Help IDing a Predator

Pyxis said:

Nope, I promise it was the raven. I caught him stealing eggs, and I caught him killing all my chicks. Same as before, all gone without a trace, with the exception of one duckling he hadn't quite finished yet. That one he had just eaten the head off of, just like with the bantam Cochin. He also stole eggs out of my trap without setting it off. Since they're so smart, I have no trouble believing it was him that did it. To be clear, I literally caught him in the act of these things. Saw him doing it.

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Yeah, you need to eliminate him ASAP. Ravens are smart and there's a lot of debate about just how smart they are. They would likely tell their friends about where food is, and I could see where 2 or 3 could take out a grown chicken.

Pyxis said:

If anyone was curious, the predator is a raven. Caught him in the act.

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Must have been very hungry or having a difficult time feeding it's young .......

Skunks I'll also rip open a chicken, And leave them. Not sure about pulling the head off.

Sounds kind of like a raccoon I had once. Ripped heads off torn open... Feathers everywhere...
We dispatched it the same night we found our birds dead.
We sat in the coop and waited for it to come until about 1 am.

U

ZoeS95423 said:

Skunks I'll also rip open a chicken, And leave them. Not sure about pulling the head off.

Sounds kind of like a raccoon I had once. Ripped heads off torn open... Feathers everywhere...
We dispatched it the same night we found our birds dead.
We sat in the coop and waited for it to come until about 1 am.

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You may have just solved my mystery! I lost my JG pullet a couple weeks ago, found her underneath the porch, her side torn open and a wing torn off. Though the cause was owner related (my chickens don't respect my mother, therefore they wouldn't follow her to the coop, so her decission was to leave them outside all night), I would love to get this thing out, especially if it's a skunk! How do I remove it without getting sprayed in the process?

catchick247 said:

U
You may have just solved my mystery! I lost my JG pullet a couple weeks ago, found her underneath the porch, her side torn open and a wing torn off. Though the cause was owner related (my chickens don't respect my mother, therefore they wouldn't follow her to the coop, so her decission was to leave them outside all night), I would love to get this thing out, especially if it's a skunk! How do I remove it without getting sprayed in the process?

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Best way to not get sprayed? Shoot the scumbag!!

iwiw60 said:

Best way to not get sprayed? Shoot the scumbag!! 

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Normally I wouldn't have a problem with that except for the fact that I dont own a gun

It will spray when you shoot them...

We had one in a little hav a heart trap. Skunks can't spray if they can't lift their tail.. Which it couldn't.
We shot it directly in the head. We put the barrel right to its head shot it in the brain. It died instantly, but it sprayed. In my back yard. GROSS.

So if you do catch it find out relocating laws.
Borrow a gun, and shoot it far away from your house...

I know a lot of people that drown them. But that is cruel. I'd rather shoot one and smell it than drown one and have it suffer.

ZoeS95423 said:

It will spray when you shoot them...

We had one in a little hav a heart trap. Skunks can't spray if they can't lift their tail.. Which it couldn't.
We shot it directly in the head. We put the barrel right to its head shot it in the brain. It died instantly, but it sprayed. In my back yard. GROSS.

So if you do catch it find out relocating laws.
Borrow a gun, and shoot it far away from your house...

I know a lot of people that drown them. But that is cruel. I'd rather shoot one and smell it than drown one and have it suffer.

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Remember the rule:
S-S-S ....Shoot, Shovel, Shut Up...........

ZoeS95423 said:

It will spray when you shoot them...

We had one in a little hav a heart trap. Skunks can't spray if they can't lift their tail.. Which it couldn't.
We shot it directly in the head. We put the barrel right to its head shot it in the brain. It died instantly, but it sprayed. In my back yard. GROSS.

So if you do catch it find out relocating laws.
Borrow a gun, and shoot it far away from your house...

I know a lot of people that drown them. But that is cruel. I'd rather shoot one and smell it than drown one and have it suffer.

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I use a 12 gauge with a 3 1/2 inch shell # 4 shoot and I haven't been sprayed yet but when I was younger I used a .22 and yes even to the head you will get spray and the nice part is with a 3 1/2 inch shell ya get to wake up the entire neighborhood ........... Oh and ya also feel much better as I use a stagecoach model shoot gun for a descent spread ....


And iwiw60 is correct S.S.S. .................................................................... Or they will return .....................

I have more 12 gauges in my house than I can count. The skunk is the only think we have ever trapped. Everything else we just wait and shoot with either a 22 or a .17, so never thought to use one of the shotguns.
I didnt get sprayed by the skunk but it did spray.

Good thing I don't have a neighborhood to wake up. My closest neighbor is 1/4 mile away.. Can't even see their house! Love it! Plus they're used to gunfire and they also are gun collectors ( I might as well call it that noe...we have enough!!)
So I wouldn't wake anyone up... Or at least they've never complained!