- Mar 29, 2009
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Greetings, Friends,
We have two ducks, who we consider to be pets just as much as they are (apparently) livestock and prey to a host of critters that want to eat them. Their names are Pepys and M.C. (short for Marie Curie). See the photo below.
Raccoon Attack!
Earlier this year (late January), Pepys was attacked by a raccoon in broad daylight (!) after I stepped inside the house for a while. I heard the ruckus and managed to save Pepys and drive off the raccoon. In the photo, Pepys is the Khaki Campbell in the background. She is, without a doubt, one brave little duck. The raccoon bit her head and neck, but she made a full recovery.
So, in the months since the raccoon attack, we have made sure to supervise the ducks' outside time.
***: Weasel???
While all has been well since the raccoon attack (and we have attempted to rodent-proof both the coop and the run), I ran across a curve-ball today in the form of what I think was a short-tailed weasel (i.e. an ermine).
While wandering about the yard, I passed by our lovely 2 ducks, Pepys and M.C., who were looking curiously at the base of a bush that lines up with the under-area of my back porch deck. My back porch is a simple wooden deck, about a foot off the ground, with about 6" of clearance under the outer timbers/framework. The previous owners tried adding a chickenwire skirt to the porch deck, which has no real purchase below ground level.
This point was driven home as I came upon the object of Pepys and M.C.'s curiousity. I followed their gaze to the area under the porch and saw frenetic activity, about the size of a squirrel.
In short order, however, it became clear that the critter under the porch was a short-tail weasel (ermine), and that it was trying to dig at and pull a recently killed juvenile rabbit under the chickenwire that surounded the base of my porch. I immediately herded the ducks back into their pen, deprived the weasel of its rabbit carcass (I buried it elsewhere), and then set about considering weasel control meastures....
Any thoughts? Recall that Pepys and MC are pets and not just livestock. We want to protect them, so we can continue to allow free range time through most of the day....
We have two ducks, who we consider to be pets just as much as they are (apparently) livestock and prey to a host of critters that want to eat them. Their names are Pepys and M.C. (short for Marie Curie). See the photo below.
Raccoon Attack!
Earlier this year (late January), Pepys was attacked by a raccoon in broad daylight (!) after I stepped inside the house for a while. I heard the ruckus and managed to save Pepys and drive off the raccoon. In the photo, Pepys is the Khaki Campbell in the background. She is, without a doubt, one brave little duck. The raccoon bit her head and neck, but she made a full recovery.
So, in the months since the raccoon attack, we have made sure to supervise the ducks' outside time.
***: Weasel???
While all has been well since the raccoon attack (and we have attempted to rodent-proof both the coop and the run), I ran across a curve-ball today in the form of what I think was a short-tailed weasel (i.e. an ermine).
While wandering about the yard, I passed by our lovely 2 ducks, Pepys and M.C., who were looking curiously at the base of a bush that lines up with the under-area of my back porch deck. My back porch is a simple wooden deck, about a foot off the ground, with about 6" of clearance under the outer timbers/framework. The previous owners tried adding a chickenwire skirt to the porch deck, which has no real purchase below ground level.
This point was driven home as I came upon the object of Pepys and M.C.'s curiousity. I followed their gaze to the area under the porch and saw frenetic activity, about the size of a squirrel.
In short order, however, it became clear that the critter under the porch was a short-tail weasel (ermine), and that it was trying to dig at and pull a recently killed juvenile rabbit under the chickenwire that surounded the base of my porch. I immediately herded the ducks back into their pen, deprived the weasel of its rabbit carcass (I buried it elsewhere), and then set about considering weasel control meastures....
Any thoughts? Recall that Pepys and MC are pets and not just livestock. We want to protect them, so we can continue to allow free range time through most of the day....
