Something gnawed at and bent chain link fence last night

[SavageChicken]

I hope these images show up. It appears as though the creature did not make a third attempt overnight. We have neighbors setting off fireworks late into the night, so maybe that has temporarily spooked it. The pics don't show the extent of the bending between, as we did bend them back as best as we could the last two days, but you can see the link deformities where we could not get them back to normal. As you can see in the garden soil, we haven't spotted any tracks to help us figure out what this thing is for certain. According to our city code, we are technically not (legally) allowed to electrocute any fencing here in our suburb. I'll call the county on Monday to see if they can send someone out to inspect our issue and set a larger trap.

 

[SavageChicken]

Just wanted to add a thank you to you guys for all the suggestions and well wishes regarding our situation. Here is a pic of our two little birds that we are trying to protect...

 

[jeria]

I LOVE you coop and run!! You can pick up outside surveillance camera's pretty cheap some places would that be an option to figure out what is attempting to get in?

I'm hoping hardware cloth keeps the coons and foxes away from mine when it is done. I've never heard any coyotes here in the city but have heard they have been spotted here and there in the metro.

 

[jeria]

Cute! Mine looked so funny when they just started getting their feathers. This past week they have started looking pretty. (5weeks on the 4th).

 

[SavageChicken]

Thank you, Jeria. The one in the foreground is "Emily" (red star) - she is the go-getter of the two and she just turned five weeks. The one in the background is "Bella" (buff orpington) - she is seven weeks old now, very docile and more laid-back. I had to introduce Emily to the coop a bit earlier than I really would have liked due to Bella being two weeks older, but the coop is insulated and they snuggle close to one another at night. They are a lot of fun for my daughters (and me), and even my husband is beginning to get a bit attached to them (the guy who never wanted chickens - heh.)

 

[jeria]

Animals have a way of wiggling into one's life and hanging minds. I have a cat that I swore I'd never have another (hate litter boxes, not cats). Had mice that I could not get rid of, she is a year, no mice a sweet little cuddly girl who controls the dogs. She's now my buddy. My chicks are more friendly when I take them outside for a visit. It makes them nervous picking them up out of their brooder and each with their own personality. Well I need to be working on building my coop by 8:00. I'm hoping for you that you figure out what is trying to get to your chicks. I know I will be keeping a close eye on any damage to mine. had coons invade my attic a couple years ago--so paranoid about coons. Hoping my dogs being outside often will help.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

Do you have badgers there? I've had them before, though not where I live now. Almost as bad as a bear when it comes to getting into coops and sheds. Strong and fearsome! Trapping them is also problematic, as I've mostly seen them in pairs or family groups. Even if you do trap one, unless you get there quickly, they'll tear an ordinary trap to scrap metal getting out.

 

[jeria]

Coons are not nice, wonder if that is what is trying to invade through the chain link, they can do more damage than most give them credit for. Coons can also take the bait and escape the live traps. The trappers dealing with my 2 coon families ended up using kill traps.

 

[CapricornFarm]

Do you have badgers there? I've had them before, though not where I live now. Almost as bad as a bear when it comes to getting into coops and sheds. Strong and fearsome! Trapping them is also problematic, as I've mostly seen them in pairs or family groups. Even if you do trap one, unless you get there quickly, they'll tear an ordinary trap to scrap metal getting out.

Yes, pound for pound, badgers are the strongest, meanest critters on the ground in North America. I have never seen a wild one. Their fur is quite valuable too. But i would think they would be more rare to find breaking into coops.

 

[NorthTexasWink]

Not too many years ago in west Texas, not far from Roby, I was slogging back home in the early morning darkness along our unpaved road in a raging thunderstorm. My car had been drowned in a flash flood on the paved road about 2 miles from my house when the neighbors dam broke. Their house, though closer was on the wrong side of the flooded road. Everything in the car was soaked, including my flashlight, so I only saw things in the strobes of the frequent lightning flashes. My road was a river except the very middle, and that was just deep gritty mud. I was nearing the crest of the last low hill before my house when the lightning lit up something moving on the edge of the road to my right. Just along the pasture edge were two very large badgers one right behind the other hustling the same direction I was going. I froze. I guess the driving rain and wind kept them from hearing or smelling me, because they never glanced my way. They looked as wet as I was after slogging through waist deep water,almost two miles of mud and only wearing scrubs. They kept trotting along a bit until they came to the pasture gate and then followed that path into the pasture. Probably headed towards the burned out husk of the former farmstead that sits about a quarter mile down that path. My heart finally started beating again and I made it home. I'll never forget that sight, their clumped wet fur looked longer than it should be and their gait was like a shamble. And they were so big! They took my breath away. I was both scared to death and thrilled to see them so close. They looked immensely powerful. They were majestic, even dripping wet. I am quite certain I did not look one bit powerful nor majestic.