I've lost 3 birds the past 3 nights
Of course they were my 3 absolute favorites
My frazzled Cochin, Kickin' Chicken, my special needs Cochin, Mary Belle, and my poor homely Cochin, Frodo (she just took top honors for the foulest fowl). All 3 of them are a little off, and other than being flat I couldn't find anything wrong with them to indicate why they died. My frazzle was looking pretty rough as of late, so he didn't have as many feathers to look through as the girls. I found 2 little vampire bites on his neck. I looked all around the coop for any sign of something digging in. Well, I couldn't find anything. Because it didn't have to dig in. I'd left the window open about an inch. Its covered in hardware cloth, so I've never though anything of leaving it open. A corner of the hardware cloth was pulled back just a tad.. does this sound like the doings of a mink or weasel? We have both in my area, and I live in between a river and a pond-so I have water on both sides of my property. I'm so upset. Somethings also been raiding my koi pond, and I've lost fish I've been keeping for years (but they could've been taken by a number of predators). So, I guess I'll be going out today to go over every crack and crevice in my coop. If I get the coop secure, will this little murderer move along and find something else to eat? Ive got a live trap, but its seen quite a few coons so I don't think its in good enough shape to hold in something as small and wiley as a weasel. Any advice on how to get rid of this little sucker is much appreciated, I don't want to and can't afford to loose anymore birds....
