RIP EmDee and Zed

[frankenchick]

Our pet-sitter called us Mon morning to let us know that our emu EmDee (2 mo.) was dead and emu Zed (1 mo.) was missing altogether.

We put out poison Mon night when we got home and caught a large male raccoon. Sometime during the day Tues., we also got a female. We knew she had babies, so DH went down to the barn, found them, and finished the job. We had a kennel inside the pen, but I don't think it would've deterred them -- they seemed pretty determined to get the chicks.

EmDee had just one gash on her neck; they must've injured her as she tried to defend Zed. She was much the bigger of the two and was very protective of her little buddy.

Sometimes Nature really sucks.

 

[Lesa]

Oh, I am so sorry for your loss! Are you positive Zed isn't hiding someplace??

 

[frankenchick]

Well, we're as sure as we can be. He's too little to survive on his own.

We've gotten permission to post a sign on the pen they were supposed to have at Fair next week.

 

[chickenzoo]

Oh how horrible..............

 

[farmchick897]

Sorry to hear about your loss. My emus are 3 months old now and I don't lock them up at night anymore (too big), so I hope they are big enough to defend against raccoon, skunks, etc... I have caught over 20 raccoons this past winter and relocated and my neighbor too has caught a lot, so I hope the population is low enough they can forage for food without getting into my stuff.