Do You Have An Opinion On Killing Predators?

[DaphneNL]

I'm not a big fan of poison either, so I also have traps, but it's in no way fun to kill animals in my opinion. I try my best to keep the non-predators safe...

 

[maidenwolfx80]

It is definately not fun to kill, but if I have to keep my animals safe I will not think twice. My birds are more than livestock. They are pets, companions, they give me delicious eggs and the roosters give me delicious meat. I protect them however I can.

 

[Txwingnut]

Animal predators or human predators: you come on my property/home and attack or try to do damage it/you will be stopped using the minimal force necessary to stop... the first time.

 

[thaiturkey]

Lol right. S.S.S. is not just sitting around waiting for something to happen though. I carry a pistol in my waistband everyday all day. I have a rifle and shotgun within reach if the job requires that weapon. It wont be for everyone, depending your situation like you not being able to have a gun, Darn it!! The biggest problem with poison is if one of those animals eats its and dies and another animal carries it in and then your domestic animals finds and eats it. That is my fear of poison. I have cats and dogs and then of course the chickens and turkeys. Alot of people have had luck with poison, I have had luck with S.S.S.

Are the dogs wild? Can you possibly trap them and turn them over? They will breed like wildfire just like the cats I am having to take out. I should would go nuts if I wasnt allowed to carry a weapon to protect myself or my property.

We can have a gun and use it on our own land. We, or strictly speaking my wife, can shoot human intruders as well as rampaging dogs. A carry licence isn't easy to get. I'm not supposed to shoot except to defend my wife at home or on a practice range. However, I'm taking the view that the authorities won't ask too many questions if I pop a dog on our land. The .38 is a noisy beast so we plan to take it via back lanes to some remote land of my wife's and practice there. A couple of practice rounds at home each day might remind neighbours that we mean business now.

The dogs mostly have owners, nominal ones in some cases, but are allowed to roam. They kill other animals when they get into packs. Owners don't care until someone kills their dog. An advantage of poison is that you don't have to sit around hoping to get up close to a dog but I accept your reservations about the stuff being spread. I think that we have done as much poison laying as we need to for the present. The street has few roaming dogs now. Ether more met their end than we know about or owners are keeping them at home.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

We can have a gun and use it on our own land. We, or strictly speaking my wife, can shoot human intruders as well as rampaging dogs. A carry licence isn't easy to get. I'm not supposed to shoot except to defend my wife at home or on a practice range. However, I'm taking the view that the authorities won't ask too many questions if I pop a dog on our land. The .38 is a noisy beast so we plan to take it via back lanes to some remote land of my wife's and practice there. A couple of practice rounds at home each day might remind neighbours that we mean business now.

The dogs mostly have owners, nominal ones in some cases, but are allowed to roam. They kill other animals when they get into packs. Owners don't care until someone kills their dog. An advantage of poison is that you don't have to sit around hoping to get up close to a dog but I accept your reservations about the stuff being spread. I think that we have done as much poison laying as we need to for the present. The street has few roaming dogs now. Ether more met their end than we know about or owners are keeping them at home.

.38 is a good gun. Yes loud for sure. I hope you can in some way let people know you are not letting it happen anymore. That is a shame. I love my animals and would never let them roam. I dont want them to get hurt or hurt anything else for sure. If poison is what you have to use then that is what it takes. You must do something to protect what is yours.

 

[thaiturkey]

.38 is a good gun. Yes loud for sure. I hope you can in some way let people know you are not letting it happen anymore. That is a shame. I love my animals and would never let them roam. I dont want them to get hurt or hurt anything else for sure. If poison is what you have to use then that is what it takes. You must do something to protect what is yours.

Thank you for those words.

Our choice was to either continue to have our animals at risk on our own property or to protect them. The dogs that died did so because they took poison on the boundary where they broke in again. The owners knew that we have lost more chickens and we said that we would take action but they did nothing to control their dogs. It was a difficult decision to make for us but we feel that we did what was right. Now my wife has to put up with indirect, nasty comments and black looks from the owners. However, what we did and the occasional sound of gunfire from our land will, we hope, teach people that we have had enough and will do more if we have to.

My experience with guns is limited to shotguns in England some years ago and my wife has never touched a gun until now. This incident and a rash of burglaries in the area has converted us to the principle of self-protection with weapons. Gun ownership is a serious matter and we want to do more than take pot shots on the land or my wife's jungle property. Yesterday, we joined a gun club in the local Army base where we can rent weapons (and so don't have to illegally carry our own in the suv) and get tuition. We plan to go back tomorrow to get started. The manager there has a rather nice Ruger automatic rifle with telescopic sights for sale. Now that is interesting!

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I love guns, I like shooting and being comfortable with a gun and smart about them is the difference between life and death in a given situation.
You really do have to stand your ground, protecting what is yours is important and some people dont take that seriously so show them. That auto rifle sounds so awesome. you will have to jump on that.

 

[missnu01]

I am more of a try to keep them away but if you catch something in the act of chicken killing then kill it back. I also don't know what a person is allowed to kill or not kill on their property, so to me that says kill what you will and just don't tell.

I am not for guns, but our coop is high, and we are surrounded by trees...so far the only predator I have had any issue with is our cat...but he is our cat, and I can't very well kill him. We just keep him in when the smaller chickens are out. Lol.

But if you have a gun and see an opossum, kill it...same with a raccoon, or weasel, or rats...whatever...just shoot them all.

 

[maidenwolfx80]

I am more of a try to keep them away but if you catch something in the act of chicken killing then kill it back. I also don't know what a person is allowed to kill or not kill on their property, so to me that says kill what you will and just don't tell.

I am not for guns, but our coop is high, and we are surrounded by trees...so far the only predator I have had any issue with is our cat...but he is our cat, and I can't very well kill him. We just keep him in when the smaller chickens are out. Lol.

But if you have a gun and see an opossum, kill it...same with a raccoon, or weasel, or rats...whatever...just shoot them all.

That is were S.S.S. comes in Shoot Shovel Shut-up..
Oh and for cats yes, I have that problem too and before I can let the little ones out to roam a few hours with the big birds I have to do a sweep and make sure the cats are in.Now as much as I love my cats if someone elses cat comes on my property AND is threathening my chickens first shoot it with a air powered pellet gun and if it returns and I feel unsafe I reach around and grab my pistol. I hate to do it,to kill ANY animal that I am not going to eat or use in some way, so having to do this is very last resort.

 

[GatsbysGirl]

SSS has always been my motto. May not be the perfect solution, but I will protect my animals. And humans if need be.