Official BYC Poll: The Worst Predator

[MrsBachbach]

Just wanted to put my two cents in about black vultures: they absolutely can and will stalk and kill live, full grown chickens. I've lost more chickens to black vultures than anything else in the year we've now lived on our farm.

I was stumped about what killed the first few chickens I lost-- then I caught a black vulture in the act. It had one of my Marans hens pinned down and was ripping her neck feathers out. It flew off as soon as I went outside. (She survived, thankfully. I must've caught the vulture seconds after it caught her.)

Black vultures will stalk my free ranging flock even in the height of deer roadkill season. They're aggressive and persistent, and so far the only way I've found to effectively deal with them is a very loud shotgun and two smart, watchful roosters. (No, I don't kill black vultures, but sure do make as much noise as I can.) I've tried other stuff--fake owls, hanging CDs, etc-- and nothing else has worked.

So to those who say black vultures won't kill live prey: come on down to NC and I'll prove you wrong.

That's interesting. Never would have thought of them.

 

[traceyj]

Well touch wood not lost any yet but this chap has been making a real nuisance of himself this week, popping by broad daylight to forage for berries etc. About 400lb my neighbour recons- better not supplement his diet with chicken!

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Well touch wood not lost any yet but this chap has been making a real nuisance of himself this week, popping by broad daylight to forage for berries etc. About 400lb my neighbour recons- better not supplement his diet with chicken!

Not to worry, I have it on good authority from a very knowledgeable source on this forum (ask him yourself) that Black Bears only eat organic asparagus cooked by renewable energy, and that they never ever eye Christopher Robin's honey pot with evil intent. So tell me, what can go wrong?

 

[JJSS89]

Well it's always a risk but that bear is nowhere near 400 lbs.

More like 140-150.

Like I said, it's still a bear so be careful but a 400 lb black bear looks like a monster

 

[traceyj]

Maybe neighbour trying to mess with me, I'm a Brit here in Canada and they keep telling me moose are everywhere, I've seen one in two years! It was bigger than my son tho and he's 250lbs... That tree is a meter across!

 

[JJSS89]

Yeah adult moose are 600+ lbs usually.

That bear is young, will probably grow to 250 lbs if left unchecked

 

[woodmort]

• traceyj

Hint: I was told once that you can determine how big a bear is by comparing its head to its body. The smaller the bear's head looks the bigger the bear. If that is the case the one in your picture as well as the one in mine is a cub.

 

[traceyj]

Thanks woodmort, he's been mercifully absent for a couple of days so hopefully he's moved on.

 

[woodmort]

Thanks woodmort, he's been mercifully absent for a couple of days so hopefully he's moved on.

The young ones do a lot of moving around this time of year looking for a territory and fattening up for winter. Ours hasn't made an appearance in the passed month or so either although he's been spotted by the neighbors a half mile or so up the road. In this area they usually don't den up until mid to late December.

 

[Thebirdwisperr]

To me the worst predators are owls and dogs. We lost 3 to an owl and 6 to a dog.