Chicken killer at large

[wgbusmc]

I want an opinion on whats killing my chickens. I am in an urban setting and have had no problems for a couple of years. I have a small fenced yard and the girls have a coop with a small attached run. I let them free range during the day and lock them up at night. The top of the coop lifts up for easy cleaning and because it has been so hot (Florida) I prop the top open to let them keep cooler.It is propped open enough so they can get out which the usually do and I find them walking around the yard in the morning. A week ago I found one of my girls dead, her head and neck chewed up and her tail end ripped open. I could tell she was chased or dragged there was a trail of feathers from one side of the yard to her body. I set a trap and caught a large possum. Being kind and humane I released it 30 miles from my home. I have kept the trap baited. Being out of cat food I used chicken scraps. The next morning the chicken was gone and the trap was sprung. I then baited it with cat food and the next moring it was sprung again but nothing inside but the can of cat food was moved and flipped over. Next time I tied the can down but nothing had sprung the trap for days. I was gone for a few days and arrived home late last night, checked on the girls and everything seemed fine. I noticed the trap was sprung with nothing inside but because of the rain for the last couple of days the can of cat food was pretty washed away. This morning early my wife was up and checked on the girls. There where feathers every where. I went out and followed the trail of feathers to another one of my girls. She was the same way, head and neck all chewed up and it looked like what ever it was tried to tear open her rear but I think my wife may have scared it off before it could do any more. It has been exactly one week since the first attack. I am going to keep the rest of the flock locked up at night now but I do want to catch what ever is killing my girls. I think I may have a coon that now has a feeding route and my girls are on it, any ideas?

 

[TriciaHowe]

Sounds like a trap smart coon. Possums aren't usually smart enough to not get trapped. Someone could have trapped him before and dropped him by you. Your only choice is to re-enforce your coop, never leave it open at night, and either get a larger trap or sit and wait for coon. Please don't relocate it. You will need to kill this one.