what chews through chicken wire?

[Zookeeper9000]

Quote:
The bad new is I would guess a bear and if I am right I would guess that the rabbit was bear bait.

The good news is I am not always right.

 

[Sharedspirit]

What ever it was had to be strong enough to drag the cage (200 lbs) 3 feet and craw through the hole it created in the cage which was pulled up to leave a 2-3 inch space between the bottom pipe. Or it had to have lifted up the whole cage, went in, and lifted it to get back out.

The only thing I caught last night was my own cat. She must have snuck off the back porch because the cats were all inside when I went to bed.

I'm not convinced it wasn't our own dog (border collie mix) She's 6 years old and has never bothered our farm animals before but I just don't trust dogs.

 

[Dutchgirl]

I have a dog pen, about 8x8 and 6' high. Only a bear could pick that sucker up,

or a very organized pack of wolves. People are also an option, but I'd day bear from your description.

 

[Akane]

Good post to remind people chicken wire keeps chickens in not predators out. Get hardware cloth or field fencing for that. Chicken wire is pretty easy to tear. I was testing some out for a large indoor aviary with button quail I want to do and the wire stuff was almost easier to tear than the plastic chicken "wire" I tested. Only the highest gauge wire took some real difficulty and still could have been damaged by a large coon or dog. The smallest, weakest welded wire/field fencing type stuff they had in the fencing section was stronger than the thickest, toughest chicken wire they had.

 

[kwynn's birds Alaska]

Bears! And I don't think they have to chew it either...are there bears in your area? i've had a large dog do a fair amount of damage to my wire, but not chewed holes into it. do you have a pic??

I was afraid of something getting past our chicken wire, so DH and I put up 4" mesh panels, and so far so good.

 

[justpete]

Fisher Cat will also rip through chicken wire.

 

[Bizzy]

I had a foster dog that chewed a big hole in a chain link pen in just a few minutes. I was amazed! You'd be suprized what animals can do.

 

[Kung Foo Chicken]

When I was a mere child my neighbor's dog literally walked through our chicken wire. He would get a running start and just go through it without chewing. This was especially easy for it where the wire was very tight. Dad wouldn't buy more wire so we pieced it back together and hung chestnut burrs from string along the fence. .

 

[JadedPhoenix]

Figured that I'd revive this thread since I just learned this lesson the hard way.

I was out in my run this weekend and had some chicks out trying to make some introductions with my flock while I was feeding them and my own 80 lb boxer came over and for the first time truly tried to force his way in. In less than TWO minutes he had a two foot wide hole in the wire and was in the process of trying to worm his way in to get to the chicks. I was so ticked that I showed my anger in the only way I knew he'd understand. I growled and barred MY teeth. It got him to back down real fast and go to the ground. Normally, he is a stubborn dog and will not be as submissive outside (Always submits inside) but I'm sure he expected me to put my boot up his hind-end.

Anyway, just a reminder that chicken wire will not keep anything that is determined to get in out. It took me ten years to have this issue but I've finally had it. I was lucky that I was there and I didn't lose any of my babies this time.