Maine

I think it's a marten. It looked kinda like a red squirrel and kinda like a mink/marten/weasel. It was browny black so that throws out the weasel (which is white in winter). The baby does not have web feet and has some white on it so I'm thinking it's a marten or a fisher and the fact that it was smallish makes me think marten.
 
At first I thought maybe that baby brown thing ran into the run and the larger brown thing ran in to retrieve it. That could be the case, but the claws on the baby definitely make it look predator-like.

A quick search of marten looks like a good match. It said they kill chickens "for fun", as opposed to eating them. Maybe it will stay clear of the area, since it knows the birds will kill it's young, but it would make me paranoid.

The post I saw also said that an electric wire around the top of the run will deter them, or coiled barbed wire works (and is so pretty :lol:)
 
Looks like a baby possum with it's tail chewed off....the end of the tail looks like it's been bitten? Can't imagine any other animal that brings its young along with it on the hunt, definitely the mink and such do not, do they? Pretty sure any young they have this young are in the den. Opossum, on the other hand, carry all their young in the pouch or on their backs...this one looks like it could have still been in the pouch?
 
My best guess at this point is a marten (based upon the momma that I saw and the fact that the baby feet are not webbed [so not a mink]). My best guess is also that she had to move the nest. The last few days before this happened were really warm and melty and we had puddles everywhere. I'm wondering if her den didn't get flooded and she made the mistake of trying to move the baby(ies) through the chicken run.
 
Looks like a baby possum with it's tail chewed off....the end of the tail looks like it's been bitten? Can't imagine any other animal that brings its young along with it on the hunt, definitely the mink and such do not, do they? Pretty sure any young they have this young are in the den. Opossum, on the other hand, carry all their young in the pouch or on their backs...this one looks like it could have still been in the pouch?
Bee, I found myself wondering if it was possum also... but certainly had no info to give me such a thought.

My best guess at this point is a marten (based upon the momma that I saw and the fact that the baby feet are not webbed [so not a mink]). My best guess is also that she had to move the nest. The last few days before this happened were really warm and melty and we had puddles everywhere. I'm wondering if her den didn't get flooded and she made the mistake of trying to move the baby(ies) through the chicken run.
SCG, I did a google search on marten, and saw that mama gives birth in one den, then moves the 1 - 6 babies one or more times to other dens where she will raise them. Saw some taxidermied Pine martens when we were at Cabella's today. They could do some serious damage in a hen house.
 

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