Ok Florida peeps- got a question about a predator I didn't think we'd ever have a problem with, and I'm not sure how to handle it...At my barn (yes, where we are having the swap tomorrow), we now have OTTERS that come onto the property at the front of the house and go into the pond (don't worry, the swap is being held at the back of the property)...2 days ago, btwn 10am and noon, they blindsided and killed 6 of our resident ducks that were wading or resting in the pond (I'm sorry to say that in the group killed was the beautiful little Khaki Campbell girl I got from Nava at the swap on April 2nd :*(
We are devastated, as the attack was caught on the homeowner's home surveillence camera...they thought it was otters, because the attack happened in the water, and the ducks were dragged partially onto shore...that's when the mini donkey studs we have up there to protect them came running, but weren't able to do anything
Anyways, when I got there later in the afternoon (the homeowner wasn't home at the time, and was stuck at work), I secured the remaining ducks and geese into a large dog holding pen away from the pond, and made sure they weren't injured...at the time, I didn't see any signs of the otters still being there, until they returned later that evening around 9pm...there was one adult (presumable Mom), and 4 good sized pups...cute little buggers, but obviously they can't be there...we tried unsuccessfully to trap them (yes, i know they will tear us up, but I'm a CVT that works emergency, and have handled my share of wildlife, and I was so mad at the time I didn't care...I wanted them GONE...obviously I am able to type, meaning I didn't even come close to catching them because they escaped through the underside of the fence where it doesn't quite touch the ground and they or something appears to have dug under it...to be honest, even if that was fixed, they now know that our property is a "food source" and I'm sure they will be returning again and again...they can actually just go through the wrought iron gates in front of the pond if they wanted to :-/
Has anyone had to deal with otters before? If so, what did you do? Call FWC? Remove / eliminate them yourself? The eliminate part sounds harsh, but I'm not going to lie- it crossed my mind, but honestly I couldn't do it, because I know they are only doing what comes naturally...I just wish they would do it somewhere else
We are devastated, as the attack was caught on the homeowner's home surveillence camera...they thought it was otters, because the attack happened in the water, and the ducks were dragged partially onto shore...that's when the mini donkey studs we have up there to protect them came running, but weren't able to do anything
Anyways, when I got there later in the afternoon (the homeowner wasn't home at the time, and was stuck at work), I secured the remaining ducks and geese into a large dog holding pen away from the pond, and made sure they weren't injured...at the time, I didn't see any signs of the otters still being there, until they returned later that evening around 9pm...there was one adult (presumable Mom), and 4 good sized pups...cute little buggers, but obviously they can't be there...we tried unsuccessfully to trap them (yes, i know they will tear us up, but I'm a CVT that works emergency, and have handled my share of wildlife, and I was so mad at the time I didn't care...I wanted them GONE...obviously I am able to type, meaning I didn't even come close to catching them because they escaped through the underside of the fence where it doesn't quite touch the ground and they or something appears to have dug under it...to be honest, even if that was fixed, they now know that our property is a "food source" and I'm sure they will be returning again and again...they can actually just go through the wrought iron gates in front of the pond if they wanted to :-/
Has anyone had to deal with otters before? If so, what did you do? Call FWC? Remove / eliminate them yourself? The eliminate part sounds harsh, but I'm not going to lie- it crossed my mind, but honestly I couldn't do it, because I know they are only doing what comes naturally...I just wish they would do it somewhere else
