HI folks! I am desperately in need of your help. I've had geese for 3 years and never lost a single one......and now in the span of 5 days I have lost 3 birds (every other day) and its killing me!!!! I might not be able to do anything anyway, but my first step has GOT to be to figure out what in the world is killing them!!! That's where I need your help. Here are the details.
First, they are Toulouse geese, and all were VERY LARGE adults. Its very hard to imagine anything but a coyote or dog being big enough to take one down, but then I have no idea about preditors.
My geese are semi-free range. What I mean is that they are inside my goat pasture, which is about 2 acres and is completely surrounded by a 5 foot tall goat fence (the fence with 3x 3 squares) and the top strand is bobwire. I am pretty sure this isn't a barrier for most predators, but I thought I'd mention it so you'd have all the details of the crime to help me solve it I would think coyotes might have a harder time getting in than anything, but I don't know. I've never lost a goat to a coyote. I have seen coyotes on rare occasions on land near me, but not my place.
Perhaps the biggest clue would be the state of the dead bodies. One was in almost perfect condition except the head and neck was completely gone. The second one was almost the same....head and neck gone, but on this one something had pulled a small about of meat off the back of the bird. Strange place (I thought) to go for meat since there is very little on the back and it left the breasts and legs in tact. The third one had its head and neck gone, but also had a about half of its breast meat torn on AND a small amount of intestines were pulled out and laying beside it (I'm sorry to be so graphic but I don't know which detail will help you all to help me so I'm being thorough. and most of you have probably cleaned bird anyway).
My geese are all fairly wild....they won't let me walk right up to them, nor my goats. Also, they can all fly quite well when startled, and all were killed near a fence but had open area to run/fly. I can't understand how something could sneak up on 3 of them in 5 days! They are literally bigger than a raccoon or opossum, though I don't know if that rules those out. I hear owls near my property though I've never seen any. I most definitely have hawks, but the only hawks I've ever seen are red tail, and once again, they would be smaller than my geese, I think.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you if they were killed at night or in the day. I'm sure that would be a good clue to help you but I just don't know. I didn't find any of them until about 2-3 pm, but that was the first time I was out there on those days. sorry. Strangely, I also have a few ducks that stay right along side my geese, yet no ducks have been killed. I would certainly have expected the smaller ducks to be picked off first.
BTW....the only think I can think of the is different the last few days from the past 3 years is that the goose pond is frozen over. HOWEVER, don't read a lot into that because my pond is VERY small (about 30 x 30 ft) so it probably didn't afford them much safety when it was thawed (then again, even being 10 feet off shore might have saved them?)
Well, I don't know what else to tell you all. I would desperately appreciate any insight you may have into what could be hitting me so hard. If you need any more information to help solve the mystery, just ask. thanks.
Kevin
First, they are Toulouse geese, and all were VERY LARGE adults. Its very hard to imagine anything but a coyote or dog being big enough to take one down, but then I have no idea about preditors.
My geese are semi-free range. What I mean is that they are inside my goat pasture, which is about 2 acres and is completely surrounded by a 5 foot tall goat fence (the fence with 3x 3 squares) and the top strand is bobwire. I am pretty sure this isn't a barrier for most predators, but I thought I'd mention it so you'd have all the details of the crime to help me solve it I would think coyotes might have a harder time getting in than anything, but I don't know. I've never lost a goat to a coyote. I have seen coyotes on rare occasions on land near me, but not my place.
Perhaps the biggest clue would be the state of the dead bodies. One was in almost perfect condition except the head and neck was completely gone. The second one was almost the same....head and neck gone, but on this one something had pulled a small about of meat off the back of the bird. Strange place (I thought) to go for meat since there is very little on the back and it left the breasts and legs in tact. The third one had its head and neck gone, but also had a about half of its breast meat torn on AND a small amount of intestines were pulled out and laying beside it (I'm sorry to be so graphic but I don't know which detail will help you all to help me so I'm being thorough. and most of you have probably cleaned bird anyway).
My geese are all fairly wild....they won't let me walk right up to them, nor my goats. Also, they can all fly quite well when startled, and all were killed near a fence but had open area to run/fly. I can't understand how something could sneak up on 3 of them in 5 days! They are literally bigger than a raccoon or opossum, though I don't know if that rules those out. I hear owls near my property though I've never seen any. I most definitely have hawks, but the only hawks I've ever seen are red tail, and once again, they would be smaller than my geese, I think.
Unfortunately, I cannot tell you if they were killed at night or in the day. I'm sure that would be a good clue to help you but I just don't know. I didn't find any of them until about 2-3 pm, but that was the first time I was out there on those days. sorry. Strangely, I also have a few ducks that stay right along side my geese, yet no ducks have been killed. I would certainly have expected the smaller ducks to be picked off first.
BTW....the only think I can think of the is different the last few days from the past 3 years is that the goose pond is frozen over. HOWEVER, don't read a lot into that because my pond is VERY small (about 30 x 30 ft) so it probably didn't afford them much safety when it was thawed (then again, even being 10 feet off shore might have saved them?)
Well, I don't know what else to tell you all. I would desperately appreciate any insight you may have into what could be hitting me so hard. If you need any more information to help solve the mystery, just ask. thanks.
Kevin
