So a while back, some of you may recall I made a thread about a mysterious predator killing 2 of my ducks. Done early morning, no trace of a body except a puff of feathers and some wings and a foot. Was getting worried we had a fox or something, but then... nothing. Life has pretty much gone back to normal. We got a camera even but nothing has shown on it other than normal wildlife I know we have.
Yesterday, I got home from my horseback riding lesson (and early too because a of a lightning storm--and I'm thanking God it did end early now) and we saw two neighborhood dogs going crazy over something beside our house. They are both actually pretty sweet, but sadly their owners will abuse them and they get out a lot. Turns out, my muscovy hen Aspen had flown into our front yard (I do my best to keep her out of the front) and the dogs had gotten to her. I'm amazed that she made it out with only a couple of scrapes on her feet and a few missing feathers. She's doing fine now but man it was a scare.
Anyways, sorry for the long story, but my mom had a revelation as I was treating Aspen's feet last night. What if it were the dogs that got out? So let me give a quick explanation: we live in a neighborhood and our house backs up to an open drainage/ditch area that my ducks live in. I've seen these dogs out there before (and they have chased the ducks, just never got one). I'm trying to recall now if we ever thought of the dogs back when we had our predator problem, but I'm now pretty convinced it was them who killed my two a few weeks ago. It would match up perfectly: it explains why only 2 were killed, since something like a fox would definitely come back more consistently, it explains how the bodies were carried off (one is a pit bull and the other a pit mix), and I can see how the ducks might have been surprised by them. Aspen is a very quick bird, and she flies really well, and yet she managed to get caught off guard by the dogs yesterday. (she made it behind our garbage bins luckily)
My verryy long post is this: is it plausible that the dogs are the answer of who killed my two ducks a few weeks ago? I don't see why not, but I'd like to ask around! I like to learn more about these situations to be better prepared for my flock.
Yesterday, I got home from my horseback riding lesson (and early too because a of a lightning storm--and I'm thanking God it did end early now) and we saw two neighborhood dogs going crazy over something beside our house. They are both actually pretty sweet, but sadly their owners will abuse them and they get out a lot. Turns out, my muscovy hen Aspen had flown into our front yard (I do my best to keep her out of the front) and the dogs had gotten to her. I'm amazed that she made it out with only a couple of scrapes on her feet and a few missing feathers. She's doing fine now but man it was a scare.
Anyways, sorry for the long story, but my mom had a revelation as I was treating Aspen's feet last night. What if it were the dogs that got out? So let me give a quick explanation: we live in a neighborhood and our house backs up to an open drainage/ditch area that my ducks live in. I've seen these dogs out there before (and they have chased the ducks, just never got one). I'm trying to recall now if we ever thought of the dogs back when we had our predator problem, but I'm now pretty convinced it was them who killed my two a few weeks ago. It would match up perfectly: it explains why only 2 were killed, since something like a fox would definitely come back more consistently, it explains how the bodies were carried off (one is a pit bull and the other a pit mix), and I can see how the ducks might have been surprised by them. Aspen is a very quick bird, and she flies really well, and yet she managed to get caught off guard by the dogs yesterday. (she made it behind our garbage bins luckily)
My verryy long post is this: is it plausible that the dogs are the answer of who killed my two ducks a few weeks ago? I don't see why not, but I'd like to ask around! I like to learn more about these situations to be better prepared for my flock.