CindyinSD
All will be well, and that will be well is well.
The most geese do (and it is sometimes enough) is sound the alarm. If there were then trees or rooftops, etc. for your turkeys to fly to, they might escape. The geese probably would not escape since they can’t fly.
You need to try the police, I think. Bring along any and all information you can provide them—things such as the dates and circumstances of incidents, pictures of your dead turkeys, pics of the dogs on your property, dates (or approximate dates) you spoke with the neighbors, informing them of the problem... anything you can think of that the police might ask you. If you can have the answers to their anticipated questions on hand, that will likely help.
You might want to consider enclosing your property with electric fencing just in case, no matter how it goes with the police. This is a relatively inexpensive protective barrier for all kinds of predators except aerial. You can likely get by with two strands of a highly visible e-rope or tape as long as dogs, etc. aren’t in full pursuit when they first see it. My dogs, after a few chance encounters, refuse to go anywhere near my equine rope (and it wasn’t even meant for them—it’s to keep the cows in, which is easy except if there’s mating pressure). I have one strand at about hip height. A coyote would walk right under it, but like I said, it’s for the cows.
The recommendations I’ve seen for predator control are one strand around 2-4” above the ground and the second around 10” above ground level. This promotes maximum sniffability. The main annoyance is that you do have to keep vegetation out of it or it won’t hold its charge. Even though most dogs, etc. will only ever touch it once, you always need that first time to be memorable. I use a Premier One solar energizer. A cheaper unit will work. I think the Premier One is worth the money if you have a large perimeter. You want it hot. If you have a power source near the fence line you can use a grid-powered unit (cheaper, more zap).
You need to try the police, I think. Bring along any and all information you can provide them—things such as the dates and circumstances of incidents, pictures of your dead turkeys, pics of the dogs on your property, dates (or approximate dates) you spoke with the neighbors, informing them of the problem... anything you can think of that the police might ask you. If you can have the answers to their anticipated questions on hand, that will likely help.
You might want to consider enclosing your property with electric fencing just in case, no matter how it goes with the police. This is a relatively inexpensive protective barrier for all kinds of predators except aerial. You can likely get by with two strands of a highly visible e-rope or tape as long as dogs, etc. aren’t in full pursuit when they first see it. My dogs, after a few chance encounters, refuse to go anywhere near my equine rope (and it wasn’t even meant for them—it’s to keep the cows in, which is easy except if there’s mating pressure). I have one strand at about hip height. A coyote would walk right under it, but like I said, it’s for the cows.
The recommendations I’ve seen for predator control are one strand around 2-4” above the ground and the second around 10” above ground level. This promotes maximum sniffability. The main annoyance is that you do have to keep vegetation out of it or it won’t hold its charge. Even though most dogs, etc. will only ever touch it once, you always need that first time to be memorable. I use a Premier One solar energizer. A cheaper unit will work. I think the Premier One is worth the money if you have a large perimeter. You want it hot. If you have a power source near the fence line you can use a grid-powered unit (cheaper, more zap).
