A century of Turkey talk 2000-2100.

[holm25]

Sorry to hear that Ralphie. I don't think a coin would dig under your fence but who knows. I didn't think they killed for fun either but one killed 11 of my birds and only ate 2

 

[rjohns39]

Sorry to hear about your birds Ralph. I expect more of a mess with coons, that's what is so surprising on this one. Since this shelter is only one of two without electric fence around the base, I'm off to TSC. ARG!

 

[BantyChooks]

2-1 odds it was a coon...

I lost 14 birds last night...A Neighbor will be losing a dog soon.

Evil beast.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

2-1 odds it was a coon...

I lost 14 birds last night...A Neighbor will be losing a dog soon.

Oh no Ralph, I'm so sorry to hear this

 

[Flashpoint]

There are several relatives in the muskelid family, including raccoons, skunks, weasels, mink, ferrets and the like that will pull birds through the wire. Invest in hardware cloth. Now that it has gotten a meal, it will come back for more. If it is a coon, it will kill for sport too. We keep a live trap on hand when we know they are around.

Just wanted to note that although ferrets do belong to the Mustelid family, there are NO wild ferrets in MN or elsewhere in the states; nor do any feral colonies of ferrets exist. Even the endangered Black Footed Ferret is a distant relative and survives mainly on prairie dogs. Only about a 1000 individuals (wild or wild-born) are known to exist through a captive breeding program (US Fish and Game Service) - and as of Jun 17 2017, 22 zoos have at least one. Although New Zealand has ferret/polecat hybrids, that was a man-made situation that backfired on the promoters and farmers who insisted on introducing ferrets and polecats to take care of their rabbit problem - another animal they introduced.

Most ferrets in the US are domesticated and have been for about 2500 years, proven by both historical research and DNA testing. They were most often used in Europe for hunting rabbits and vermin and were used in the US for catching rats. There are ferrets today that are used by some companies to run conduit wires/cabling in high rise buildings and skyscrapers. There is one ferret that I know of but can't remember his name (and lives in England I believe) that is/was an active union member. lol

Most ferrets in the US are kept as pets or for medical research. Most eat a meat based kibble quite similar to what you would feed your cat or dog. There is a small portion of ferret owners who do feed live or frozen "prey" such as mice or raw meat like chicken. If a ferret gets loose, it is more likely to die within a week or so from either starvation or other predators. They have little if any "hunting instinct".

In Ralphie's case (and I'm so sorry Ralphie that you lost so many ), and according to the Univ of MN, over half the carnivores in MN are mustelids. This includes everything from wolverines, river otters, weasels, skunks, mink, and raccoons. But no ferrets.

 

[memphis]

Oh man Ralph, that sucks.

Thanks for the edu on ferrets Flashpoint. A friend has several. Cute little guys but they can really tear up her house.

 

[R2elk]

I am not that old,,We have entered R2elk's territory with this!!!

Rumor has it that you are older than I am.

 

[R2elk]

First time the dog comes, it gets pellet gun to the butt. Second time? Well, it doesn't go home if we see it a second time.

There are no second chances here.

 

[Flashpoint]

Oh man Ralph, that sucks.

Thanks for the edu on ferrets Flashpoint. A friend has several. Cute little guys but they can really tear up her house.

I have 9 and they have their own room. lol This is SkyeFyre - the baby of the bunch at 4 months old.

 

[holm25]

There are no second chances here.

You got to say it before I did. Our dogs get one chance to clean up their act of they kill something (haven't had it happen though) but our cats don't have a second chance. I actually had to take care of a car that killed some cocoon can take the other day...