Would a weasel rip open the intestinal area but leave the head?

horstuff

In the Brooder
6 Years
Sep 26, 2013
16
0
22
Two hens were killed by something, don't know what. I've heard that weasels always take the head or open the neck, and don't open the guts. Is that true? If so, then it must have been a raccoon, but he had to climb a 6 foot chain link wall and squeeze through an opening between the shade cover and top rail. 24" hardware cloth all around bottom, and the bodies were far from the door.
 
I have seen Fox and possums both eat that way. If you can find a live catch , put a can of cat food in there and put it inside the coop. If it is a possum or raccoon you should catch it that way, if its a fox you wont.
 
Thanks. What are the smallest openings raccoons and possums can get through, and can they rip apart chicken wire?
 
I'm pretty sure it is a possom. Did you check the chicken house for an opening for the possom? The chickens far from the door make me think the predator came from in or near the chicken house.
 
... What are the smallest openings raccoons and possums can get through, and can they rip apart chicken wire?...
3 or 4 inches by say 2 inches is big enough to admit most possums or raccoons. If the opening isn't big enough a coon will quickly enlarge the opening to its liking.

A possum is not so strong but a raccoon can shred chicken wire like it was wet toilet paper. A large boar coon will weigh somewhere in the 40 pound range and he is very capable thank you of whipping a whole pack of coon dogs and flossing his teeth with the collars.

When still hunting squirrels became to easy I switched to still hunting coons during the daylight hours. I hunted creek and river bottoms with large yellow popular and beech trees during cold but sunny days. The coons came out of their hollow den trees on theses kinds of days and basked on large limbs and tree forks in the warm Sunlight.

From the ground it was a simple matter to see the coons' tails waving at you from the limb, but I soon discovered that every coon tail was firmly attached to a sleeping coon. These basking coons were as unconcerned as can be while I maneuvered for a clear shot. The closets to the ground that I ever killed a coon in this fashion was about 50 feet above the ground. So a 6 foot or even a 60 foot tall fence is no barrier to either a sleepy nor to a hungry raccoon.
 
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Thanks all. I'm hoping it was a possum instead of a raccoon, because they aren't as strong in ripping coop protections up, but I'm reinforcing the run and coop against raccoon's as well.

Bobby
 

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