I did something nice last nite.

[seedcorn]

Quote:
and adult chickens. You may think you are being nice putting them somewhere else but you are not. They are now going to cause problems for someone else.

Rooster, I feed wild birds, plant field corn for deer, etc. I'm NOT going to feed them or coons. They will get my shotgun if I get to them quick enough. Unless someone wants to volunteer to come get them and take them home for pets.....LOL

 

[rooster-red]

Quote:
My coop is very secure and door is locked at night.
That might have something to do with it.

Never found any evidence of them trying to get in, but thats because they are well fed otherwise.

I'm sure this won't work for all situations, it just has for me for the last 2 years.

 

[seedcorn]

I lock mine up at nights as well. It's just sometimes I get home later after sundown and there might be one. If he gets to a hen, SHE'S LUNCH.

 

[rooster-red]

Quote:
I don't blame you about that at all, it would be the same way here if one gets to my chickens.

The point I was trying to make is that they are opportunistic, and was sharing what has worked here, and that you don't always have to kill every potential preditor.


And I do understand that just like me, you have to do what you have to do to protect your animals, and I'm not here to argue or try to make you feel bad about doing that, not at all.

Just as a side note: I wouldn't have a possum as a pet on a bet.

 

[seedcorn]

no problem, Rooster. you didn't make me feel bad. But people that think by relocating a predator that it's good don't understand wild life. It's a life/death struggle for them. I also want people to know that possums will eat adult chickens.

So I'm all ears (and belly) what can you do w/predators? Relocating is a bad option. I'm not in mood to make them into pets. Only option I know is fence in complete place w/electric fence like a prison, don't like that either.

 

[rooster-red]

Right.
Like I said, you have to do what you have to do.

And understanding wildlife and what motivates them is a key to dealing with them in the best way for the particular situation.

And sometimes there is no choice.

 

[6chix]

All varmits deserve death.

 

[lacyloo]

Quote:
well all animals are varmits really just some arent as varmity as others, but some do need to be "put down"
lets not start another possum debate.

 

[newchickowner]

Possums are also carriers of EPM and infect horses by climbing into their feed buckets and pooping, the the horse injests the poop. My aunt says a good possum is a dead possum.

Parasite
Sarcocystis neurona is the most common cause of equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM) in horses in America. It is a single celled parasite belonging to the group called coccidia (Apicomplexa: Sarcocystidae) with opossums as the definitive hosts and a variety of mammals as aberrant or natural intermediate hosts . Only asexual stages have been identified in the aberrant intermediate hosts, and they are confined to the brain and spinal cord, and any part of the central nervous system (CNS) may be affected. In histologic sections of CNS, individual merozoites are about 3-5 um long and contain a single, centrally located vesicular nucleus. The sarcocysts are microscopic (~700 um long) with a 1-3 um thick sarcocyst wall. The bradyzoites are slender and tiny (~ 5 um long). Sarcocystis neurona sporocysts from opossum faeces are ~ 10 x 8 um in size.

It has the most unusual life cycle for any species of Sarcocystis as unlike other species of Sarcocystis, S. neurona has wide host range for its intermediate hosts. Opossums (Didelphis virginiana, D. albiventris) are its definitive (reservoir) hosts and excrete oocysts and sporocysts (environmentally resistant stage)in their feces. Raccoons, armadillos, sea otters, skunks, cats and possibly other mammals are intermediate hosts. These animals ingest the sporocysts , which after many asexual cycles, lead to the development of sarcocysts (resting stage) in their muscles. Infection of the final host is by the ingestion of the sarcocysts from the muscles of the intermediate hosts. The bradyzoites are released in the intestines of the definitive host. They undergo a sexual cycle and this ultimately result in the production of sporulated oocysts, which are excreted in the feces of the opossum. Horses are considered its aberrant hosts because only schizonts and merozoites (no sarcocysts) have been identified , confined to the brain and spinal cord.


I don't want to debate possums, just wanted to give some info that may not have been known. What you do with your predator problem is completely up to the property owner in my mind.

 

[rooster-red]

I knew ther was some reason I don't eat possum, and there it is.