do raccoons eat pigeons?

Question

my dad raises pigeons, and in the last week, something has been getting into the cage and eating/killing the birds. He set out a trap, with marshmellows under the cage and now there is a racoon trapped in it. i am wondering if the racoon is the bird killer, or if happened to stumble upon the trap coincidentally. i am instructed to kill whatever is in the trap, but i don't want to kill the wrong animal

who ever is killing the birds is biting thier heads off and eating mostly the breast meat. i am thinking it could be a opossom or an owl?

Answer 1

yes---"coons do eat and kill pigeons, I am a pigeon racer and I have had my share of loses, when my birds were killed by a family of "coons over a period--(4) Mom,Dad, and (2) two babies,you should see the slaughterhouse of a pigeon coop when the culprits were caught red-handed one night on a rampage----but no more--- since the only remedy was for "Mr Remington223" to take-of--business.

Answer 2

Yes Raccoons will kill and eat Pigeons, they are preditory animals that are part of the natural food chain.
The Domesticated Cat, weather feral or someones pet is more than likely to be the culprit, the Feline will eat all but the head.
Your father needs to build a better loft to protect his Pigeons from preditors.
A raccoon can chew through some farely tuff wire, the cat will not get through a wire that a Raccoon can, if the cage is of strong wire then I would lean twords the Raccoon.
Anyway one looks at this its a human error not the animal, killing one animal will not keep another preditor from killing the birds.
Ask your father to build a better Pigeon Loft.

Answer 3

The short answer is: Yes. Absolutely, unequivocally, raccoons will kill and eat birds - including pigeons.

Raccoons are omnivorous, meaning they will eat just about anything. In fact, about 27% of a raccoon's diet is made up of vertebrates. The other 73% is plants and insects.

Dr. Samuel I. Zeveloff, professor of zoology at Weber State University and author of the book 'Raccoons: A Natural History' has said that, given their diet, raccoons "...may well be one of the world's most omnivorous animals".

That said, they prefer small animals, insects and vegetation to large, active prey such as birds - simply because birds and large prey are harder to catch.

However, birds in a cage or coup are much easier to catch and as such may wind up being a repeat stop for coons (who also develop a preference for certain food items over others).

Answer 4

Do Owls Eat Raccoons

Answer 5

Raccoons eat fish and certain natural things they find outside. If you want to know what they eat then do a websearch. But if you do catch the right animal try the humane approch and set him or her loose in an area away from your house. That way you he or she will be free and well away from you and there probably won't be any regret of killing him or her.

A friend of mine in L.A. who owns pigeons lost a couple young ones to a rat attack. She simply moved the loft over to keep the rat from coming back in although I did suggest she should get something to fill up the hole that the rat left.

Answer 6

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
do raccoons eat pigeons?
my dad raises pigeons, and in the last week, something has been getting into the cage and eating/killing the birds. He set out a trap, with marshmellows under the cage and now there is a racoon trapped in it. i am wondering if the racoon is the bird killer, or if happened to stumble upon the trap...

Answer 7

Raccoons will eat anything, and they're ruthless when it comes to food. They will even attack things as large as ducks and great white herons. I've seen it, and it's not pretty.
Eating the tasty parts and leaving the rest behind is pretty typical of raccoons. Opossums mostly prefer insects and things that are already dead for their meat. Owls eat their food whole.
The raccoon is almost certainly your culprit. But please consider relocating rather than killing it!

Answer 8

turn the coon loose. It hasn't been killing your pigeons. There is no proof that the coon killed the pigeons. All coons like sweets and going after marshmallows is there thing and any other edible food. You would capture one if you put dogfood in the cage. I have raised raccoons, and i have chickens, the only thing they have ever done is eat the eggs. Do not kill the coon unless you catch it red handed with pigeon right now marsmallows is no proof for murder.

Answer 9

If it is the raccoon he was more going for eggs than birds ... 'coons do not normally hunt large live prey like that and certainly would probably not eat the bird even if it killed it. I would be willing to bet it is a feral cat .... and they seldom like marshmallows.

Answer 10

Yes sadly they do I raise pigeons and have had 3 killed by racoons so please make shur those birds are safe and If I where you I would get someone to remove those stupid racoons.

I removed most of the racoons around me and there's less around now excpt 3 left but Im going to get them.