Donald!!! - Gone without a trace…

[WannaBeHillBilly]

The bird of prey would have left noticeable trace of the attack. Feathers would have been very visible. Most birds of prey will feast at the kill site of a duck as they are large.

Ok, i didn't know that! So i need to put an electric fence on my infinite wish-list…
My wife saw two Coyotes a while ago roaming our property, could they be the culprits?
If yes, we have already considered to arm ourselves, but we both have no experience with weapons. What would be best to defend against Coyotes? A shot-gun with pump-action?

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Ok, i didn't know that! So i need to put an electric fence on my infinite wish-list…
My wife saw two Coyotes a while ago roaming our property, could they be the culprits?
If yes, we have already considered to arm ourselves, but we both have no experience with weapons. What would be best to defend against Coyotes? A shot-gun with pump-action?

I trap first then dispatch with a .22 rifle. Makes a quick clean kill. Trapping makes it a surer thing.

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

Like @A_Fowl_Guy said, it's not a bird of prey. A large or medium sized predator can take a duck without leaving a trace. It was probably a fox, they are very active hunters day and night and cache their food. They will carry off birds before they even worry about killing them.

Fox? - Sounds very likely! What measures to do against foxes? And no, i'm not interested in a life catch, i want that culprit dead!

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Fox? - Sounds very likely! What measures to do against foxes? And no, i'm not interested in a life catch, i want that culprit dead!

I would still live trap and dispatch afterward. You have to make sure that you can legally trap and kill out of season in your state if there is damage to livestock.

 

[chickens really]

Fox or Coyote too...Sad that happened..

 

[WannaBeHillBilly]

I would still live trap and dispatch afterward. You have to make sure that you can legally trap and kill out of season in your state if there is damage to livestock.

Allright, but i won't be in trouble if the fox or coyote has a »tragic accident«?

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

Allright, but i won't be in trouble if the fox or coyote has a »tragic accident«?

Most states have a predator law. Check with your local DNR. I trap year round on my property and that discourages predators.

 

[bluemerle]

Predators exist because they're good at what they do. Wiser to invest in beefing up your security (strong fence w/ no opportunity to jump over or dig under) so you don't suffer any more losses.

 

[N F C]

Sorry to hear about Donald and Nona @WannaBeHillBilly

 

[djstanczak]

I have three dogs that watch out for land predators but they can't really stop hawks. One of the dogs will jump up at a tree if a hawk lands in it. We put all poultry up at night and watch as carefully as we can in the day. The ducks spend so much time with the dogs that they follow the one dog when she trees a squirrel and quack at it while the dog barks. They think their dogs. Looks kind of silly, wonder what the squirrel thinks of being treed by ducks