A mangled mink
Over the past few weeks, we have been having trouble with a predator killing birds. Not carrying them off to eat mind you, just killing them, drinking the blood and eating the head and neck. This is the M.O. of a weasel. A weasel can be a devastating thing to a flock of birds. It will kill one after the other until all are gone, then move on to the next farm.
So far, the death toll had been 2 chickens and 3 ducks. Needless to say I was pissed off about it. We tried a leghold trap set in a box. He ignored it. We tried a leghold trap set in such a way as to boobytrap one of the duck carcasses, all I caught in it was a very embarrassed chicken. We tried a hav-a-hart live trap. He set it off and reached in to get the bait through the mesh sides. The little bugger was outsmarting me.
Until last night.
I stayed up late to work on my book (a topic for another post, I'm very short on sleep and will try to stay on topic here) and about 11:30 last night a big ruckus made enough noise that I could hear it over the music in my headphones. I grabbed a flashlight and ran out to see what was going on. The chickens that are lined up on a roost outside my office window were angrily discussing something, and at first I thought it was just about who got to sleep where on the roost. But I had a gut feeling.
Investigating further, I looked in the tool shed that is located under the deck, and saw a dead bird. As I reached down to turn it over, it moved. I flipped it over to reveal a gash in it's neck and new the culprit was close. Since it was a fresh kill, actually in process, I knew he would be back, so I went inside to get my jacket, the 1,000,000 candlepower flashlight, and a shotgun.
As I walked out of the shed, the little monster ran in front of me, stopped, looked at me, and ran off over to the dog kennel. This was the first time I had seen it. Until then, I had only seen the aftermath and some tracks in the snow.
As I walked away from the shed, the wounded bird spazzed out as it began to lose it's muscle control, and it flopped out into the path in front of the shed. I knew that all I'd have to do to locate the predator was to locate the chicken on my return.
When I came back, he had stashed the bird under a folding table that is leaning against the rabbit shed. He lived under the shed, and was doing his best to cache his food near his house. When he saw me coming, he zipped under the pallet that serves as a self-draining work area when we butcher. I could see him between the slats of the pallet.
As I stood there pondering just blasting him right through the pallet, wondering if #4 shot retains the energy to pass through oak and still be lethal, the little monster stuck his head out to look at me!
Big mistake on his part, because I let him have it with the 12-gauge at a distance of about a foot.
Turns out it wasn't a weasel at all, but a mink. With a pretty nice pelt, except for the gaping hole in the side of the head.
It is a cool little animal, would be neat to watch doing it's thing in it's element. The problem is that "it's thing" involves voraciously killing my livestock. He would have kept going until all of the birds were gone, then taken the rabbits, and when they were gone he would have moved on to Jeff's house and his chickens.
Unfortunately, the hen, his last victim, didn't make it. I cleaned her, plucked her and she'll make a pot of chicken noodle soup later on this week. It was one of Caleigh's very tame pet hens.
Chickens come and go, so do predators. It is a small victory to blast one with a shotgun, but I'll take my victories where ever I can. It amazes me to think that such a little creature can cause so much damage to a flock. It is not even as big as a cat, and an actual weasel is even smaller than a mink!
Snapped a few pics of it. Click on the link to see them, and use your browser's "back" button to come back here.
Here is one of the whole mink, from the side. Not too graphic.
Here is one of the business end, he's got sharp teeth meant for biting his prey on the head and neck to kill them.
OK, this one is graphic. It shows the damage done at close range by a 12-gauge. I think I'll try to salvage the skull, depending on how much is damaged.
So far, the death toll had been 2 chickens and 3 ducks. Needless to say I was pissed off about it. We tried a leghold trap set in a box. He ignored it. We tried a leghold trap set in such a way as to boobytrap one of the duck carcasses, all I caught in it was a very embarrassed chicken. We tried a hav-a-hart live trap. He set it off and reached in to get the bait through the mesh sides. The little bugger was outsmarting me.
Until last night.
I stayed up late to work on my book (a topic for another post, I'm very short on sleep and will try to stay on topic here) and about 11:30 last night a big ruckus made enough noise that I could hear it over the music in my headphones. I grabbed a flashlight and ran out to see what was going on. The chickens that are lined up on a roost outside my office window were angrily discussing something, and at first I thought it was just about who got to sleep where on the roost. But I had a gut feeling.
Investigating further, I looked in the tool shed that is located under the deck, and saw a dead bird. As I reached down to turn it over, it moved. I flipped it over to reveal a gash in it's neck and new the culprit was close. Since it was a fresh kill, actually in process, I knew he would be back, so I went inside to get my jacket, the 1,000,000 candlepower flashlight, and a shotgun.
As I walked out of the shed, the little monster ran in front of me, stopped, looked at me, and ran off over to the dog kennel. This was the first time I had seen it. Until then, I had only seen the aftermath and some tracks in the snow.
As I walked away from the shed, the wounded bird spazzed out as it began to lose it's muscle control, and it flopped out into the path in front of the shed. I knew that all I'd have to do to locate the predator was to locate the chicken on my return.
When I came back, he had stashed the bird under a folding table that is leaning against the rabbit shed. He lived under the shed, and was doing his best to cache his food near his house. When he saw me coming, he zipped under the pallet that serves as a self-draining work area when we butcher. I could see him between the slats of the pallet.
As I stood there pondering just blasting him right through the pallet, wondering if #4 shot retains the energy to pass through oak and still be lethal, the little monster stuck his head out to look at me!
Big mistake on his part, because I let him have it with the 12-gauge at a distance of about a foot.
Turns out it wasn't a weasel at all, but a mink. With a pretty nice pelt, except for the gaping hole in the side of the head.
It is a cool little animal, would be neat to watch doing it's thing in it's element. The problem is that "it's thing" involves voraciously killing my livestock. He would have kept going until all of the birds were gone, then taken the rabbits, and when they were gone he would have moved on to Jeff's house and his chickens.
Unfortunately, the hen, his last victim, didn't make it. I cleaned her, plucked her and she'll make a pot of chicken noodle soup later on this week. It was one of Caleigh's very tame pet hens.
Chickens come and go, so do predators. It is a small victory to blast one with a shotgun, but I'll take my victories where ever I can. It amazes me to think that such a little creature can cause so much damage to a flock. It is not even as big as a cat, and an actual weasel is even smaller than a mink!
Snapped a few pics of it. Click on the link to see them, and use your browser's "back" button to come back here.
Here is one of the whole mink, from the side. Not too graphic.
Here is one of the business end, he's got sharp teeth meant for biting his prey on the head and neck to kill them.
OK, this one is graphic. It shows the damage done at close range by a 12-gauge. I think I'll try to salvage the skull, depending on how much is damaged.
posted by MVTCoPete | 10:19 AM
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