FL predator ID wanted.

[TheBeardie]

Wow this is a mystery of who done it. Since you live near water and the holes in image look small, could it be a mink? Minks live near water and are known to go inland during winter for food and are great diggers. I realize they routinely kill more than they need and they can be messy wiping out entire flock but have heard on occasion they will kill one if it is small and eat it on spot or take it to den.

You're right it is quite the mystery!
According to this article minks are not common here in Florida and not found at all in Central Florida. Though I don't know how accurate this page is.

https://fltws.org/species-spotlight/2017/11/21/american-mink

 

[roosterhavoc]

It’s not a mink.

 

[roosterhavoc]

So, deterrents don't work, noted. LGD is large gard dog? My grandfathers dog bo tends to stay out at night, he likes to watch for stuff. He wasn't out last night, it's not supposed to be really cold tonight so I'll probably ask to keep him out tonight. I'll make sure to let my dogs too.

This cockerel was probably just over a pound, so I don't think it's a stretch for a racoon(or something) to eat the whole bird.

I searched some more and found a bunch of feathers. I got a few more pictures (out of the 20 I tried to get and post). I definitely need a new phone, the keyboard isn't wanting to work now either.

View attachment 1662228
Possible track. Might also be from my chihuahua.
View attachment 1662231
The feathers on the left look like wing feathers.
View attachment 1662232

View attachment 1662227

This is a (bad) drawing of how everything is positioned. The black lines is the fence, the black rectangle is the coop that didn't get hit, the green square is the Batchelor coop and the hearts are feather locations. Note that whatever it is didn't go through or go over the fence. The fence is about 3-4 foot tall. A standard sized chicken could squeeze though the wire. View attachment 1662233


I'll go do some more looking in a few minutes, maybe I'll find something else.

That looks like a bobcat track.

 

[MROO]

That looks like a bobcat track.

A feral cat can take out a bantam, too. No matter what took your roo, I'm sorry you have to deal with this mess. I have a young Red Pyle OEGB, too, and he's one of my "pets." I'd be devastated to lose my Yukon.

 

[MROO]

Oh - and electricity is your friend! A line of electric wire strung low around the fenceline will zap out a multitude of over-eager diners ... as will a second line run around the perimeter of your coop, either just below or along the upper edge of the roofline - right where a predator will have to get a foothold. Come to think of it, once the power is on, that may prove to be an entertaining place to focus a trail-cam ...

 

[TheBeardie]

A feral cat can take out a bantam, too. No matter what took your roo, I'm sorry you have to deal with this mess. I have a young Red Pyle OEGB, too, and he's one of my "pets." I'd be devastated to lose my Yukon.

Thank you, I'd rather not deal with this either. What's thowing me off is the lack of feathers in and directly around the coop.

A house cat or Bobcat couldn't fit though the welded wire at the bottom and it would be a tight squeeze at the top for house cat. But cats are notorious for squeezing into small places. Let's hope I catch something tonight!

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

It really does not matter what got in, you just need to exclude anything from getting in again.

Good luck

Gary

 

[tomfromsc]

hi sorry for four loss ... I have looked at the pictures of the tracks and they appear to be feline.... canine tracks will have claw mark impression ..cats have retractable claws and they don't show up in tracks , fox, coon, coyote all have claws that will show in the tack

 

[roosterhavoc]

Here’s a gray fox track in the snow taken 2 days ago.

 

[twilightgecko]

sorry for your loss
i do agree that the track appears feline.. you see the fox track above.. a feline track, all toes span out beside each other.. i had to get games cams to work thru some losses.. my losses were due to grey foxes.. they take the bird with them.. and grey foxes are really quite small..
hope you figure this out..