The Old Folks Home

[JW12]

Stole the words right out of my mouth (or keyboard).

Our gulls congregate in the large parking lots of the big box stores here and they are very bold trying to steal food. I can't imagine what that would be like if they had a 6 foot wingspan.

Anyone here do any trapping (legally) for furs and meat? I started a trapping class last night but I'm not sure it's for me. Either way, I'm going to finish it because I started it and because I want to learn new skills that I don't have...

I have done my share of trapping over the years. Now I do it mostly for meat at times. The anti fur people have shut down a lot of the industry even here in the south. Then so many people got into it, it drove the prices of the pelts down to the point that the last 2 years I did it as income I didn't make enough to cover the cost of gas and oil for my boat ( I trapped along one of our lakes as well as by my house). So at that point if we get the hankering for a coon dinner I will trap a couple and maybe a possum but that's about it anymore. I make a few extra dollars trapping coyotes for farmers around here. They have gotten out of hand and the farmers are paying good to try and get rid of them.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

SCG, I forgot to reply to the second part. I once caught a hedgehog with my own homemade trap. I was maybe 10 years old, and my trap was built using a upside down metal basket suspended by a stick. There was a string which was tied to the middle of the stick in one end, and to the "roof" of the cage from the other. In the middle of the string, I hung a piece of sausage. This type of trap worked perfectly, although I did release the hedgehog instead of making a cool cactus hat out of him.

I have done my share of trapping over the years. Now I do it mostly for meat at times. The anti fur people have shut down a lot of the industry even here in the south. Then so many people got into it, it drove the prices of the pelts down to the point that the last 2 years I did it as income I didn't make enough to cover the cost of gas and oil for my boat ( I trapped along one of our lakes as well as by my house). So at that point if we get the hankering for a coon dinner I will trap a couple and maybe a possum but that's about it anymore. I make a few extra dollars trapping coyotes for farmers around here. They have gotten out of hand and the farmers are paying good to try and get rid of them.

I've heard that beaver is pretty tasty and we have an awful lot of beaver and coyote problems around here, too, that farmers are willing to pay to get rid of them. If you don't mind may I PM you about the types of traps you use and how you set and check them?

 

[vehve]

Quote: One idea would be setting up a game cam near the coop and checking what kind of predators are attracted to your chickens. That would give you a pretty good idea of what kind of traps you'll need. And motivate you to go out and buy a heck of a lot more hardware cloth.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I have a game cam and I have a lot of skunks (that's an understatement) plus mice/rats sometimes. That's really all I see on the game cam. I have lost birds to foxes, and also to flying predators, most of which are illegal to dispatch.

 

[vehve]

I have a game cam and I have a lot of skunks (that's an understatement) plus mice/rats sometimes. That's really all I see on the game cam. I have lost birds to foxes, and also to flying predators, most of which are illegal to dispatch.

I don't think I'd want to install a game cam here. I prefer to live in the delusion of having no predators. My mother said she had seen a badger at our cottage today though. Those things can be vicious.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

I like having a game cam. If I have "visitors" I can set up the cam and watch the visitor's pattern, so that I know where I need to set a trap or when to come outside and sit on the porch, armed.

I admit I have gasped at some of the things I've seen on the game cam...

 

[vehve]

I like having a game cam. If I have "visitors" I can set up the cam and watch the visitor's pattern, so that I know where I need to set a trap or when to come outside and sit on the porch, armed.

I admit I have gasped at some of the things I've seen on the game cam...

Add a funnel shaped 'lid' to the bucket, and you've got yourself a skunk catcher.

 

[bamadude]

Dang thats alot of coops on the coop thread. Going crosseyed

 

[chickisoup]

She is beautiful and clearly loves you! She is truly blessed to have a big sis that is willing to fight so hard to keep her safe. So glad to hear she is doing so well. I hope she is able to become happier in her new "home". I know change like that can be so hard on her.

What a gorgeous animal! even wet

BTW - Hope your sea "eagles" stay on your side of the pond, don't want one of those chasing me across the Walmart lot!!!

 

[drumstick diva]

Hello guys and 'dude' I'm up now and fixin' to make my lunch- don't post anything important till I get back - ok?