Hi 6Littlechickies,
I agree with you, but I means Mother Nature. Chance of both normal coloured birds and white birds being attacked by predators, are ransom, etc a raccoon take a normal-coloured peafowl instead of white peafowl, this is because predator choose the bird being nearest to predator.
I feel very sorry and sad for Minx as she took excellant care of her peafowls and had a sound big good peafowl pen until raccoons came & got Dragon & Pip.
Peafowls are intelligent birds and they learn not be caught by predators, so 2 white birds out of 10 white birds, stay alive to reproduce more white birds.
Have watching the other birds being caught and killed by predators, teach the birds that are alive and watching, not be caught by predators.
Raccoons are intelligent mammals and are social animals, with 4 males lives in their homes, while female raccoons lives with daughters and baby raccoons. A Mother raccoon have 5 babies per year, and when young male raccoons leave their parental homes, they walk very long distances and makes themselves pests by enter people's properties, to eat people"s birds and small animals, fruits, nuts & few plants. Raccoons start breed at @ 8-12 months old.
I think raccoons in Minx's land, are both males and male raccoons are much bigger and are more willing to attack animals & birds than smaller female raccoons.
Minx's land may have between 2 and 4 raccoons. Winter is months when raccoons often make themselves pests by come to eat people's birds & animals, as well as cats and small dogs and eating rubbish from rubbish bins, often have skunks to join them. Numbers of raccoons are at highest on July to Sept, when juveniles outnumber adults.
Only sure way is to get raccoon control persons to remove raccoons out of member"s lands, but if no raccoon control people are available, only option is to set 10 traps to catch 4 raccoons in Minx's land, because being such clever animal, the raccoon avoid the trap, only to walk to other trap & get trapped.
More camouflaged the traps, and have bait being hold by a string to trap, and traps are not rusted and been tested, more likely raccoons get caught.
I think Minx's dad did not tested the traps to see how they works or traps had rusted or Minx's dad did not camouflaged the traps, so raccoons avoided the uncamouflaged traps or Minx's dad did not tied the bait with string before setted the trap, that's why at Minx's land, the raccoon walked onto trap and did not got caught, then walked away.
Beware if raccoon get caught in a trap, it will yell to warn other raccoons to watch out for traps, so best is to sit out in darkness (wear your black or dark-coloured clothes) and wait until you see a raccoon get caught in trap...run run toward it & kill the raccoon with axe or metal bar or shoot with a shotgun.
Owning a gun, means you can remove raccoons yourself.
But raccoons will come back again, dead raccoons are replaced by young male raccoons take over people"s proberties.
June to Sept are months when there are lots of young male raccoons roaming everywhere looking for new homes.
A sound raccoon trap means no rust, been tested to see how it work, use the long dowel or stick, and it must work fast to catch a raccoon.
Rust cause trap to work too slow or not working.
4 traps are better than one trap, because a raccoon see a trap and walk away to avoid the half-camouflaged trap, only to walk into camouflaged traps, so no wonder Minx's dad putted one uncamouflaged trap instead of 4 traps, and caught nothing. So time Minx's dad need to buy more traps.
I hope Minx's dad catch the raccoons.
You are very welcome.
Clinton.
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