I just found all 26 of my ducks headless!?!?

[CindyinSD]

No I will live trap them and relocate

Don't do that. You just move the plague to another location to kill other people's livestock. Maybe someone else already did that to you and now your ducks are dead. I would be angry if someone did that to me. People live out in the country too, even WAY out in the country, even if you don't happen to drive by and see their houses.

 

[aart]

Don't do that.

Ditto Dat....many reason not to relocate, if you trap you should kill.

 

[hayley3]

I'm confused, are we relocating skunks, who are being blamed for killing ducks and leaving them headless?

 

[GinGia]

I know alot of folks on here are saying a coon or weasel but i've seen possums do this to not only chicks but kittens as well.

 

[Jesshunt11]

I had a racoon eat the heads off of my chickens before it happened at night tho walked right in their barn and had a feast not one left alive

 

[aart]

I'm confused, are we relocating skunks, who are being blamed for killing ducks and leaving them headless?

Yes, you got it...hard to pick all that up amongst the chatter, eh?

 

[hayley3]

I know alot of folks on here are saying a coon or weasel but i've seen possums do this to not only chicks but kittens as well.

Possums can catch chicks or kittens but not grown ducks unless they are locked in together.

 

[hayley3]

Yes, you got it...hard to pick all that up amongst the chatter, eh?

Eating heads is not typical of a skunk. I have never had issues with skunks ever but then my coop is locked at night.

 

[sylviethecochin]

Why the Hell would they just eat the heads??

Because no matter what some people will tell you, predators 1.) Enjoy the hunt 2.) Love to kill 3.) Don't particularly care about eating everything they kill.

Whoever says that animals kill only to eat has obviously never watched a barn cat set loose in a grain bin.

 

[cmom]

Folks please remember there is a difference between dispatching a predator and "relocating" one, almost always illegally and inhumanely.

If you are going to trap an animal... dispose of it properly. Yes, I DON'T believe killing all the predators is an appropriate choice... securing your pens and coops is ALWAYS the best FIRST step. Using layers of protection. More predators will move in behind the dead or relocated one... something will ALWAYS be there to take it's place before long. I practice security over dispatching and face most all predators here... but relocating is (almost) NEVER acceptable. I LOVE the wildlife that abounds in the Pacific North West and I LOVE living here. But sometimes dispatching is 100% the correct choice.

I agree. Please anyone, if you catch a predator, ask the landowners permission before releasing. We are on a dead end road and people have released their catches around here. Often times when the predators are released they become someone else's problem.