Anybody ever feel bad when getting rid of a predator?

[SurprisingWoman]

I have made my peace with the fact that if I set a trap with some poison there may not be a coon carcass to dispose of in the morning, but a "cute" carcass. It could be a cat or some other seemingly innocent creature.

All I can say is that my yard has a six foot fence surrounding it and if they get in, all bets are off.

It amazes me that this topic has been so long lived.

I guess I am just a cold heartless beast.

Thank goodness for that!

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
It has been long lived because not everybody is a "cold heartless beast" and some don't kill everything because it crawls, fly's, bites, etc etc.

Steve in NC
the OP

 

[SurprisingWoman]

Quote:
It has been long lived because not everybody is a "cold heartless beast" and some don't kill everything because it crawls, fly's, bites, etc etc.

Steve in NC
the OP

I guess I am just glad I don't "kill everything because it crawls, fly's <sic>, bites, etc <sic> etc.

I am discriminating but even as the "Steve in NC the OP" you must have realized that not all responders would fit into your category of not being a "cold heartless grump."

I would match my values against anyone I know, and all I don't.

If you come into my yard, and you are animal, vegetable, or mineral, then you better either be invited or prepared to face the repercussions.

I don't "play" at being kind. There is a line drawn in the sand and if you cross it, all bets are off.

Sorry to carp on your thread "Steve in NC the OP" but my opinion differs from yours. What a concept!~

 

[spook]

LoL, I do feel terrible about killing such "cute" animals. But after you've lost poultry, cats, bird feeders, emptied the garbage can, rolled it acrossed the back yard, prying with back feet, grabbing with front feet, stopping to look up at you and I swear, that raccoon waved and told us not to worry, he was doing fine.

So, when nature overlaps with my life..raccoons entering the chicken coop at daylight, either that is an old bugger or ill and looking for quick easy food...the trap gets set and the .22 is to keep peace. (The neighbor just culled a skunk that was wobbling and falling over...I'd assume Rabies, that being one of the reason daylight invasions are taken seriously)

 

[TennesseeTruly]

Every time I close my eyes I see the piles of feathers that my 8 year old grandson and I found. A fox got our free ranging rooster, Ricky. I haven't been able to sleep since he was killed the other morning. I just bought a trap big enough for that fox.

I swear when I catch it, I'm going to pull the trigger myself. If it was only my nightmares, it would be one thing, but my 8 year old grandson has been waking up in tears every few hours crying for his Ricky.

I won't feel badly this time....not this time.

Laurie

 

[ivan3]

Steve_of_sandspoultry wrote: It has been long lived because not everybody is a "cold heartless beast" and some don't kill everything because it crawls, fly's, bites, etc etc.

Poisoning thousands of dermatophytic, ectoparasitic, arthropods that kill slowly by exsanguination, never raises an eyebrow or becomes an issue. If some furry corner of the phylogenetic map happens to come into focus then cultural prejudice and not reason interferes with accurate and useful info.

Steve, I respect your knowledge of turks a great deal (copy off your posts to save), but if we weren't pragmatic about predation, we'd no longer have a reason to read those posts.

Will stop and boot opossums out of the road if they are in front of the car - feel sorry for those short lived marsupials - if they are on this property they are chicken/turkey eating vermin and are dealt with efficiently.

I think I just fell into a lockdown trap...​

 

[nnbreeder]

I try to keep my pens and runs in as good a shape as can be to avoid confrontation with critters, either wild or tame. A few years back I did thin out skunks though, took an average of three a night for close to two weeks. Didn't enjoy doing it but there were way too many in a small area. The neighbor's trash pits were the attractant. Those for the most part are now gone.

The wild animals are trying to make a living just like we are, sometimes our paths cross. It's our job to make them look some place else for a meal.

 

[edb]

nnbreeder, Very good point, we all know that if we leave a non-game chicken in the open it's a meal to the next meat eater. All animals should have plenty to eat without tearing through a pen to get our animals. At the point coons, foxes, etc. have to chance coming into a humans area to survive it's a sign of over population. We can find people that would love to trap these animals for their fur. I have sold many furs of animals I've trapped over livestock. It's the same as being able to hunt deer in a soybean field here in South Carolina, everyone benefits. While poisons seem extreme, most of us never bat an eye when we see insect and rodent poison. When it comes to livestock, a poison station placed in a coop is no different.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

This is such a thought-provoking question. I think you can feel both bad that you have to do this unpleasant task, but also good that you're protecting your livestock. Increasing amounts of development have caused the populations of some of these predators to grow excessively. You should build your coops as secure as possible, but if you still have problems with predators, you'll have to dispatch them. Or keep adding new chickens to feed them.

But I don't understand the purpose of rehabbing the babies of a predator you dispatch. It makes as much sense as pulling a weed from your garden only to plant its seeds in another part of the yard.

And I don't understand how some people feel bad about killing predatory raccoons & opossums but have no problems stomping on every bug & spider they see and hacking every snake to pieces, not caring if they're pests or beneficial.

 

[huntertima]

Two coons and a skunk... this week. I lost two ducks and an Icelandic hen. I hated to loose any of them, but especially the Icelandic. The first night, I hauled the coon off about 3 miles... needless to say, I caught the same coon two nights later. The next night I caught the skunk. I also found out that a skunk has better reflexes than a 43 year old man and their aim is quite good. He got me in the leg with his spray.

I had to use the .22 on the skunk. One word of advice. If you are shooting a skunk and can position yourself so you can shoot them in the spine, they will not spray the rest of their skunk juice out when you shoot them. You hate to do it, but it goes with the territory.