Author Topic: Fox or mink?  (Read 3667 times)

hexhammeasure

  • Joined Jun 2008
    • golocal food
    • Facebook
Fox or mink?
« on: July 30, 2012, 01:36:53 pm »
something got into our lambing shed overnight where we house the ducks during the off season, and killed all 20 of our ducks. probably, (5 bodies unaccounted for) whatever it was squeezed under the main door which is 4 or 5 inch clearance at the most after having moved a fairly substantial bit of timber that was preventing the ducks from getting out. all had neck wounds and many were missing heads. i'm just checking to see if there is a possibility that mink have moved in before killing the vixen and her cubs

Ian

Bionic

  • Joined Dec 2010
  • Talley, Carmarthenshire
Re: Fox or mink?
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2012, 01:53:35 pm »
Oh Ian, I am so sorry for you  :bouquet:
Sally
Life is like a bowl of cherries, mostly yummy but some dodgy bits

SallyintNorth

  • Joined Feb 2011
  • Cornwall
  • Rarely short of an opinion but I mean well
    • Trelay Cohousing Community
Re: Fox or mink?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2012, 02:25:29 pm »
That's horrible, so sorry to hear that  :bouquet:

Sounds like foxy, but mink are very strong so could equally have done it.  Both predators remove heads, I think.  No tracks, I suppose?

There's quite a good chance that whoever it was will return for more meat tonight - whether you could mount a guard or run a webcam to find out who / what it is?
Don't listen to the money men - they know the price of everything and the value of nothing

Live in a cohousing community with small farm for our own use.  Dairy cows (rearing their own calves for beef), pigs, sheep for meat and fleece, ducks and hens for eggs, veg and fruit growing

deepinthewoods

  • Guest
Re: Fox or mink?
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2012, 06:37:17 pm »
look around for spoor, foxes has a pointy end.

hexhammeasure

  • Joined Jun 2008
    • golocal food
    • Facebook
Re: Fox or mink?
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2012, 07:20:58 pm »
We are also including badgers into the equation now..I still think the hole that was used was too small for an adult fox
Ian

goosepimple

  • Joined May 2010
  • nr Lauder, Scottish Borders
Re: Fox or mink?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2012, 07:29:43 pm »
My sympathies, we are also duck breeders and it must be a painful experience.
 
We lost our runners and campbells a short while after moving here - local gamekeepers said it would have been otter which have seen off all the mink in our area - dog otters are big, but it may have been a fox, badgers are as bad, or even a large stoat or even ferret? 
 
We now only stock Muscovy ducks as they fly shortish distances and roost on shed roofs, fences and window boxes and now nothing gets taken.
registered soay, castlemilk moorit  and north ronaldsay sheep, pygmy goats, steinbacher geese, muscovy ducks, various hens, lots of visiting mallards, a naughty border collie, a puss and a couple of guinea pigs

Brucklay

  • Joined Apr 2010
  • Perthshire
    • Brucklay Pygmy Goats
    • Facebook
Re: Fox or mink?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2012, 07:48:24 pm »
Oh so sorry Hexhammeasure - just horrid - we lost 3 ducklings a week or so ago to what I discovered later to be a fox - who quite happily walked around the house the next day - we used to have shooting on the estate so had a game keeper but all shooting ceased this year, gamekeeper gone and now the foxes are out and about. As DITW says look for fox poo - good luck with your hunt
Pygmy Goats, Shetland Sheep, Zip & Indie the Border Collies, BeeBee the cat and a wreak of a building to renovate!!

 

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