Who done it?

[member 655102]

What predator do you think did this?

 

[azygous]

Unless you live deep in an urban area, I'd guess a black bear.

 

[mowin]

Odd how something would bend that without tipping the block off. I guess a bear could put one paw on the block/cage while prying up the cage door.

 

[sdm111]

An adult boar coon can do that. I have to keep an air compressor on top of a heavy duty plastic tote that has feed in it. Not like from the dollar store the ones that have the split tops that are shipping containers. They are extremely strong and will throw pretty much anything under 30lbs off if it to get to the feed. They can do crazy things when they half to

 

[sdm111]

Ever picked up a boar coon? Suckers are heavy and it's not fat

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I'm not sure, but what was inside?

 

[sdm111]

Odd how something would bend that without tipping the block off. I guess a bear could put one paw on the block/cage while prying up the cage door.

That's a clue there. Something that can hold both sides like hands. As opposed to paws like a raccoon

 

[mowin]

An adult boar coon can do that. I have to keep an air compressor on top of a heavy duty plastic tote that has feed in it. Not like from the dollar store the ones that have the split tops that are shipping containers. They are extremely strong and will throw pretty much anything under 30lbs off if it to get to the feed. They can do crazy things when they half to

Don't see a coon doing that without tipping the block off. I know they are strong, hunted them with dogs when I was younger.
Coon would have dumped the block off and tipped the trap to gain access.

 

[sdm111]

Don't see a coon doing that without tipping the block off. I know they are strong, hunted them with dogs when I was younger.
Coon would have dumped the block off and tipped the trap to gain access.

I stand behind my opinion

 

[member 655102]

Unless you live deep in an urban area, I'd guess a black bear.

I’m out in the countryside of the Loess Hills region and have not seen any black bears around here yet but we do have an abundance of raccoons, possums, foxes, coyotes, bobcats and a few mountain lions. I originally set the trap up underneath the bird feeder by the front of the house cause the raccoons kept coming down here every night to scavenge for food not even 10-20mins after I lock all my chickens up. Last week 2 of our wild turkeys got killed while they were roosting in the trees down by the horse shed…Whatever it was only ate the heads and left the carcasses for eating later. My neighbor thinks it was a bobcat or mountain lion but I’m not so sure now…I went to Bass Pro yesterday and bought a new/better cage trap since the old one was damaged beyond repair and I baited it with one of my older chicks who had recently died from swallowing a car part that they had found over by the garage. I stayed up late last night sitting on the porch with my rifle loaded waiting to see what it was I’m dealing with and so far all I’ve seen is 3 big raccoons. They were trying to get the bait out of the cage without getting caught so I shot 2 of them and they took off running.

The bait was still in the trap when I woke up this morning and nothing had messed with it while I was sleeping. I looked around the property to see if I could find any deceased raccoons and haven’t found any yet. Do you think they would work together to kill turkeys and break out of cages?