Bald Eagle got one of our ducks as she was recuperating from a wounded leg. Trust me when I tell you its very hard to defend your birds against our nation's symbol! We use raptor netting (not the kind they can get tangled in, though) and a really HUGE Cochin rooster.
Biggest problem here is loose dogs trying to rip down our wood fence or dig under it! Thankfully, we have three dogs who raise a hell of a lot of noise when that occurs (on a fairly regular basis, several times a month on average). Two Bassets and a Border Collie - you cannot believe the alarm THEY can make. I go running out with my gun and we begin the stare down. Most dogs will run off when they see a human with a shotgun thankfully. Animal control is nearly useless, given their limited hours and budget, we have ONE officer on our island and they only operate during daylight hours. After that, its the sheriff - they don't even carry leashes. They just shoot the dog. So basically, they'd prefer you do it. Saves on their budget. And drive. There's only two sheriff's officers on duty any shift on the island, one north and one south. *eye roll* Budget woes have hit our island hard.
One dog I literally bumped home with my truck. I knew where that SOB lived. Idiot owners went out of town for a month and left that aggressive dog home in the backyard with friends feeding and watering him. He ate his way through his own fence, then came for ours. He'd already bitten and menaced a few kids in the neighborhood. So I kept the hole in the fence blocked with our pickup until the sheriff showed up. You gotta love a small town - when I called it in (I'm the neighborhood watch co-captain along with hubby so we're KNOWN to dispatch!), the first question they asked was "are you armed, hon?". I said, "Yes, I'll leave it in the truck and step outside my vehicle!" Dispatch laughed and said "no worries, we're sending you another Granger, they know you!"
You don't dare take a walk in our neighborhood without a sidearm the loose dog problem is so bad. We're at the point where we're telling our county commissioners we're not voting for them unless they are finally going to do something about it!
Biggest problem here is loose dogs trying to rip down our wood fence or dig under it! Thankfully, we have three dogs who raise a hell of a lot of noise when that occurs (on a fairly regular basis, several times a month on average). Two Bassets and a Border Collie - you cannot believe the alarm THEY can make. I go running out with my gun and we begin the stare down. Most dogs will run off when they see a human with a shotgun thankfully. Animal control is nearly useless, given their limited hours and budget, we have ONE officer on our island and they only operate during daylight hours. After that, its the sheriff - they don't even carry leashes. They just shoot the dog. So basically, they'd prefer you do it. Saves on their budget. And drive. There's only two sheriff's officers on duty any shift on the island, one north and one south. *eye roll* Budget woes have hit our island hard.
One dog I literally bumped home with my truck. I knew where that SOB lived. Idiot owners went out of town for a month and left that aggressive dog home in the backyard with friends feeding and watering him. He ate his way through his own fence, then came for ours. He'd already bitten and menaced a few kids in the neighborhood. So I kept the hole in the fence blocked with our pickup until the sheriff showed up. You gotta love a small town - when I called it in (I'm the neighborhood watch co-captain along with hubby so we're KNOWN to dispatch!), the first question they asked was "are you armed, hon?". I said, "Yes, I'll leave it in the truck and step outside my vehicle!" Dispatch laughed and said "no worries, we're sending you another Granger, they know you!"
You don't dare take a walk in our neighborhood without a sidearm the loose dog problem is so bad. We're at the point where we're telling our county commissioners we're not voting for them unless they are finally going to do something about it!
