Major attack - is this a bear?

[WthrLady]

No. A Fisher Cat.
Bat crap crazy animals.
https://www.heraldnews.com/article/20160130/SPORTS/160139705

 

[Weeg]

I might be extra, but wouldn't be a bad idea to put game cameras, or security cameras up by the fence. Just to keep an eye on things. Plus after you put up the fence and hopefully deter the bear, you can put them on your house! May be a good idea, Avery

 

[NatJ]

A Fisher Cat.
Bat crap crazy animals.
https://www.heraldnews.com/article/20160130/SPORTS/160139705

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal)
Member of the weasel family, males up to 8-13 pounds, according to wikipedia.

I would say maybe, except for this:

confirmed it's a bear (or multiple). I followed the trail of feathers into the woods, found various parts of birds and eventually half a guinea. Then I stood in bear scat (cleverly wearing my slippers...). About five feet further in, I saw one or more bears - looked like a cub or two and a mother. Mystery solved!

Following the feather trail and finding a family of bears at the end sounds rather conclusive to me

 

[WthrLady]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisher_(animal)
Member of the weasel family, males up to 8-13 pounds, according to wikipedia.

I would say maybe, except for this:



Following the feather trail and finding a family of bears at the end sounds rather conclusive to me

Ya, except I didn't see that post. SO ya.

 

[battleaxe]

A mountian lion (Cougar) is known to cover their kills with debris. Have any Wolverines?

 

[Rosebud25]

After losing a chicken a day to a fox/foxes when free ranging, we thought we had the problem sorted by only letting them out for 30 minutes before sunset. Between being locked up last night and checking this morning, something visited the coop and tore a big hole in the 1/4" hardware cloth, getting 11 of our 16 birds (4 ISA browns, two bantams, two guineas and our three barred rock hens). We're left with two guineas, a bantam, a barred rock cockerel and one ISA brown hen.

Any idea what could have got through the cloth? Claw marks on the sides in various spots as well and a few black hairs left as evidence. Thinking maybe a raccoon (though didn't think they could get through the cloth) or a bear?View attachment 2343917View attachment 2343918View attachment 2343919View attachment 2343920View attachment 2343921

That is definitely a bear

 

[Wildcatnchickens]

Hi, so sorry for your loss, indeed. Could this be a fisher cat? Did the creature come in through the roof? I have a similar polycarbonate roof and seeing this makes me think I now need to put metal up there. I’m in the Catskills and bears have been a real nuisance. Those scratch marks look like a bear but they sometimes yank things apart. It looks like something slipped through then got caught in the cloth?

 

[NatJ]

Could this be a fisher cat?

The answer is hiding on page 4 of the thread:

confirmed it's a bear (or multiple). I followed the trail of feathers into the woods, found various parts of birds and eventually half a guinea. Then I stood in bear scat (cleverly wearing my slippers...). About five feet further in, I saw one or more bears - looked like a cub or two and a mother. Mystery solved! Decided the best move was to back out, as I didn't really want to stare them down.

 

[Doggirl08]

Wow, how many are left? If it is anything remotely intelligent, it will be back.

 

[IronFeather]

Had a sow that came through my property all year long when she wasn't hibernating; sometimes with cubs, sometimes not. Her sign/claw marks were all around us.One year she left claw marks on the tree above my wolf's house. Didn't bother Moon. We never bothered the bear. She never ever attacked the chickens until one bad year..not much wild food. It was at night and the chickens squawking woke us up. My husband went out with the shotgun loaded with noise makers. They ARE loud. We didn't even know what it was until morning when we saw where she went over the embankment to the dirt road. She really hit the ground running, big claw marks on the road where she hit; wads of bear hair caught in the barbed wire. Actually I felt bad for her. We'd never bothered her before, and I could tell we scared the devil out of her and I'm pretty sure she was hungry, might have even had cubs. I felt worse yet when we didn't see her again for a long time. Enough of the great American novel. Her normal claw marks on the trees were easily 8 inches across. What you're showing doesn't have the width or depth of a bear unless a very, very young cub and this is not the season for one that young. We did have a cougar one year that did something that looked like your damage. My husband went out with a flashlight and a noise maker and when he realized he was looking into the shining eyes of a cougar he said, "I'll just step back inside and see if there's any BBQ sauce to go with that chicken". We did have to replace our flock that year. Friends of ours had a year when a cougar came through their property in Missouri. Pictures of it in the paper; everyone said it was unheard of. This just doesn't look like a bear to me and to be honest cougars have pretty big paws also. If you have a wildlife officer in your area, you should consult him/her. You really need to know what you're dealing with. Are you in danger, kids, pets?