opossum attack got 2 birds. do I need to worry it'll come back?

[gstone]

Well, thank you to everyone who offered sound advice and warning.

I guess I'll just have to get in a killing mood if it comes back and causes more problems.

I wouldn't ever attempt to relocate it, and I'm not excited to kill it - that doesn't mean I have a brilliant no-kill plan or am treating it like a long lost buddy. Jeeze mention that your not keen on killing something and the whole room turns on you.

Jeepers Creepers.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

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Amen to that, brother!

I think most folks on here are not fond at all of having to kill any living creature... BUT, sometimes you just gotta do what you gotta do... mostly I cry afterward.

 

[cafarmgirl]

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No, your not the only one who isn't interested in trapping/killing. When we first moved here the place had been empty for about a month and we had a whole family of possums living under the deck. They moved out when our dogs moved in. I keep my chickens locked in a Fort Knox coop at night and all feed is totally inaccessible to roaming critters. I also have a hot wire around the coop and pasture about 6 inches off the ground. I haven't had a problem in years. The problem with trapping is that they just keep coming, it never ends. Some people aren't bothered by the continual killing, I personally don't like it. To each his own, I don't fault those who can do it. I have no problem taking a shot at a coyote, for some reason it just bothers me to kill a trapped animal.

 

[CMV]

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It's not that, really. It's just that we all have dealt with predators for years and lost birds (usually pretty gruesomely) to them. We know that once predators find an "all-you-can-eat" buffet they will be back to partake of more. People aren't giving you a hard time, just trying to make you understand the gravity of the situation. Once your birds are on the menu, you will be a favorite hang-out until your birds are gone. We don't want to hear from you later this week that the remainder of your flock was wiped out in horrible manner.

So sorry if you felt attacked. That was never our intention. Good luck.

 

[mmaddie's mom]

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Totally agree

 

[ADozenGirlz]

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It's not that, really. It's just that we all have dealt with predators for years and lost birds (usually pretty gruesomely) to them. We know that once predators find an "all-you-can-eat" buffet they will be back to partake of more. People aren't giving you a hard time, just trying to make you understand the gravity of the situation. Once your birds are on the menu, you will be a favorite hang-out until your birds are gone. We don't want to hear from you later this week that the remainder of your flock was wiped out in horrible manner.

So sorry if you felt attacked. That was never our intention. Good luck.

Well said. I share your sentiments. Once they know a KFC franchise has opened in the neighborhood, they're in the drive-thru lane until they get served.

We had a raccoon kill one of our chickens this summer. We saw him in the act at 2am when we were awoken by the clamor. Thinking we'd get "HIM", we set a live trap. Well, we didn't get "HIM" the first night, but we got an opossum and then a smallish raccoon the next night which we knew wasn't "HIM". Five raccoons, one skunk and two opossums later, the predator problem was MUCH worse than we ever imagined. Where there's one, we now know, (and had been warned previously) there are always more. And we were completely unenthusiastic about doing what we knew we had to do after having trapped it. I understand your apprehension completely.

Good luck with whatever you decide to do or not do.