Predator ID no pictures here!

[MysteryChicken]

A cat will kill by biting the necks of their prey, usually suffocates it, or by puncturing the jugular vein. Depending on how big the bird is, a cat will give up on trying to drag a big bird away, but will carry off a small bird.

 

[quackiemama]

So what does a fox kill typically look like? It must have been interrupted? No other injury beyond a fatal neck puncture.

I Lost my best layer the other day. It was very overcast and rather dark out midday. I must have just missed the kill by an hour or two as she was still warm .
She had only one large puncture wound on her neck about diameter of a #2 pencil. The wound was right over an artery on the lower side of her neck. Very few feathers at the kill site and only a small amount of blood. I thought she could have been drug there but saw little evidence of it in the surrounding brush. She was in a shallow gully but not far from the open area where they graze for bugs and stuff.

I keep my birdies penned up at night. Basically I let them out an hour or two after dawn and herd the Guineas and ducks up about an hour before dark or dusk.
The Guineas do a good job of watching over everyone. They share a coop with a partition down the middle ducks on one side “Goonies” on the other. I do think my Goonie Birds help and will always have some around.

I thought Fox?? Seems likely. I know I’ve got coon, weasel, mink hawks and occasional eagle around. I’ve had several rather bloody massacres with the Guinea and 3 ducks earlier but few if any are ever eaten, just killed. Not unlike a weasel or mink.

I’m pissed of course but not going on a blood letting of critters. I moved here for the wildlife, all of them, the good, the bad and the not so nice lol. I foolishly went after the coons and feel I made a huge mistake. I’ve killed & hunted enough and don’t want to kill anything anymore (unless it’s absolutely necessary).

Regrettably I am setting up live traps on several animal runs I believe to be fox judging from experience and urine smell. If I catch any adult Fox or Racoon I will attempt to cover the trap and relocate them 15 miles or more away. If they don’t cooperate I’m afraid they may have to be euthanized. Frankly I hope the traps are empty

Hey neighbor I am not very far from you at all. We go to several of the wineries in Purcellville! I am sorry to hear about your bird and I hope you catch whatever it was that killed it. Keep us updated

 

[donkeydew2farms]

are you sure it wasn't an owl I lost a duck to one ate its neck worked it way down to the breast. I even saw the culprit and they will hunt during the day especially if the weather is bad.

 

[Newfowler1]

In reply to several posts
I know the relocation bit. I'd rather not kill a Fox or Coon but if they get in my live trap I probably won't have any choice but to use a 22. There are plenty of places not far from me w/o any livestock. But we know how difficult it is to move and transport a loaded trap.

I have 4 cats but they have all been around the birds and we're inside and accounted for.

The single hole, lack of feathers etc just baffles me. I thought it could have been an owl or other flying predator due to the nature of the wound. It's really hard to say. Game cameras are going back up tomorrow. I won't let anyone out w/o my guard cat or a close eye out back.

I need an enclosed run for my remaining 7 ducks and 6 guinea. Time and monew are short in supply.
I missed an opportunity on a greenhouse frame. It would have been ideal I think covered in wire.

The more research I've done the more i think this is a damn weasel or mink. They are very difficult to trap especially wI think my pushy cats running around.

 

[DuckyDonna]

Yes, do you live around any hunters that could have mistaken the bird for some animal? Or some neighbors tired of your noisy birdies? Because I find it hard to understand why the “fox” wouldn’t just drag it off and eat it. And normally, in my experience, foxes will destroy the the whole flock and eat their heads. You wouldn’t find the whole body if it was a fox, or even a body at all.

That's exactly what I was thinking too. Why wouldn't whatever killed it eat it?

 

[aart]

But we know how difficult it is to move and transport a loaded trap.

Not the point.

Why wouldn't whatever killed it eat it?

It was probably interrupted.

 

[DuckyDonna]

In reply to several posts
I know the relocation bit. I'd rather not kill a Fox or Coon but if they get in my live trap I probably won't have any choice but to use a 22. There are plenty of places not far from me w/o any livestock. But we know how difficult it is to move and transport a loaded trap.

I have 4 cats but they have all been around the birds and we're inside and accounted for.

The single hole, lack of feathers etc just baffles me. I thought it could have been an owl or other flying predator due to the nature of the wound. It's really hard to say. Game cameras are going back up tomorrow. I won't let anyone out w/o my guard cat or a close eye out back.

I need an enclosed run for my remaining 7 ducks and 6 guinea. Time and monew are short in supply.
I missed an opportunity on a greenhouse frame. It would have been ideal I think covered in wire.

The more research I've done the more i think this is a damn weasel or mink. They are very difficult to trap especially wI think my pushy cats running around.

When a falcon got my drake a year ago It wasn't a clean kill like you are describing. There was a bit of a mess, not a clean hole. When I walked upon it the falcon was standing in my run dining on my beautiful Daisy who sacrificed himself for his girls. Ya, I know Daisy isn't a boy's name but it stuck. He was my sweet baby and I'll never forget what happened.

 

[johntfs]

I'm thinking weasel. Here's a video of a stoat (irish weasel) killing a rabbit. Note how it does this:

 

[Newfowler1]

John,
This is exactly what I’ve thought for a while now. I have two wetland areas on both sides of my property. While most of the people whom are natives to the area tell me there are no mink fisher or weasel I know differently. I’ve seen that weasel up on top of the mountain right off the Appalachian Trail. That’s an environment Far from where they are normally found.

I’ve seen weasel or mink I can’t tell at night time several years ago while camping here before the house was built. There’s no mistaking a weasel when it pops a turd up and down and you can see two tiny little eyes very close to one another. The brutality and the nature of most of the kills here in the past also leads me to believe that this is a weasel or a mink, everything was slaughtered yet very few animals were nibbled on or partially eaten. Almost every bird killed here this past year was killed and not eaten all of the necks and heads were where the majority of the injuries were sustained. I’ve used homemade snares and body traps here to remove groundhogs as well as what I believed to be raccoon.
Only on two occasions where the ducks partially eaten. All of those incidences occurred at night and were very close to the tree wood line within 50-75yards of the wetland and right next to a heavy mature tree line with assorted brush etc.

I have no doubt that several of my Young Guinea were killed by Hawks. Sadly my one legged Ginny pogo what is the last I lost to a hawk. His size and handicap most likely lead to his demise.

I feel like I still have so much to learn. I feel really foolish and naïve for not accounting for the amount of predators in the environment I live. Regardless of what I do right now all I can do to change the situation is to trap are use the game cameras and most importantly build a larger enclosed run where my animals can safely graze run around and have some fun go for a swim and be in a completely predator proof environment. I’m trying to stash away around $1000 for Electrified poultry net fence and some building materials to build a robust and completely predator proof enclosure. That’s not easy to do for a thousand bucks.

I would like to build a good solid completely wired in enclosure approximately 20 x 20 or 12 x 25 etc. then move my oversized duck/guinea tractor at the opposite end. It’s my hope is that an enclosure that size with secure 55sqft coop at the enclosure could be suitable for full time living should I need to leave town for a few days. This way so only need worry about having someone come and monitor the food and water.

While my community is still somewhat rural, The overwhelming majority of the people that live here are commuter based or transient people working in Washington DC. Very few people in my area have livestock or know how to care for them. I am transient myself frankly. Well I know very little about livestock myself I have not had the opportunity to really meet and engage the few people in the community that are familiar with livestock birds etc. for lack of a better term my friends call the area I live in Yuppieville, I don’t care for that but honestly they aren’t too far off. . Back home it would’ve been very easy to find a young person from 4H or from a neighboring farm to come over and take care of my animals while I leave town. It’s quite a different demographic here in Purcellville Virginia. I love the place and on Back home it would’ve been very easy to find a young person from 4H or from a neighboring farm to come over and take care of my animals while I leave town. It’s quite a different demographic here in Purcellville Virginia. I love the place and nonetheless, It wasn’t like this when I lived here 25 years ago

 

[Newfowler1]

Holy cow that was a long post I’m using talk to text, clearly I am lonely and Babble on way too much lol