I was always told, and have always seen, thst skunks eat from the rear first. I'd be willing to bet that it's a skunk
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My money is on either possum or a type of weasel (even though they're rarely seen or trapped around here).
Is there a bite to the base of the head?
Is there a bite to the base of the head?
For the record, I will not transport and release another feral cat or any other animal, for that matter. I can see where I was at fault for doing that and I won't do it again. But probably, anything I do will be wrong in one way or another and I just don't want this thread to degenerate into another OSA slug fest. Mainly, I was hoping that some of the hobbyists who trap were familiar with this method of killing. The predator has the intelligence to move a 35 pound cinder block by tilting it back. It kills from the bottom and eats the intestines. I saw no head or neck injuries. The thighs of the birds are partially denuded of flesh. The carcasses are not carried away. I smelled no suggestion of skunk, and I don't think a skunk would be strong enough to tilt a 35 pound cinder block and make it fall over. At first I discounted rats as a possibilty, there are no rat droppings, no gnawing holes in my 50 pound sacks of chicken feed, probably because of the rat snake that lives out there. But the more I thought about it, I couldn't rule it out, because I know rats can get huge, and they are very intelligent. So I placed a gallon of warfarin under some of the floor boards the chicken house 30 minutes ago. But there may be some kind of technicality that makes that wrong and I don't want to get mixed up in an OSA fight over it. I've seen some good postulations on what the culprit might be, and what I catch out there tonight might - or might not be the killer. I might not catch it tonight, but maybe tomorrow night or the next. The nights are getting cold and the thing will be back. I was in the wrong for transporting the feral cat to a remote, uninhabited location - I didn't just drop it off by a house. I was in error. So, I am open to suggestions as to what this might be. I will post pics of whatever is caught in the trap.
I'm thinking about using some of my Cabella points.
Coytoes and cats won't eat it there, grinners and skunks will kill more than one, usually the majority and then eat one on site......skunks and rats like guts. Coons won't eat guts and will usually kill more than one at a time. I've got no experience with weasels so I'm not sure of their killing habits.
Thanks, Okie4570. I never thought rats could kill healthy, adult chickens - until after reading this thread. If this is the case, then I did right by putting warfarin under the floor boards of the chicken house. Also, I have much smaller live catch traps that I can place inside the chicken house at night, in addition to the coyote cage trap outside of it. This is truly exacerbating.
I've all but concluded based on what I've read here that a cat isn't doing it. Thanks, though, I appreciate your advice.
I've done a web search and some reading on the subject. These are the web sites that come up.
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/w...ng-the-culprit-from-the-crime-scene-evidence/
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/303720/lost-one-chicken-ate-only-rear-end
http://icwdm.org/inspection/livestock.aspx
The problem is they all suggest a different predator........ the last one made some good points and indicated ole smiley(possum).
PS don't sweat the cat thing man I aint judging you.
http://www.backyardpoultrymag.com/w...ng-the-culprit-from-the-crime-scene-evidence/
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/303720/lost-one-chicken-ate-only-rear-end
http://icwdm.org/inspection/livestock.aspx
The problem is they all suggest a different predator........ the last one made some good points and indicated ole smiley(possum).
PS don't sweat the cat thing man I aint judging you.
