The importance of security: A collection of predators caught on camera in my yard

[Lilki]

I know everyone here is aware of the need for a secure place for our animals. It's easy to forget how many predators are lurking, simply because I don't see them on a daily basis. However, most of these photos were taken during the day.

Bobcat caught on game camera in the middle of the day. Also saw, but didn't get photo of, coyote in midday.






Skunk with two babies


Raccoons. We have so many.


And now for the hawks:
Red tailed hawk


Adult Cooper's Hawk


Juvenile Cooper's hawk


Red Shouldered hawk

 

[TheFoxyChicken]

Wow, you have your work cut out for you. Coons and bobcats are trouble at night. We have coon problems. as we live n the edge of a swamp. We have to use electric fences to prevent attacks. Our knowledge has come at great costs. Great photos!

 

[Millworker26]

Great photos. Maybe you can hire the bobcat to eat the raccoons?

 

[KoopOnTruckin]

Great photos! I just purchased a game camera so I could see what is lurking around my fence - haven't used it yet, but hopefully tonight will be the first. I know I'll see raccoons, and my neighbor took a shot at a bobcat a few weeks ago that took both his ducks and several chickens in broad daylight. I have 3 dogs that spend their time outside with the chickens while they free range, so I've yet to see a ground predator in our yard. I lost a bantam to an owl or hawk a year ago, so now my coop run has netting that engulfs the entire tree to keep aerial predators at bay.

 

[redsoxs]

Wow! You have a real predator sanctuary going. Pretty brazen for some of those 4-legged ones to be out in broad daylight.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Hope your coop is secure! You don't want your flock to become a restaurant - first come, first serve. They aren't free-range, are they?

 

[Lilki]

They have a very secure run that takes up a good chunk of my yard, so there's no real reason they need to be free range. They are still pretty young, and I'm new to ducks, so they still sleep in the garage where it's safe.. I had originally set up the game camera to find out what excactly we're dealing with and didn't want to put them in the coop until I was sure it was secure. The raccoons are my main nocturnal concern (although there's plenty to choose from) since they're so smart. In my past dealings with them I've found electric fences around the perimeter to be a good deterrent, as well as building with the proper material. It did take some convincing to get my husband on board with hardware cloth, as opposed to chicken wire, since it's relatively expensive.

 

[Cherib603]

Definitely hardware cloth. With those predators in the area, the chicken wire would last 10 seconds and he'd just have to do it all over again.