Jacob and I set the trap last night because some of our broilers were found with the heads torn off. (That’s something wild animals do, not domestic dogs, so we know it’s not our dogs.) We set the trap yesterday night with some salmon, hoping to catch the animal that was ridding us of our chickens. We woke up this morning, hoping we hadn’t caught any of our dogs or cats. We went outside and found that we caught… A cat! It wasn’t one of our cats either, it was a stray cat. We know it wasn’t the stray cat that was eating our chickens because we’ve known about it for a long time, and we haven’t had any missing chickens before. And, I think it would have eaten the birds, not just torn off the heads. I think it is a skunk or a coon, because Mom was reading something that said that skunks will tear off the head of their victim and drink the blood out of the body. I don’t remember what made me think it was a coon… But anyway… We caught a cat. :-\
I was also thinking that in the winter, trapping will probably slow down a lot. So there will probably be a lot more activity on here in the spring/summer when the animals come out of hibernation.
I’ll see if I can get Jacob to blog today.
-Jenna
Hey, thanks for visiting and leaving your valued opinion. (grin). I’ve decided I’m going to blog BOTH places. I’ll put the initial post on Blogger, because it is so easy to upload photos, then I will copy and paste the entry to HSB. That way everybody’s happy.
So, you trap, eh? Have you ever used a skunk trap? We had a skunk lurking about our place years ago and the game warden from down the street lent us his skunk trap. The first time we used it we caught a cat! But it’s hard to tell, since it’s an enclosed metal box with only a hole or two.
The next time we got the varmit, but we had to transport the dumb animal up into the Forest Service land–miles and miles away–or the game warden said it would find its way back. Grrrr….. We’ve also had to deal with possums…which I detest, and once we found our chickens with their insides eaten. Yuck. We found out it was probably a weasel…small enough to get into our “leaky” chicken house and mean enough to go after our poor chickens.
Oh, you can also go here to read about the time I went after a coyote that had grabbed a chicken. First I used a broom, then I went after him with the .22 pistol. Enjoy:
http://www.homesteadblogger.com/FarmLifeFarmWife/60506/
Dearest Jenna and Jacob,
I am happy I live in the city where I don’t have too many preditors after my chickens. I built my chicken coop and run to be preditor proof. We do have Red Tail Hawks, mice, and I hear we can have snakes, but, I have never seen one here.
My neighbors swear we have an owl in our pine tree in the backyard, I haven’t seen it, but… one night, I think I heard him “whoosh” by me in the dark.
I would think the most important think in keeping livestock, is the security of the barns and coops from preditors. One of my “on line” friends has bears attacking their chickens!! They had only chicken wire on the run. And chicken wire will keep chickens in, but seldom keeps preditors out.
My chicken run has 1/2 inch hardware cloth on the sides and over the top. I tried to make it so nothing can get in to kill the chickens.
Of course, if the chickens “free range” there are lots of hungry wild animals that are looking for a nice chicken dinner!!
hmm I have a typp there… in the third paragraph, it should say ” I wuld think the most important “thing”…..
I don’t see a way to edit the post.
Hello there!
You have to keep writing articles to keep us informed of your success on the trapline!
Found your blog from a search and thought I’d stop and say “Hi”!
Being in the woods has been in my blood since childhood and trapping is a great way to get out and enjoy the total experience of nature.
Keep on typin’!
Robert