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Predators!
At one time or another we all are going to have some type of predator. This page is devoted to finding solutions to the threats they pose.
October 4, 2004 Paradise, Texas
My husband and I were awaken by a phone call telling us a black panther had been seen just outside our bedroom window! This was about 5 A.M., dark and raining. Two days earlier I had taken a guinea out of the street which had been killed by a passing car. The body of the guinea was laying about where the cat was spotted. We wondered IF that is what drew it so near? All my birds were fine. No cages seem disturbed although we found more tracks in the same area as pictured below. What ever that was last summer.....it is BACK and must be a panther. We are discussing what to do now....
August 3, 2003 Paradise, Texas
For several days something has been raiding the keet cages at night pulling heads off while leaving the bodies inside the cage. Raccoons, skunks and cats have been discussed. Keets were removed from the cages with larger wire (allowing the heads to poke through) Killing stopped. Two days later traps were set to be sure since neighbors are catching raccoons nearly every night. The following pictures were taken the morning after.
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The first picture is of the now empty cage we put our outdoor cat in so it would not get caught in our baited trap. From what we saw, the cat looked as if it was bait. The next two pictures are of the welded wire cage that got bashed in. As you can see the cage is up several feet off the ground so we felt this was not a small cat or dog. The cage on the ground was baited. It has been flipped over and all the bait gone. Something had to go inside to get the bait but was not caught. It must have been too long and the trap did not close on it. The next pictures are of tracks we found on the opposite side of the barn where I have my peafowl housed. Nothing was disturbed there but these and many more tracks were all along the wall of their pen. The cat was found later in the day, safe and sound. :)
My husband and neighbor went and bought a larger cage and set it tonight, along with the one pictured here. This cage is just under the size you would use for a coyote. That is the largest one they had today. I will be up at dawn to see what happen during the night. I also raked smooth the dirt floor where the tracks were this morning. If something comes again we will have clearer tracks. Panthers have been sited in the area before. Dogs, big cats, coyotes, raccoons, skunks and who know what else is possible.
August 4, 2003
Traps bagged a stray cat. There was an armadillo relocated and one possum sited. The BIG CAGE BASHER did not show up last night. We will try again.
August 5, 2003
One less possum to bother my birds. This could have be the head-eater. Possum was relocated. Nothing else caught or any new tracks.
My husband has spent the past two days building. Are we ready now??? Actually this is a transport cage for hauling hogs that have been caught. This might be what we go to next.
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August 6t
Tot returned so for now....the traps are not being set.
This was checked in Missouri August 12th 2003
This mountain lion,
cougar, panther is just what we were thinking we might have. We were expecting a
small young cat. tres. Use
whole dead chickens, not pieces, so the predators make the
-- Robert
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