One of the most ruthless ground predators in eastern Oregon in the common Raccoon. This pest ravages and damages untold numbers of upland bird nests and eats every young bird it can catch. Along with other ground varmints like skunks and opossums the raccoon is a major limiting factor in upland bird populations. Around town is intimidates house dogs and cats and eats their food right on the back porch, raids garbage cans and kills the neighborhood chickens in their coops. And if the homeowner has a backyard fish pool raccoons have voracious appetites for exotic fish.
One of the problems in all this is lack of control. The raccoon is still listed on the fur bearers role in Oregon and requires a fur takers license to dispose of legally. The Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife continues to require a fur takers license for hunters to even incidentally take raccoon. Unfortunately there are not enough bona fide coon hunters that chase raccoons with hounds in eastern Oregon to control the raccoon populations. The raccoon populations rise and fall with the whims of nature. When on the rise those populations create havoc with upland bird populations. Where local raccoon populations find access to drainage and canyons that are excellent habitat for pheasants, quail, chukar or partridge the upland hunter will find severe reductions from former years' bird populations. Only the bobcat or feral housecat (cats dumped in the wild by unthinking and uncaring owners) is a worse predator on upland birds.
The answer to this problem is for the ODF&W to rethink their attitude toward the raccoon. The raccoon should be listed with the coyote, opossum and other unregulated varmints.
Good luck on that.
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