When it comes to poultry housing it is best to take the Fort Knox approach. Secure coops and fencing spaced small enough so varmints can't reach in and grab birds. My main run is also covered with wire. My other has electric netting around the yard. I even range only when I'm home in close proximity to the chickens because of the coons, foxes, bobcats, and coyotes around here.
A large cage trap big enough to catch coyotes is what I use to keep control of predator populations. I use lures and baits from Mark June that never let me down: http://markjuneslures.com/index.php/
Location for trap setting is important. I have brush around the areas of fenced pasture. Wherever I put my trap, I try to make it look like part of the environment. Wear gloves when setting the trap to keep your scent off it ( i.e. bobcats are sensitive to scents). In the live trap, hang a few feathers with some reflective tape cut out and glued to the bunched feathers to look like eyes blinking in the moonlight. Spread some soil from the area on the bottom of the trap with dry grasses since some predators won't readily enter an area with a wire floor. Set your tray of bait (tuna or cat food works) with added lure. Also cover the top and sides of the trap with brush and branches without obstructing the entrance. Comply with local laws in regard to eliminating caught predators. Where I am it is illegal to transport caught predators and relocate them, plus it is cruel to put an animal in a strange territorial environment where they may become a problem for someone else.
Coyotes often hit and piece their prey but don't leave much. Coons will mutilate, and often leave the head and body, but eat the neck. Bobcats take the whole body elsewhere, like up a tree or back to a den. Foxes mutilate and eat the innards.
A large cage trap big enough to catch coyotes is what I use to keep control of predator populations. I use lures and baits from Mark June that never let me down: http://markjuneslures.com/index.php/
Location for trap setting is important. I have brush around the areas of fenced pasture. Wherever I put my trap, I try to make it look like part of the environment. Wear gloves when setting the trap to keep your scent off it ( i.e. bobcats are sensitive to scents). In the live trap, hang a few feathers with some reflective tape cut out and glued to the bunched feathers to look like eyes blinking in the moonlight. Spread some soil from the area on the bottom of the trap with dry grasses since some predators won't readily enter an area with a wire floor. Set your tray of bait (tuna or cat food works) with added lure. Also cover the top and sides of the trap with brush and branches without obstructing the entrance. Comply with local laws in regard to eliminating caught predators. Where I am it is illegal to transport caught predators and relocate them, plus it is cruel to put an animal in a strange territorial environment where they may become a problem for someone else.
Coyotes often hit and piece their prey but don't leave much. Coons will mutilate, and often leave the head and body, but eat the neck. Bobcats take the whole body elsewhere, like up a tree or back to a den. Foxes mutilate and eat the innards.
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