Finally caught the culprit

[Valley quail breeder]

I lost alot of chickens past few days so I decided to set a trap and finally caught it. Can anyone help me determine what this is?

 

[CupOJoe42]

Looks like a weasel to me.

 

[ailurophile23]

Looks like a member of the weasel family - if you are near water, might even be a mink but I have never seen them other than in pictures.

 

[ambrosia]

That my dear is a river otter.... just so you know

 

[howfunkyisurchicken]

It does look like a river otter! We see them on rare occasion here too. I hope you let it go without harm.....its illegal to mess with them in my neck of the woods.

Edited to add:after checking out the pic again, it kind of looks like a mink too. River otters have long tails and are alot bigger than a weasle

 

[DinosRBirds]

I agree. It looks like an otter.

 

[ambrosia]

Mink have more of an ear ...... we have both up here in northern MN and I have even raised a mink from infancy... here's a picture for comparison...

this is a mink....

 

[aprophet]

how large is your trap? it looks like a mink to me

your trap is only 7" X 7" X 24" ?

 

[GreatPyrLover]

Oh wow...I am in Orange Cty NC and didnt realize we had them...he sure is pretty...reminds me of my ferret but I surely dont want it after my birds!!!!! How was it getting your birds, were they free ranging or was he getting in the coop? Just want to make sure my coop is secure enough!!!

 

[woodmort]

I doubt it is a river otter--nose isn't big enough and they really don't prey on birds out of water--they prefer fish and mollusks. I suspect, without a good idea of size, that it is a mink--nose is right and the foot I see isn't webbed. Could also be a summer colored weasel.