so fast, LOL. We sealed the dug-up area well and left the doors open in the hope that the skunk would leave on his own. For weeks after, we had traps set just in case but caught nothing so assumed he'd moved on.

_Warning: getting graphic_

Just a few mornings ago, we found our goose dead. She was with several ducks and another goose who were all unharmed, which is why I assume it wasn't a raccoon (don't raccoons usually kill more?). She was untouched from the shoulders down, but her head and neck were mauled and completely featherless. Her brain had been eaten from under her jawline, and her eyes were gone. She must have fought some, as there was a bit of blood on the wall, but she was a chinese goose and not that big. I can only guess it might have been the skunk (maybe still in the barn?) but I really don't know.

We have traps set out yet again and we'll take him out when we catch him. All of our feed is contained so no worries there and our hay is scrupulously clean. We've secured our remaining waterfowl better, but I just want to make sure there are no worries with the goats.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

ducks and geese are active at night and not helpless like chickens and other poultry, a full grown goose is not an easy target, a **** would have killed the ducks as many as possible, a possum would kill a duck if it could catch it, but the way a possum eats its prey is from the soft belly inward, what you describe is the way a Weasel kills and eats, do you have martins and the like up there? skunks are not able to catch and kill something like a goose or active duck, they are able to over power a setting hen if they have the chance but that's it. what you describe your goats should be safe, it was not a bob cat or fox


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## gone-a-milkin (Mar 4, 2007)

By the description of your goose carcass, I would also consider the predator being an owl. 
I have seen them do almost surgical looking clean work on the heads of fowl.


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## o&itw (Dec 19, 2008)

Frosted Mini's said:


> Gosh, we can't ever seem to catch the dang things in the act! They seem to like to strike after midnight. We had almost all our ducks eaten by ***** (we assume) one year. That pen is set up for goat kids, but I am scared to death to put the little ones in there after that!


The only good way I know to catch them is with a box (Havahart style) trap. You need a big one, and if you can buy an older one at an auction or yard sale you are better off, as the knew ones are made up of lighter gauge wire and they tend to get torn up easier. 

There are lots of thing that you can bait the trap with, but by far the best is about 1/4 to 1/3 ear of sweet corn tied in the back of the trap.

If you catch one or two, don't put the trap away. If there is one, there are usually 4 or 5 around. I once caught 7 in 5 days with traps set close to my bird feeders. I have electric that keeps them away from my small animals, but when they started having fights over the grain under the bird feeder at 2 AM, it was time to act. If you have ever heard two tomcats fighting, make it about 4 times louder and that is what two ***** fighting sound like.


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## Frosted Mini's (Nov 29, 2012)

The ones around here are too smart for traps. They sneak the bate out and never get caught! I am sure we're just using the wrong trap or something. Also fairly sure it was ***** rather than skunk or some other critter, as we put up electric fence around the pen, but they got in anyway, so I assume they came down from the trees.


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## jennigrey (Jan 27, 2005)

Best live trap is a Tru-Catch. Beats all others! I had only intermittent luck with Hav-A-Hart and other brands but I've never had a critter set off a Tru-Catch and not be caught inside! The secret is that the pressure plate is extra-long so they can't just reach past it to get the goodie. Also, doesn't hardly take but a touch to trigger the door to close. 

http://www.trucatchtraps.com/


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## LFRJ (Dec 1, 2006)

Owl vs goose? Sounds like there was easier prey for an owl - and I'm surprised a weasel would fore-go an easier snack to take on a goose - but we've never had to tangle with them. I agree with KSal, our raccoon attacks have been massacres - multiple birds down at once - a real killing spree. The possoms do eat from the inside out too. Gross!

The cats we had encounters with - (coyotes also) - take the bird and run - leaving no trace but for a circle of feathers. Owls in our parts are after the young ones - but I have observed the surgical treatment to the head and neck. So I would think the goats are safe, given there's easier prey. As KSal mentions - your goats can run, butt and holler, so it's likely a smaller varmit more interested in your fowl.


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## KnowOneSpecial (Sep 12, 2010)

I use black oil sunflower seeds to catch my raccoons. Works every time.


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## Doug Hodges (Jul 22, 2013)

I've had geese live through attacks. I had a couple with bloody heads but evidentially the predator was fought off. Now I have 9 full grown geese.


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