Chicken Nature or Homicidal Hen?

[Clov3r]

Sorry, busy post-holidays Monday--- forgot to update. My husband camped out last night, because we figured the live trap just wasn't going to do it. We did consider making a box trap or using a rat trap, but were going to try the live first. (We have a small one that'll keep a squirrel in, figured it just depended on the size of the furry murderer we're dealing with). He set it again anyway with some meat, and the little turd showed up and went to sniffing around actually pretty shortly after dark. The husband didn't wait for it to go into the trap, he just went ahead and shot it with the pellet gun. Was a little long tail weasel. I haven't seen one of those since living in Mass.

Also found a skunk skulking pointedly around the rabbit pens (where we have 13 three week old bunnies), so it was a 2-in-1 night. We usually try not to disturb the wildlife if it doesn't mess with the livestock (we have all kinds around the property- raccoons, skunks, snakes, coyote that run the fence, owls, kites, and hawks), but I think the husband is momentarily burnt out on sneaky night time predators. My rabbit pens now smell thoroughly like skunk. *Sigh.

 

[aart]

Oy Vey.....skunky rabbits, bummer.

At least you know for sure you don't have Homicidal Hens

Prevention is much easier than becoming the predator yourself.

 

[lazy gardener]

Glad you got the creature.

 

[NysiaAnera]

Oh, I am so glad you got the culprit (and would be culprit)! Sorry about the smell though.

 

[Little Fuzzy]

First I'd get a game camera to see what and who is doing it.

 

[aart]

First I'd get a game camera to see what and who is doing it.

First I'd read the whole thread before replying

 

[bobbi-j]

Glad you got them both! Skunks don't get a second chance here. They are a HUGE carrier of rabies around here.

 

[Clov3r]

Glad you got them both! Skunks don't get a second chance here. They are a HUGE carrier of rabies around here.

Since I work in Animal Services, I tend to rely pretty heavily on clinical signs of rabies before I worry too much about it. What I mean is I guess I've seen enough positive critters that if it looks healthy, I just give it a reasonable amount of respect. And vaccinate my own critters. But they're one of the top 5 carriers in Texas.

We see it the most in skunks, foxes, bats, coyotes, and raccoons.

Even through my place of work, we do trap and release on healthy members of those species. (Skunks and coyotes get the raw end of the deal the most often.) Most raccoons and foxes are re-released, and bats that are actually caught are usually injured or sick, so they'll either go to a rehabber or be euthanized for pain and suffering-- and tested for rabies if a kid or pet was found playing with it.

 

[bobbi-j]

Since I work in Animal Services, I tend to rely pretty heavily on clinical signs of rabies before I worry too much about it. What I mean is I guess I've seen enough positive critters that if it looks healthy, I just give it a reasonable amount of respect. And vaccinate my own critters. But they're one of the top 5 carriers in Texas.

We see it the most in skunks, foxes, bats, coyotes, and raccoons.

Even through my place of work, we do trap and release on healthy members of those species. (Skunks and coyotes get the raw end of the deal the most often.) Most raccoons and foxes are re-released, and bats that are actually caught are usually injured or sick, so they'll either go to a rehabber or be euthanized for pain and suffering-- and tested for rabies if a kid or pet was found playing with it.

Family friends of ours had to go through the rabies series (The kids were in 4th grade, 1st grade and preschool) after a skunk attacked a family of barn kittens and the kids rescued the babies - they were exposed to the blood and saliva on the kittens. They didn't think that was too threatening, but a couple of days later the daughter saw a skunk walking around in circles in a shed. Dad killed it, took it to get tested, and sure enough it was rabid. Then they were told by CDC that they had to test their cats, and had to euthanize all their pets. Yes, I know - vaccination of the animals may have prevented that, but sometimes farm cats are hard to bring in. We can't vaccinate our own animals. And the only vet in the area insisted on a "well animal check" for $50/ per animal - that gets expensive when you're bringing in multiple animals.

My dog and cat are vaccinated. We live on a farm and the dog is pretty territorial. He's killed a couple of raccoons this year and multiple squirrels. He'll take on anything on his turf.

 

[Folly's place]

Expecting a critter to 'act sick' before thinking it might be a rabies carrier is NOT SMART! I'm happy to have wild critters out there, but not in my barn, and if it's around our animals, it's done for. All my dogs, cats, horses, and cattle are vaccinated against rabies, and so am I. Not a nice disease, and nothing to mess with. In Michigan, bats are our major risk species, but many other animals can be positive, so we are careful. Sorry about the rant! Mary