The Front Porch Swing

[krazykat0373]

It's against the international treaty to KILL them.....not against the law to try to keep them from killing your livestock...well not here it isn't. You have the right to protect your animals here.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

It's against the international treaty to KILL them.....not against the law to try to keep them from killing your livestock...well not here it isn't. You have the right to protect your animals here.

True. You can deter them short of harrassing their nesting or killing them. But your statement was that you tried to kill them. Just because you failed doesn't mean you didn't mKe the attempt.

 

[pysankigirl]

He'll get a kick out of telling that story to his friends at the corner diner or barber shop or feed store.......

lol...yeah, probably.
I was on my way to meeting a friend out for brunch on the downtown mall so I was dressed pretty girly, too: little flowery skirt, impractical shoes...

 

[flocksalot]

If you can prove they are attacking our animals you can get a permit to kill, catch, or generally remove them. We had one that harassed but hadn't caught anything until last year. Went down to the DNR armed with evidence. Got the go ahead, but my toms took care of it over the winter by drowning it. We have lots of red tails and chicken hawks, but normally no problems. Reported the demise and how it was accomplished. They never even batted an eye. Then told me to let them know if we have other issues.

You must bring in any carcass, picture proof if available, and work with he DNR, and when you do dispose of the bird you must take the carcass to the DNR. What they want with it I have no idea. I brought the little that was left after falling in the water and freezing there. Wasn't much left, but it satisfied them.

Also it is legal to fire a shot gun near but not at them to frighten them away. This is the information the DNR emailed me. http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/HawksOwls.asp. We also use bottle rockets if they are swarming. We have a large population of hawks. Only ever lost one chicken to one though.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

There are legal steps you can take, certainly. I'm pointing out that shooting at them on your own is not it.

 

[Hollowoakfarm]

Obviously, I find the topic of killing birds of prey...or any top-level predator objectionable. I'm a biologist. Plus, we're supposed to be the smarter ones. Our job is to protect our livestock. We do that by providing cover, not eliminating animals that take far more rodents than they do chickens. Education od chicken-keepers is sorely lacking on protection.

 

[mzstre]

LOL...maybe I USED to be, but not any more!  I was standing in tractor supply reading the labels on the live traps and mumbled not quite under my breath: "Catch and release my ***...if I catch him, I'm gonna blow his dang head off"  and this old grizzled guy behind me that I didn't see bust out laughing.

I love this story! Too funny lol!

 

[MADZ of Animal]

LOL...crazy. Yeah, beating up a snake to save my chickens eggs.

Thanks for the complements!!

 

[krazykat0373]

lol...well be careful what you say rattlesnakes are protected too. You might get a lecture....Believe it or not....you have to have a permit to kill them, also.

 

[tdhenson86]

Well, your out of luck then.  I would kill the culprit with my bare hands, or maybe with an umbrella. I killed a snake that way.

lol...the visual is great, see some crazy lady beating a snake to death with an umbrella

Ha.    My oldest sister clobbered a rattlesnake with a log once.  It was the only one we ever came across on that property.  And when my father was in his early 80s I was mowing the steep bank in front of the barn and came upon a copperhead coiled against the base of the tree.  I went to the house to get Daddy and he came out there, moving slowly.   He stood there on the sloping bank looking at the snake a few moments then reached down and picked up a sturdy chunk of a limb that had fallen.  He's left handed, always strong but not athletic and though he was an old-fashioned family doctor, housecalls and all, he'd come home and split wood and tend to his property and animals.  He shifted his feet a little to get the right angle and held very still for a few seconds.  Then he smacked that snake in the head so fast it took my breath away.  Smashed its head right against the trunk of that tree.  One blow was all it took.  And the snake's only movement after that was a slow drift of its head to the ground.  Daddy scooped it up on the stick, walked a little ways and flung it into the woods.  Then he went back into the house.

Oh my!!!!