Attack 1: 1.5 weeks ago, suspect did not make it into the run; rooster had feathers pulled from his chest, neck and under his left wing; all feathers were outside the coop, perp reached in through the wire
Attack 2: 2 nights ago, suspect entered coop by moving a 4x4 locust post and dug a "tunnel" about the diameter of a 2 liter pop bottle under the buried wire into the run; killed rooster and dragged rooster out of coop through a different hole (also dug under the wire); the body of the rooster was never recovered, the only evidence of murder were some feathers
Attack 3: last night, two of the hens roosted in a tree too high for us to get them with a ladder; hen one was killed approximately 200 ft from her roosting spot in the middle of our concrete driveway, she obviously made a run for it and made it that far; her body was taken leaving only feathers; hen two was rescued as she was chased through our yard at full speed by a dark-colored suspect approximately the size of a large cat (hen 1 was already dead and gone at this point, suggesting the possibility of multiple suspects); suspect fled on foot into the woods; speed seemed too fast for a racoon or possom but we don't think it is possible for a fox to flush two hens out of a tree at 25 ft of height; suspect ignored a havahart trap with sardine bait placed at the point of previous coop breech.
All attacks took place between 4 and 6 am. The only attack we heard was the first, which woke us up because the roo was fighting the perp. We knew the attack was happening this morning because DH heard the chickens after he woke up for his alarm at 5:45. I was outside within minutes and that's when I rescued hen 2 as she was chased through the yard.
So, my question for you is, what is our perp? It takes the bodies, chases the chickens down on foot at a speed as fast as full chicken speed, ignores sardines, and only kills one chicken at a time (only took the roo the night it got away with it in the coop, and only got one last night because we came to the rescue).
Any ideas?
Attack 2: 2 nights ago, suspect entered coop by moving a 4x4 locust post and dug a "tunnel" about the diameter of a 2 liter pop bottle under the buried wire into the run; killed rooster and dragged rooster out of coop through a different hole (also dug under the wire); the body of the rooster was never recovered, the only evidence of murder were some feathers
Attack 3: last night, two of the hens roosted in a tree too high for us to get them with a ladder; hen one was killed approximately 200 ft from her roosting spot in the middle of our concrete driveway, she obviously made a run for it and made it that far; her body was taken leaving only feathers; hen two was rescued as she was chased through our yard at full speed by a dark-colored suspect approximately the size of a large cat (hen 1 was already dead and gone at this point, suggesting the possibility of multiple suspects); suspect fled on foot into the woods; speed seemed too fast for a racoon or possom but we don't think it is possible for a fox to flush two hens out of a tree at 25 ft of height; suspect ignored a havahart trap with sardine bait placed at the point of previous coop breech.
All attacks took place between 4 and 6 am. The only attack we heard was the first, which woke us up because the roo was fighting the perp. We knew the attack was happening this morning because DH heard the chickens after he woke up for his alarm at 5:45. I was outside within minutes and that's when I rescued hen 2 as she was chased through the yard.
So, my question for you is, what is our perp? It takes the bodies, chases the chickens down on foot at a speed as fast as full chicken speed, ignores sardines, and only kills one chicken at a time (only took the roo the night it got away with it in the coop, and only got one last night because we came to the rescue).
Any ideas?
