Pheasant Depredation, unknown cause

[tonini3059]

I went out to take care of the birds this morning and when I got to my pheasant pen I found by yellow golden dead on the bottom of the pen. Upon entering the enclosure he was missing his head with no other marks. I have fencing buried around the pen and I could see no signs of digging. What I think happened was that it was roosted on a branch very close to the netting and an owl came down, grabbed it, bit its head and tried to fly away. Since it could not get the whole bird through the netting just the head had to do. There was feathers around one of the holes in the netting where I believe the head was pulled through. I am not sure though, if it were an owl I think there would be blood on the sides from the talons. Also this is my bachelor pen so I have four other pheasant that would have been roosted lower and easier to grab by a terrestrial mammal. Sorry for the novel, but I wanted to describe the situation as best as possible. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Mahonri]

When a head is severed, I usually think RACCOON!

 

[Florida Chicks]

Sorry for your loss. Sounds like a coon, check for tracks...

 

[Boyd]

I agree, raccoon. if the birds roost close to the edge of their enclosure, those PITA rascals reach in and pull something out.........

I'm having raccoon problems worse than usual this year, is it just me or has there been a population boom? I've only had 5 dumped around here past two weeks, but it has grown exponentially worse

 

[tonini3059]

I find it highly unlikely that it was anything that large. Like i said I buried fencing around the entire perimeter and there was no sign of digging or holes large enough to crawl through. The netting where the bird was killed has no support so I find it unlikely that it could have crawled on top. However you maybe correct in that my father in law heard a noise around 10:30 but didn't see anything. He said it sounded like raccoons fighting so I do not know. I think I may have to set some traps, see if that can do anything.

 

[Judy]

Have you seen this?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=18670

 

[tonini3059]

Thanks, I knew I seen that somewhere but I could not find it. I think that I would have to agree with the majority and say that it was a raccoon. I just did not give the little buggers enough credit for being that crafty and being able to "tight rope walk." I should have know better, but live and learn. Thanks for the help and I will see what I can do about the problem.

 

[Boyd]

 

[tonini3059]

I just wanted to let everyone who may be interested that the predator question has been answered. My mom went out to take care of the pheasants on tuesday morning and stuck in the netting was a Great Horned Owl, directly above the branch that the pheasants roost on. Unfortunately or not depending on your viewpoint, the owl had died in the netting. It, as best as I can fathom, swooped down trying to grab a pheasant, broke through the netting and either strangled itself or broke its neck as a result of its struggles. I feel bad that it died because I really like owls, but I am also glad that I now have on less predator to worry about. Thanks to everyone who wrote in.