Trail Cam Predators

[adambeal]

So we built our coop over the winter and have had a couple of buffs in it for about a month. Since we added the buffs I have seen foxes in the yard. One morning I was going out to give the chickens some scraps and 2 foxes were in the yard just above the coop watching me. Then to my surprise one approached me just walking about 5 feet but in my direction. I wonder if it had been fed by someone. I retreated back to the house with the scraps. We live in East TN near a bunch of woods and I have a trail cam up for a year and caught pics of 3 racoons at our compost bin (near the coop). Since I put the buffs in the coop I set up the trail cam on the coop and have caught this over the last couple of weeks. The first two look like a bobcat to me any thoughts?











Thanks,

Adam

 

[seann]

Wow. Time to trap?

 

[thomasboyle]

Agree on the traps. Get a large cage trap and remove the predators or they will get lucky and a free lunch.

 

[aart]

Bobcat and Red Fox...both hard to trap.
Make sure your coop is very secure at night.

 

[centrarchid]

I think the foxes are grays with the darker pattern going up back of tail like that.

 

[CMV]

As long as your coop is secure, and you lock the birds inside it each night, you have nothing to worry about. There are a lot of predators that wander by a coop at night. You are lucky enough to be able to see what you are working with (against?). You have 2 predators that are very sly and quick, they prefer to hunt in the dark or very marginal hours (dawn and dusk), they are great climbers, they are shy and easily startled, and they are not in possession of opposable thumbs.

This means you need to secure your birds before 10 pm each night and not let them out before 7 am. Invest in an electric fence if at all possible, but it is not absolutely necessary in your case. A radio in your coop playing some 24 hour talk show radio should be sufficient to keep these guys away. A simple slide lock on any doors should be adequate to prevent entry.

Foxes and bobcats are the easiest predators to deter. You can handle these guys with ease.

Good luck.

 

[Blammmo]

No need to trap if you have a few strands of electric fencing around your run.Too many people worry about trapping and shooting predators when they should just Fort Knox their coop and run. In the end, trap and shoot as many as you want and more will eventually come back and take their place. Fort Knox it and you won't have to worry about it anymore

 

[CMV]

No need to trap if you have a few strands of electric fencing around your run.Too many people worry about trapping and shooting predators when they should just Fort Knox their coop and run. In the end, trap and shoot as many as you want and more will eventually come back and take their place. Fort Knox it and you won't have to worry about it anymore

Seriously. I have been advocating this for years.

I live in a wildlife corridor. I could kill predators all day and still have some waiting in the wings to take over for the territories of the newly deposed ones. I would much rather deal with the familiar predators than new ones moving in. The old ones are wise to the electric fences, know my schedules, know I will shoot them if they make a nuisance of themselves, so they stay in the background and out of my hair for the most part. It is always the newbie predators that cause me angst. If they live through the first 6 months of showing up, then they usually stay around for years.

I lost one of my coyotes a few years back. She (and her offspring) had been around for years. She never caused a big problem as long as I stayed on my toes. When she disappeared, a new female took the territory and she caused all sorts of havoc for a summer. The neighborhood lost 6 birds total...my best broody, a young cockerel in front of the whole family at dinner one night...she even tried to take my goose. Long story short- she had one summer and then she was removed. The new animals that took over the territory after she was removed have not been problematic, so they have been around since. I only remove predators that are a persistent problem.

It is always better to deal with the devil you know than the devil you don't know.