Another Bobcat

[itsasmallfarm]

sorry about you loses,

but like everyone else said 50 miles is too close. but would love to see how you caught the bobcat, don't have many around here, but we do/have had all 3 wild cats on our farm. (lynx, cougar and bobcat)

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Well I made it about 45 days until another bobcat showed up. He got one hen chicken and one hen guinea fowl before I realized he was around. Set live trap and caught him on the 2nd night. Gave him to a friend of mine who released the cat about 50 miles south of where I live. That is the eighth bobcat I have caught in less than a year. Guess living along a river bottom has its own set of rewards and hazards as far as wildlife and chickens are concerned.

Relocation is illegal without a permit... in addition to being cruel.

If you are gonna trap an animal you should be prepared to dispatch it other legal and humane method would be MORE ideal.

Here they go as far as to hold predator hunts a few times a year to bring down the population of coyotes, foxes and raccoons.

Because getting rid of the wolf out of California and Yellow Stone did WHAT for the environment? Allows other things to breed out of control.

Yes you should NOT open a buffet. That isn't natural and yes animals know when they have found an easy feed source and will visit it again and again until it's depleted. But some E fences can go a LONG way to living in harmony WITH nature. If you ain't eating you should be hunting it IMHO. What are you gonna start blasting eagles and hawks out of the sky too?

You might wanna realize you are in BOBCAT territory and adjust your fences. They are our neighbors too, and I hate rats and other things that they hunt. The circle of life... IS a circle.

Just because the Amish do it doesn't make it OK. Each location has it's own livestock/predation laws... regardless of religion. Get familiar with yours and PLEASE GET EDUCATED ABOUT RELOCATION.

Very sorry for your losses. It is hawks I am battling and have lost birds to. I know and understand the frustration. And I very likely would not want to dispatch bob after bob either. But the Bob cats, mountain lion, bear, raccoon, eagles, hawks, owls, and all the other animals that abound are WHY I choose to live in my location. And when I chose to have chickens... I adjusted their surrounding to provide safety for them. If I trapped... there would be something in it EVERY night. And YES for ME that means locking sheep or goats in over night barns if I keep them. But E fencing is easy, effective, and semi affordable. Nobody has to die.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

As much as you want to not 'harm' a wild animal, that bobcat has proven itself to be a threat and danger to domestic livestock.

And dropping one off in strange territory dominated by another cat not knowing where water is whilst leaving behind the Bob's cubs to fend for their own and likely die or soon come hunting your place too. People just don't understand the truth about what "HUMANE" is.

Maybe even spreading disease... one of my Stew Pidasso neighbors also relocates raccoon... less than 7 miles away. At least when he suspect it's a family he traps the whole lot before hand... and he doesn't have any livestock, so I don't even know why he traps them.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Definitely a very expensive addition. What state you live in?

It (a specific breed guard dog) would not be an acceptable solution for me as my homeowners insurance would be cancelled in a heart beat... even if one of my dogs dispatches a cat! But yes, I have three standard shelter dogs that protect my birds to the best of their ability... And having them DOES help detour issues.

And dogs don't come without challenges of their own to livestock.

 

[Below frigid]

Next time I have to exterminate a bobcat l am making taco's de gato! First time I did not know they were good eating. I did notice the meat looked good. Looked somewhere between pork and veal.

 

[microchick]

Agreed with 100% @EggSighted4Life. Example. My run and coop are surrounded by an electric fence. Last year during the great fox massacre that occurred in our area. I was the only flock owner who didn't loose a bird.

You will not convince me that my hot wire along with our two farm dogs did not keep that fox from unleashing mayhem upon my flock.

As for the Amish reference, trust me, we live in the middle of an Amish community. They ain't all that and a bag of chips when it comes to smart animal husbandry, but they do, even with their pacifistic life style, knows what it will take in order to stave off predators. And it isn't catch and release.

Yes, we have cougar, bobcat, fox, raccoon, possum, and birds of prey in our area. In fact a cougar was killed less than 2 miles from our farm not long after we bought our farm. And yes it was killed during a predator hunt. The purpose of the hunt isn't to eliminate threats but to reduce them. There are a lot of goat and sheep herds around us and nobody can afford to feed the wildlife and their families at the same time from the same livestock. There are still fox playing in the neighbor's pasture and the coyotes are still howling at night. There just aren't as many.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

There are a lot of goat and sheep herds around us and nobody can afford to feed the wildlife and their families at the same time from the same livestock.

I get that... the 3 chicks I lost to the hawk were $9 a pop, not including time and feed vested already. That's cheep compared to other livestock.

Maybe... if the wolf were still hunting the bobs!

taco's de gato!

I'm kinda a texture freak... and not very many meats go down well.

But, count my family in. We like tacos!

 

[microchick]

Unfortunately the bobcats are probably the apex predator here. Not too much to take them out other than hunters. I doubt if coyotes really pose much of a threat to a big puddy tat. We are seeing the occasional cougar, though, so here the bobbies rule for the time being. But you never know what the future brings.

Now the hawks and eagles are another bad o worms. Can't touch them. Really don't want to but I sure love to outsmart them. DH flies RC airplanes. When we see hawks hanging around he breaks out his Cub and launches it. He tries to fly above them. Scares the crap out of them. They don't like anything to fly above them so they take off at warp speed.