Another Day, Another Pest
This week has been madness for the chickens. First on Sunday the attack by the three rat terriers, then on Monday another attack by the same dogs! I was semi-empathetic to the whole episode the first time, as I know that the dog's owner didn't mean for them to escape. But Monday. it. happened. again. same thing, same dogs, only this time we were lucky enough to have kept the chickens locked in the interior coop for safety. So they barked and yelped and growled and tried to get at the chickens, but welded wire held them back. I was at work, but Paul was home....good thing too because I probably would have been pretty upset with that lady. She needs to invest in some leashes and keep her dogs on her own property!
The chickens seem a little off still since they were attacked and injured, but Penny laid an egg today and they all seemed alert.
Tonight I had a big opossum problem. I came home from work at 7pm and went to check on the chickens. They were sleeping/roosting fine, but I spotted a gross tail near the chicken feed...it was a possum. Yuck. It was a tiny one, just like before. I grabbed two tennis rackets this time and spent 20 minutes trying to get the rascal out of the coop. Finally I was able to push it out. Ten minutes later I went back outside to inspect the coop, trying to figure out where the possum got in. I think that at this point 2" welded wire is not enough. The little bugger can squeeze right through. I'm not sure what I need to do to fix it. Anyways, the last thing I did was the place the chicken feeder back in the right spot. I lifted it up and got a shock. The possum was now inside the coop again snuggled up inside the feeder! Darn thing. 10 inches from my hand. Luckily it didn't bite me. It seemed scared, so I dropped it and ran over to the shed. I found our small wire crate and brought it out in the middle of the yard. I tipped over the feeder and whacked it until the possum scurried out. Trapped. :o) Now I have a big dilemma though. What should I do with it? I'd prefer to kill it but don't have a humane way to do so. For tonight it's going to stay in the cage. Tomorrow I'm hoping Animal Control can help me dispose of it, otherwise we'll be taking it far far away and releasing it.
This week has been madness for the chickens. First on Sunday the attack by the three rat terriers, then on Monday another attack by the same dogs! I was semi-empathetic to the whole episode the first time, as I know that the dog's owner didn't mean for them to escape. But Monday. it. happened. again. same thing, same dogs, only this time we were lucky enough to have kept the chickens locked in the interior coop for safety. So they barked and yelped and growled and tried to get at the chickens, but welded wire held them back. I was at work, but Paul was home....good thing too because I probably would have been pretty upset with that lady. She needs to invest in some leashes and keep her dogs on her own property!
The chickens seem a little off still since they were attacked and injured, but Penny laid an egg today and they all seemed alert.
Tonight I had a big opossum problem. I came home from work at 7pm and went to check on the chickens. They were sleeping/roosting fine, but I spotted a gross tail near the chicken feed...it was a possum. Yuck. It was a tiny one, just like before. I grabbed two tennis rackets this time and spent 20 minutes trying to get the rascal out of the coop. Finally I was able to push it out. Ten minutes later I went back outside to inspect the coop, trying to figure out where the possum got in. I think that at this point 2" welded wire is not enough. The little bugger can squeeze right through. I'm not sure what I need to do to fix it. Anyways, the last thing I did was the place the chicken feeder back in the right spot. I lifted it up and got a shock. The possum was now inside the coop again snuggled up inside the feeder! Darn thing. 10 inches from my hand. Luckily it didn't bite me. It seemed scared, so I dropped it and ran over to the shed. I found our small wire crate and brought it out in the middle of the yard. I tipped over the feeder and whacked it until the possum scurried out. Trapped. :o) Now I have a big dilemma though. What should I do with it? I'd prefer to kill it but don't have a humane way to do so. For tonight it's going to stay in the cage. Tomorrow I'm hoping Animal Control can help me dispose of it, otherwise we'll be taking it far far away and releasing it.
1 Comments:
Oie. What happened to the critter? I'd make my decision depending on what Animal Control would do.
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