Anybody ever feel bad when getting rid of a predator?

[Lu King]

Mess with my turkeys and chickens....my husband will mess with you. I've never had to kill a predator, but he has, and he doesn't have a problem with it.

 

[BluegrassSeramas]

That is sad, but you do have to do what you think is necessary to protect your birds. I would drive it waaayyy out somewhere where it wouldn't get into trouble. We have a lot of land around here in KY that you could release an animal without it becoming someone else's problem.


I have rehabbed many wild animals in the past. My Dad is a police officer and they would bring me home all kinds of stuff, and I drug home all kinds of pets. Very Ellie May growing up.

I had one pet Opossum forever. Her name was Blossom the 'Possum. I took her to school and told everyone more than they ever wanted to know about the Virginia Opossum. She had the softest fur (I gave her baths) and I loved her tail!! (I had and still have pet rats) Her hands were so neat, and her ears were paper thin. She was riding on my shoulder once and I started to run and she BIT down on my shoulder when she almost fell off. That hurt, she had a ton of teeth...maybe 50? I looked it up later, lol. She use to sleep in my Mom's lap like a cat when she did her computer work on an old green screen Mac.... She was really neat. I also use to have pet raccoons and a silver fox once. (I had permits) They were really neat, but I dont want wild ones here eating my pets, but hate to kill the things....

 

[jelmer]

don't feel bad rather the predator then your whole flock right?

 

[FaereChicken]

I guess I feel like I'm smarter than the raccoons who broke into the coop, and we should be able to make it predator proof, and not have to trap/kill them. Jury's still out, though, and I'm feeling quite stressed worrying about the hens that I still have...

 

[jadeflower999]

I hate to kill anything, I won't even squish spiders. BUT I'll blast a racoon or anything else in a second if I think it's after my hens. LOL about your daughter & the skunk! When I was 13 we had a racoon in the shed killing chickens, my mom was screaming and my dad was at work, so I grabbed his 357 w/ some hot reloads, climbed in the rafters of the shed and faced off with a nasty coon about 3 feet away eating one of my poor hens. I shot a hole through him and the shed I could see through. Don't mess with a little girl and her chickens!! LOL

 

[briana1975]

My husband doesn't enjoy shooting the coons and possums we keep trapping around the coop. He feels bad if it doesn't die quickly from a bad shot. It only happens once. He does get very tired of digging the hole to bury them though.

 

[antlers]

Wish it was not necessary to kill em,
Wish they would leave my property alone
They dont care about my wishes
I would feel worse if I did not do it and they came back and wiped out the flock.

A necessary evil. Like having to gut a chicken. No one LIKES to do it but we all do because you have to.

 

[chicks4kids]

That happened this spring to us, shooting an opossum at night, and when I went in the morning to dispose of it, yes, it's tummy was moving. Definitely a sad, sad moment. After discussion, the bottom line is that they would grow up to become predators as well. Sad decision to dispose of the babies, but.....

in the end, you'll be ok with it. You don't want to second guess that decision 6 months from now...you know??

 

[ole red]

dont have a problem w/ it at all.

i have a bobcat eating hens left and right, atleast 1 a day.

when i git her, i'll wear a smile.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
To me it wasn't a question of being ok with it or not, it was an after the fact and/or kill thing that made me feel bad. Had I seen them first it would have been different. Thanks for all your comments and views.

Steve