I lost my rooster to a fisher the other night. RIP Dr. Ruckus... He was in a pen set back and away from the chicken coop because the hens were going bald from his attentions and I was giving them a break to feather back in.
It found a weakness I hadn't seen in some overlapping wire and bent welded wire back to get in. Quite a struggle ensued by the state of the waterer, feeder and roost in the pen. It left a nice big pile of scat on top of a cinder block next to where it got in (I assume to mark it's kill). The rooster was a black copper marans, had to be 10-12lbs, a pretty big boy.
Once I saw the dead rooster (was making the rounds at dusk, had not checked on the rooster that AM) I went in the house to get a bag for the carcass- when my roommate and I went back out to collect him we startled the fisher coming back for the rest of it's meal and saw it run out of the chicken run. It was at least 36" long and had a tail at least a foot long, I've seen fisher before and they are common here.
We decided instead to set a large have-a-hart trap with the carcass inside, hoping to catch the fisher. Something did trip the trap last night and continue to pull flesh off the carcass through the side trap, but we didn't catch anything.
It also started to try and dig under the wall of the my more secured run for the hens, but I filled in the areas dug up with large river stones this morning. The girls are not leaving the more secured pen until I'm confident they will not become dinner for the fisher.
I was planning on putting cat food in the trap tonight (the rooster is pretty well stripped and smelly at this point) and trying to get the fisher. I've heard they are pretty hard to catch, is there any point in still trying? I'm not sure what to do if I do catch it, other than call Fish and Game and see if they want it, if not then at least see if we can shoot it.
I'm assuming it's not likely to move on now that it's found a ready source of prey. Two of our neighbors also raise chickens, so I've let them know to secure their animals at night.
Anyone know of any deterrents for fisher? (Scent, light, etc?) Any other advice catching it?
It found a weakness I hadn't seen in some overlapping wire and bent welded wire back to get in. Quite a struggle ensued by the state of the waterer, feeder and roost in the pen. It left a nice big pile of scat on top of a cinder block next to where it got in (I assume to mark it's kill). The rooster was a black copper marans, had to be 10-12lbs, a pretty big boy.
Once I saw the dead rooster (was making the rounds at dusk, had not checked on the rooster that AM) I went in the house to get a bag for the carcass- when my roommate and I went back out to collect him we startled the fisher coming back for the rest of it's meal and saw it run out of the chicken run. It was at least 36" long and had a tail at least a foot long, I've seen fisher before and they are common here.
We decided instead to set a large have-a-hart trap with the carcass inside, hoping to catch the fisher. Something did trip the trap last night and continue to pull flesh off the carcass through the side trap, but we didn't catch anything.
It also started to try and dig under the wall of the my more secured run for the hens, but I filled in the areas dug up with large river stones this morning. The girls are not leaving the more secured pen until I'm confident they will not become dinner for the fisher.
I was planning on putting cat food in the trap tonight (the rooster is pretty well stripped and smelly at this point) and trying to get the fisher. I've heard they are pretty hard to catch, is there any point in still trying? I'm not sure what to do if I do catch it, other than call Fish and Game and see if they want it, if not then at least see if we can shoot it.
I'm assuming it's not likely to move on now that it's found a ready source of prey. Two of our neighbors also raise chickens, so I've let them know to secure their animals at night.
Anyone know of any deterrents for fisher? (Scent, light, etc?) Any other advice catching it?
