Both Goat just found dead in pen...
- Thread starter Chickerdoodle13
- Start date
I am also very sorry for your loss. My husband and I have three goats that I have become very attached to in the short time that we have had them. I would be beside myself if something should ever happen to them.
Last year I lost a total of 29 chicks in two seperate attacks. I almost gave up on raising chickens at that point. Fortunately, my husband didn't let me.
Last year I lost a total of 29 chicks in two seperate attacks. I almost gave up on raising chickens at that point. Fortunately, my husband didn't let me.
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Oh NO!
Remove all smells of food, including garbage cans, returnables, Horse and chicken grain in the house at night time. Only give grain to the horses out in the feild or corral, this will not allow the bear to assosicate food to the animals.
If you fear another attack, place a high volt electric fence around the barn and chicken house. Do not allow the grass to touch it.
At night turn it on after all animals are inside, make sure the bottom wire is 1 ft off the ground, up 1 more foot and then 2 feet up. So three strands. Any preditor will be nosey enough to touch it and some people will place peanut butter on the wire so the animals will sniff it. Sounds cruel, but its cruel what these animals do to one another for survival.
IF you have any other problems, I would suggest calling a Game Warden to report this, basicly if it becomes a problem bear, it will get him removed quicker. If it is going after domestic animals, it may be old or ill.
Here in the NE we have Mt.Lions, but they are not going to kill 2 adult goats at once and leave one alive. A bear would. Also bear love pig, if you know your in a high bear area, use caution and electric fences.
Good luck, feed your hens and other animals late morning until dusk and lock up every hole. Sorry to hear of your loss. Nature can be cruel to us, but its survival.
If you fear another attack, place a high volt electric fence around the barn and chicken house. Do not allow the grass to touch it.
At night turn it on after all animals are inside, make sure the bottom wire is 1 ft off the ground, up 1 more foot and then 2 feet up. So three strands. Any preditor will be nosey enough to touch it and some people will place peanut butter on the wire so the animals will sniff it. Sounds cruel, but its cruel what these animals do to one another for survival.
IF you have any other problems, I would suggest calling a Game Warden to report this, basicly if it becomes a problem bear, it will get him removed quicker. If it is going after domestic animals, it may be old or ill.
Here in the NE we have Mt.Lions, but they are not going to kill 2 adult goats at once and leave one alive. A bear would. Also bear love pig, if you know your in a high bear area, use caution and electric fences.
Good luck, feed your hens and other animals late morning until dusk and lock up every hole. Sorry to hear of your loss. Nature can be cruel to us, but its survival.
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A 12 guage shotgun with 2 1/2 - 3 inch slugs in a very appropriate weapon for bear defense. US Fish and Wildlife officials carry them for protection against Kodiak brown bears, which are far larger than the largest black bears in New Jersey. And, if they live in a highly residential area there is much less of a chance of a missed slug going too far and hitting someone or something else, as there is with a high powered rifle, whose bullets can travel well over a mile. Additionally, there are other shells available for shotguns which are beneficial for bear deterrents, inlcuding cracker shells and beanbag bullets. That said, a weapon may not be suitable at all if there are laws against killing a bear, even for DLP. I think NJ might have such laws.
Chickerdoodle - I'm so sorry for your loss. Now that you (and your folks) are aware of the predator risk, you need to take the measures to protect your animals. After all, where there is one bear (or mountain lion, coyote, etc) there are bound to be more. New Jersey seems to be an especially troublesome state for black bears and the law does not allow a person's the individual freedom to dispatch such animals.
Have your dad look into running an electric fence around the animal's enclose. They are really not too expensive, and you can use electric wire or tape, since it would be for keeping something out, not in. They will also need a charger/converter and the power source. You can get solar charger/converters that come in one piece and work beautifully. You also don't have to put a drain on your power bill using a solar converter.
Best of luck.
A 12 guage shotgun with 2 1/2 - 3 inch slugs in a very appropriate weapon for bear defense. US Fish and Wildlife officials carry them for protection against Kodiak brown bears, which are far larger than the largest black bears in New Jersey. And, if they live in a highly residential area there is much less of a chance of a missed slug going too far and hitting someone or something else, as there is with a high powered rifle, whose bullets can travel well over a mile. Additionally, there are other shells available for shotguns which are beneficial for bear deterrents, inlcuding cracker shells and beanbag bullets. That said, a weapon may not be suitable at all if there are laws against killing a bear, even for DLP. I think NJ might have such laws.
Chickerdoodle - I'm so sorry for your loss. Now that you (and your folks) are aware of the predator risk, you need to take the measures to protect your animals. After all, where there is one bear (or mountain lion, coyote, etc) there are bound to be more. New Jersey seems to be an especially troublesome state for black bears and the law does not allow a person's the individual freedom to dispatch such animals.
Have your dad look into running an electric fence around the animal's enclose. They are really not too expensive, and you can use electric wire or tape, since it would be for keeping something out, not in. They will also need a charger/converter and the power source. You can get solar charger/converters that come in one piece and work beautifully. You also don't have to put a drain on your power bill using a solar converter.
Best of luck.
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A local preschool just lost their pony to two dogs. So sad!!
A local preschool just lost their pony to two dogs. So sad!!
I am so so sorry for your loss
- Thread starter
- #38
Thanks every for the wonderful ideas.
We haven't had any more bear issues since Monday night. Hopefully this will be it. I did mention to my dad about running some hot wire around the out side of the chicken coops, so we may have to look into that.
All of our feed is kept in bear proof garbage cans and we've never had a problem with that. Horses and goats were always fed outside. The only ones I worry about are the chickens and rabbits because they usually have food out there all the time. We may have to start taking it out at night...but I know night time is when my rabbits usually eat their food.
We don't currently own a shot gun...but if it came to our only option, I could borrow one from a friend. My dad is a detective sergeant and only owns two handguns. Suitable enough for putting down an animal (It's how he put down the one goat that was still alive), but would not work for a bear. However, he does know his stuff when it comes to guns so I will leave that up to him.
I think for now that one pen will be left open unless we get another horse. I don't think my dad wants to get more goats. The house and pen are both very well built though...the pen just needs some repair after what happened. I may even see if I can convince my dad to let me turn the house into a huge chicken coop. It's stays so warm in there in the winter!
Anyways, thanks for all the advice. We are trying to take as many precautions as we can. We've already been in contact with fish and wildlife and the other animals are protected for the most part. I still miss the boys terribly, but we are slowly getting better. It will be hard for a while when we go down to feed :-(
We haven't had any more bear issues since Monday night. Hopefully this will be it. I did mention to my dad about running some hot wire around the out side of the chicken coops, so we may have to look into that.
All of our feed is kept in bear proof garbage cans and we've never had a problem with that. Horses and goats were always fed outside. The only ones I worry about are the chickens and rabbits because they usually have food out there all the time. We may have to start taking it out at night...but I know night time is when my rabbits usually eat their food.
We don't currently own a shot gun...but if it came to our only option, I could borrow one from a friend. My dad is a detective sergeant and only owns two handguns. Suitable enough for putting down an animal (It's how he put down the one goat that was still alive), but would not work for a bear. However, he does know his stuff when it comes to guns so I will leave that up to him.
I think for now that one pen will be left open unless we get another horse. I don't think my dad wants to get more goats. The house and pen are both very well built though...the pen just needs some repair after what happened. I may even see if I can convince my dad to let me turn the house into a huge chicken coop. It's stays so warm in there in the winter!
Anyways, thanks for all the advice. We are trying to take as many precautions as we can. We've already been in contact with fish and wildlife and the other animals are protected for the most part. I still miss the boys terribly, but we are slowly getting better. It will be hard for a while when we go down to feed :-(
I'm so sorry, Chickerdoodle, my heart goes out to you and your family!
This is lengthy, but I wanted to share it with you regarding a article about a Maine bear story that was in the paper.
Goat-killing bear shot dead
By Bill Trotter , Bangor Daily News
Friday, October 24, 2008
FRANKLIN - Around 11 p.m. Wednesday Larry Scott, sitting on the metal roof of a goat shed at the property of his neighbors Becka and Jeff Gagne, heard a rustling in the trees on the far side of the paddock.
He turned on a flashlight and saw what he had been waiting for - a bear that had killed two goats at the Gagnes' small farm in separate incidents over the past few weeks. The bear had returned to the Hooper Road property for the carcass of its most recent victim, which the Gagnes had left out with the hope that it would lure the bear back.
Scott squeezed the trigger of his .30-06-caliber rifle and killed the bear with one shot behind the shoulder.
The bear was a female without cubs, Scott said Thursday. He guessed it was about 5 years old and weighed between 200 and 300 pounds.
"It's a good-sized bear for a female," said Scott, who is an experienced hunter and trapper. "It was a really fat bear."
But whether the bear's death will restore peace and quiet to the Gagnes' farm and to the property of John Roscoe and Jenny Minard in neighboring Sullivan remains to be seen. Roscoe and Minard had one goat killed and another injured by a bear in a similar incident at their Track Road property last week, but it is not clear that the killings were the work of just one animal.
Jeff Gagne said Thursday morning that he was not so happy that the apparent culprit was dead as much as he was relieved about the safety of his animals and his two small children. He said he was not sure why the bear seemed more interested in eating his goats than in finding another food source.
"I'm still grappling with the cause," he said as the dead bear hung upside down from a nearby tree. "I wish I knew what was going on in that bear's mind. It still seems pretty surreal."
Gagne said that now that the bear is dead, he plans to make sure it doesn't go to waste. He and his family plan to eat the meat and preserve the pelt, he said, and to give the paws and bones to a neighbor.
Roscoe said Thursday that he thinks the bear that Scott shot is the same bear that walked into his barn last week and climbed over a wall before it killed one goat and seriously injured another. He said the bear also defecated in his barn, leaving behind material that he and Minard hope can be sent off to a lab to see if the bear's DNA matches that of the one shot in Franklin.
If it matches, Roscoe said, he and Minard will feel better about the safety of their animals, which have been moved temporarily to a neighbor's house to be out of harm's way.
"That will be a huge relief, for sure," he said.
According to Roscoe, he and Minard awoke early Oct. 14 when they heard a commotion in their barn. He went out to investigate, expecting to find a raccoon, but instead saw a bear climb out of the goat pen, first up into the rafters and then up a ladder into the barn loft.
He and Minard called the Maine Warden Service, and when Warden David Simmons showed up about 10 minutes later, it was still in the loft. Simmons drove the bear off by throwing pieces of lumber at it.
Gagne and Roscoe each said that the bear passed up an easy chance to eat grain at their properties and instead opted to go for the goats.
Simmons said Thursday that a female between 200 and 300 pounds is "a good-sized sow."
Adult males can weigh between 250 and 600 pounds with the average weighing in the 250-350-pound range, according to wildlife biologist Craig McLaughlin on IF&W's Web page. Males can reach six feet in length from nose to tail and stand 40 inches at the shoulder. Adult females can weigh between 100 and 400 pounds with the average weighing in the 150-200-pound range. Females can reach five feet in length from nose to tail and stand 30 inches at the shoulder, according to McLaughlin.
Warden Simmons said it was legal to shoot the bear because it was threatening livestock and was on private property.
Simmons said he recently received a complaint from another nearby landowner that a bear had tried unsuccessfully to get into a barn where they kept horses. Because bears are frequently sighted in the area, he said, people should make sure their livestock is kept in protected enclosures at night.
It is uncommon, but not abnormal, for bears to go after such animals for food, according to the warden. He said that bears that live near humans frequently end up finding food at the residences.
"We feed them, whether we know it or not," Simmons said. "When [the bear] learned how easy it was [to go after goats], she was going to keep doing it."
It is not illegal for people to feed bears recreationally, Simmons said, but he strongly discourages it because it inevitably leads to conflicts between the fed bears and humans. People may end up with property damage or dead animals, he said, and when they do the bear frequently ends up dead.
"Let's cross our fingers and hope [that the problem is resolved]," he said. "We'll find out if we get anymore goats killed."
Goat-killing bear shot dead
By Bill Trotter , Bangor Daily News
Friday, October 24, 2008
FRANKLIN - Around 11 p.m. Wednesday Larry Scott, sitting on the metal roof of a goat shed at the property of his neighbors Becka and Jeff Gagne, heard a rustling in the trees on the far side of the paddock.
He turned on a flashlight and saw what he had been waiting for - a bear that had killed two goats at the Gagnes' small farm in separate incidents over the past few weeks. The bear had returned to the Hooper Road property for the carcass of its most recent victim, which the Gagnes had left out with the hope that it would lure the bear back.
Scott squeezed the trigger of his .30-06-caliber rifle and killed the bear with one shot behind the shoulder.
The bear was a female without cubs, Scott said Thursday. He guessed it was about 5 years old and weighed between 200 and 300 pounds.
"It's a good-sized bear for a female," said Scott, who is an experienced hunter and trapper. "It was a really fat bear."
But whether the bear's death will restore peace and quiet to the Gagnes' farm and to the property of John Roscoe and Jenny Minard in neighboring Sullivan remains to be seen. Roscoe and Minard had one goat killed and another injured by a bear in a similar incident at their Track Road property last week, but it is not clear that the killings were the work of just one animal.
Jeff Gagne said Thursday morning that he was not so happy that the apparent culprit was dead as much as he was relieved about the safety of his animals and his two small children. He said he was not sure why the bear seemed more interested in eating his goats than in finding another food source.
"I'm still grappling with the cause," he said as the dead bear hung upside down from a nearby tree. "I wish I knew what was going on in that bear's mind. It still seems pretty surreal."
Gagne said that now that the bear is dead, he plans to make sure it doesn't go to waste. He and his family plan to eat the meat and preserve the pelt, he said, and to give the paws and bones to a neighbor.
Roscoe said Thursday that he thinks the bear that Scott shot is the same bear that walked into his barn last week and climbed over a wall before it killed one goat and seriously injured another. He said the bear also defecated in his barn, leaving behind material that he and Minard hope can be sent off to a lab to see if the bear's DNA matches that of the one shot in Franklin.
If it matches, Roscoe said, he and Minard will feel better about the safety of their animals, which have been moved temporarily to a neighbor's house to be out of harm's way.
"That will be a huge relief, for sure," he said.
According to Roscoe, he and Minard awoke early Oct. 14 when they heard a commotion in their barn. He went out to investigate, expecting to find a raccoon, but instead saw a bear climb out of the goat pen, first up into the rafters and then up a ladder into the barn loft.
He and Minard called the Maine Warden Service, and when Warden David Simmons showed up about 10 minutes later, it was still in the loft. Simmons drove the bear off by throwing pieces of lumber at it.
Gagne and Roscoe each said that the bear passed up an easy chance to eat grain at their properties and instead opted to go for the goats.
Simmons said Thursday that a female between 200 and 300 pounds is "a good-sized sow."
Adult males can weigh between 250 and 600 pounds with the average weighing in the 250-350-pound range, according to wildlife biologist Craig McLaughlin on IF&W's Web page. Males can reach six feet in length from nose to tail and stand 40 inches at the shoulder. Adult females can weigh between 100 and 400 pounds with the average weighing in the 150-200-pound range. Females can reach five feet in length from nose to tail and stand 30 inches at the shoulder, according to McLaughlin.
Warden Simmons said it was legal to shoot the bear because it was threatening livestock and was on private property.
Simmons said he recently received a complaint from another nearby landowner that a bear had tried unsuccessfully to get into a barn where they kept horses. Because bears are frequently sighted in the area, he said, people should make sure their livestock is kept in protected enclosures at night.
It is uncommon, but not abnormal, for bears to go after such animals for food, according to the warden. He said that bears that live near humans frequently end up finding food at the residences.
"We feed them, whether we know it or not," Simmons said. "When [the bear] learned how easy it was [to go after goats], she was going to keep doing it."
It is not illegal for people to feed bears recreationally, Simmons said, but he strongly discourages it because it inevitably leads to conflicts between the fed bears and humans. People may end up with property damage or dead animals, he said, and when they do the bear frequently ends up dead.
"Let's cross our fingers and hope [that the problem is resolved]," he said. "We'll find out if we get anymore goats killed."
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