$*%& Raccoons

That is what the raccoon must be thinking, and that's what we'll need to do.............although Roger D. is ready to get rid of all of them, because THIS IS JUST TOO HARD.  We got a call from Lori Birt this morning at 3:30 am - another massacre was occuring in the barnyard.  We threw on our clothes and rushed out.  Barnyard appears to be calm, BUT the coop - OUR SAFE COOP was a mess.  Two dead chickens, and a raccoon STILL IN THE PEN.  Roger went back in the house for his shotgun, and I tried to keep the devil in my sights with the flashlight.  I heard a BANG, like wood on wood, and the raccoon had escaped, headed south across the back patio.  We searched and searched the pen to see where he could have gotten in, but couldn't see anything.  Could he have climbed up on the upside down 6 gallon bucket, and opened the nesting door?  We are stymied.  We'll need to check it out better in the light of day.  I set a heavy weight on the nesting door and moved the bucket.  Hopefully he will stay gone for the night, but I'm sure none of us will be getting any more sleep (including our poor neighbors).  We are down to 11 chickens now.  5 in the barnyard and 6 in the coop.  We have lost 13 chickens in the past 8 days.  NOT GOOD.