Cat access into pole barn

/ Cat access into pole barn #2  
I would imagine coons can go most anywhere a cat can go. But to eliminate non-climbing animals I would go with a post or old ladder against the building where they have to climb up to get to a small access hole/cat door/whatever.
 
/ Cat access into pole barn #4  
we just trap out the other critters....

if the coons like the cat food, then use that to bait the live trap. generally our barn cat is smart enough not to go in the trap... the coon however... not so much...

we have caught about 5 coons inside our pole barn and a few opossum.
 
/ Cat access into pole barn #6  
Good luck on figuring a way to keep 'coons out. Any place a cat can get, so can a raccoon (and probably more places). A friend had trouble with them getting into feed, so he hung a can by a chain from barn rafters, had a screw-on lid; they climbed down, hung by the chain and unscrewed the lid! Smart little buggers. Live trapping is the only way to catch one.
 
/ Cat access into pole barn #7  
Our cats have to jump up about 30" to a platform to gain access to a swinging door in a walkout basement window. Wild animals either can't jump that high or don't think to. It's worked for us for ~ 20 years and several cats.

Steve IA
 
/ Cat access into pole barn #8  
Our cats have to jump up about 30" to a platform to gain access to a swinging door in a walkout basement window. Wild animals either can't jump that high or don't think to. It's worked for us for ~ 20 years and several cats.

Steve IA

I would try Steve's idea. Coons will climb up anything unless you have it covered with metal. A hole up 30" on the side of the barn with a small platform in front as a landing pad for the cats would be great, as long as you have metal on the wall below it so the coons can't climb to it.
 
/ Cat access into pole barn #9  
The cat door which requires the cat to wear a magnetic collar has worked for me with one exception. The coons figured out how to open it with their claw, pulling it outward, which the door design did not prevent. After eliminating the mama coon and her offspring (which she had educated) we have not had any more problems.
 
/ Cat access into pole barn #10  
Get two old 3-pane basement windows and install them in a frame 6-8" apart. Hang a flap in the panes at opposite ends. Cats will be able to get in and out (mine do) but other animals (skunks, squirrels etc.) either don't fit or can't figure it out.
 
/ Cat access into pole barn #11  
Our cats have to jump up about 30" to a platform to gain access to a swinging door in a walkout basement window. Wild animals either can't jump that high or don't think to. It's worked for us for ~ 20 years and several cats.

Steve IA

That's a promising idea. Just put the cat door about 3-4 feet up on a smooth wall with a small platform mounted inside and outside, problem solved. Any cat will learn immediately to jump to the platform where the swinging cat door is, wild critters will generally not do that, even if they could. Besides, coons aren't that great with their vertical leaping ability, although they can climb up just about anything they can get a grip on.
 

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