I must live in the 'possom capital of the universe...they found my coop and my birds and took many...beefed up the ground, the soffits and all of that...set traps...within the last 3 weeks I have trapped 7 of the big "rats." I went into the woods and found the killing ground where they carried my birds and ate them...the took an australorp, brown leg horn, wf black spanish, 10 of my MPC EE pullets, 3 silkies...it is war...oh, and they injured Walter my Welsummer roo and he died this morning...I have lived on this ground since 1984 and have always given the wild life respect and space...never even shot a deer in my backyard...but now I am mad...the freaking rabbits destroyed my garden and many of my flowers...what they did not eat, the bugs and the mold got...so I plowed it under and decided to have a few birds...hawks, owls, racoons, snakes, fox, 'possoms, dogs, ferral cats...they are on everyone's menu but mine...I am so tired of having to defend everything from the stupid wildlife...it is an all day sucker protecting them...I just came in from "patrol" and it is midnight...the 7th 'possom is sitting in the trap and I will tend to it in the morning...just ranting away...I am tired and very sad about Walter...a few nights ago he was attacked on the roost by one of the "rats" and had a bite on the back of his neck, featerhs missing and his tail feathers were yanked out...he fought off the predator but was too hurt to recover...he was so pretty and a sweet rooster...took care of his girls and never made a bad move on a human...I need a big roo to take his place and look after the girls...all my youngsters are pullets...and I have 9 older hens who have stopped laying and are molting...they look god awful right now...maybe that was the final blow for Walter...