Her head was pulled right off!

[MikeG]

Our mother hen, 'Grey' was decapitated last night. I did some research on the archives and Must Reads, and don't know if the culprit is a raccoon or opossum.

Regrettably, I've been slacking in closing the coop gate at night and something helped themselves to some easy pickins. There was at least 4 birds in there at the time of the attack and only Grey was killed.

There was oodles of feathers and it looked like some from several birds but the survivors seem uninjured. There was no blood and the head/neck was pulled off at its base in the chest cavity. And that was the only injury...and certainly the mechanism of death.

I'm borrowing a friends trap and am just not to sure what to bait it with.

I live within City limits and have seen cats, skunks, raccoons, and opossums.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

 

[turtlebird]

coons LOVE marshmallows
canned cat food for the possum

 

[chicks4kids]

Well if you're willing to dispose of whatever you catch, use cat food....everything comes to cat food.

I have found that one night it'll be a coon, other nights, it'll be the neighbors cats.....just depends on who's hungry and who gets there first. Caught opossums on cat food too. Your scenario sounds like a coon though. Good luck and even if you catch something one night, don't stop trapping, what you catch one night may not be the culprit. But anything lurking around your coop is a predator.....

 

[mychookschick]

I haven't had to trap anything yet but, everyone I have talked to said canned cat food will catch it all!

 

[Liamm_1]

and don't forget to close the coop door. Whatever enjoyed the treat last night, will surely be back for seconds.

 

[La Mike]

Put the chicken it killed in there that's what it was after.

 

[woodmort]

Sounds like the work of a coon, they are incredibly strong and their paws work like human hands.

 

[emarble]

Sounds like the work of the little Masked Bandit and he will come back and try again and again and he is very ingenious about his approach and will try every way he can to have another chicken dinner! Just remember its them or our babies and trapping is good and cat food works on all kinds even foxes BTW

 

[MikeG]

I feel like Sanford & Son. My birds are everywhere. Turkeys are in a tree, four out of the 7 remaining chickens are in different trees. None of them wanted to go in the coop tonite. I finally got the remaining three (the old ladies) into the coop. I battened down the hatches and put the trap out. All I had of the desired list was dog food. I soaked it and put it in there.

And just learned we're under a Tornado Watch until 3am. Great...


Might go out tonite before bed and throw some marshmellows in there-they're less likely to dissolve if we get rain.


Thanks to everybody for all the insight!

 

[aprophet]

http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/nuisance/trappers/index.asp?fips=161

HTH some of these guys will barter for trapping rights during the fur season good luck. I am in Va beach if I were closer I would lend a hand