After having a fox almost grab one of our hens in the middle of the day and me yelling and chasing it, hubby went to store when he got home and got a .22 rifle. This was years ago. We have lots of predators. Everyone is safe at night as the coops are like Ft. Knox and locked up tight. We had a very large bear come and upend bee hives and wander all over the yard, even to looking in the house windows at night. It was a nuisance bear. We were NOT having it, and one night at 3 AM when it came back yet again, hubby went out and shot it in the dark, and thankfully killed it. We were not going to wait for someone to try 'trapping it' or wonder if it was 'the' bear or not. We have electric fencing around the bees now, but the yard is not level or 'fence-able' and this is a country neighborhood, not a farm or 'acreage'. This bear was a danger for sure. We love our hens, ducks, and goose, and take our responsibilities seriously. We have since had to trap and shoot predators that were trying to get to our flock. It is just necessary sometimes. We have a game cam. We have motion alarms at night, but that is not enough to deter all predators all the time. I highly recommend you have a gun to shoot nuisance predators if it becomes necessary. Also, do NOT 'trap' wild animals and let them go miles away. They only then become someone else's problem, and that is just wrong.
