What kind of animal could do this??
Me and a friend bought some young quail and I have them in a pen with 1 inch wire mesh. They are almost ready to let go in the wild. Quail is something you just dont see here in Southwest Va. Anyway something has killed 6 of my 15, but whatever it is only eats the heads off and leaves the carcus. Im turning them loose this evening so maybe they can stand a chance to live. I have set steel trapps around the pen but havent caught a thing. Anyone know what kind of animal is beheading our baby quail? Hedog would be the expert here if he see's the thread.
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If the head is the only part missing you can bet it was a Weasel.
Coons will eat the whole bird.....
If you want to catch them use one of those big rat traps.
They are just a large model of the plain old mouse traps...
Or a 110 Conibear will also work....
Sardines work very well for bait......
They don't weigh enough to set off a leg hold trap........0 -
...I was trying to figure this one out, not too much of a weasel problem down here; except for the two legged kind....but Bruce nailed it, you can take his answer to the bank. He is really a mix reincarnate between Davy Crocket/Daniel Boone...[:D][^] 
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i agree with the weasle
we have had the same problem in our phesant cages and when we had quail0 -
Owls also eat only brains if they are well fed. Additionally, they will continue to kill, even if not hungry, if they are stimulated by paniced prey. If the top of the pen is open, I would bet on an owl. 0 -
No the top is closed with tin and wire, but could a weasel fit in and out of a hole about an inch big around? If so I would say you guys nailed it. Ive never seen a weasel around here but I guess there here. Then I wonder if the Owl thing is possible it could catch one between the wire and eat its head off, and not be able to pull the carcuss out? 0 -
Owls catch prey with their feet, so it is unlikly to be an owl if the top is secure. 1" would be pretty small for even a least weasle to squeeze through. It is clearly not a snake, they do not eat that way, and would swallow the whole chick. 0 -
quote:but could a weasel fit in and out of a hole about an inch big around?
Yes they can!0 -
quote:What kind of animal could do this??aaahhhh.....my ex mother in law[}:)] 0 -
quote:What kind of animal could do this??
aaahhhh.....my ex mother in law
LMAO, I needed that![:D]0 -
Off another site... "I had a feral house cat bite the heads off of pheasant and quail. The chicke wire has open just enough for it to reach its paw through and grab the birds' and pull their heads through." 0 -
if that's the case, the little headless corpses should all be at the edge of the cage. 0 -
I'll put in another vote for the weasel. 0 -
What about a possum? I know one can't get through the wire, but coons and possums are crafty, along with the weasel. Oh, what about a mink? 0 -
Mrs likemhot has a pet ferret, part of the weasel, otter, mink type of critter family, and he can and does get into EVERYTHING. They are carnivores and can be picky about what they eat. My vote and my.02 0 -
Ozzy Osbourne.. 0 -
Chupacabra? 0 -
quote:Originally posted by select-fire
Ozzy Osbourne..
To obvious!!!! Besides Weasel has already been submitted!!!0 -
I've heard of rats getting in the brooder house and killing chicks. 0 -
Weasels will usually eat the entrails as well, unless the head was the only part they could get through the 1" mesh. Plus, a weasel inside the pen would kill everyone of the birds just for the fun of it. If from the outside the bodies would not be near the fence neccessarily since they tend to run around headless for a while once decapitated. I can't see a weasel with the patience to wait for a bird to poke it's head out time and again. A cat would have the patience to wait time and again for a bird to get near the fence and would take the head off easily. A female with a litter would need a half dozen heads. 0 -
I would think it would be a cat[:0]
The second most dispised animal in my area0 -
We raise quail year around and had that happen last year to a batch of fairly small quail. We also have small hardware cloth around the bottom of the pens and still found most of the bodies inside with heads missing. Nothing happened to the adult pair so it was real strange. Most of the bodies were near the outside of the pen. Only time its ever happened and never could figure it out. 0 -
I planted two long rows of Peaches and Cream sweet corn this past spring....and the next day, every seed had been dug up and devoured. Footprints indicated the culprits were 'coons.
So, I took one of those plastic crates you used to see softdrink bottles in, stands about 14 inches tall, and about 14 inches to the side, turned it upside down and put a couple of open cans of tuna and catfood under it, with an old fashioned, real heavy concrete block on top.
I secreted myself, with my .22 magnum rifle, in the window of a bathroom that faced the baited site. I had on hand a 1,000,000 candlepower portable light, and every ten minutes or so, I'd light up the bait.
But, bigtime hunter that I am, I feel asleep, and the next day, the coons had managed to reach in and from the middle of the upside down crate, had drawn all the cans to the edge, and not only had eaten the bait through the plastic mesh of the crate, but had apparently licked the insides of the cans dishwasher clean.
Well, I managed to stay awake the next night, and over the course of a week or so, notched my gun with five new 'coons.
My garden was left pretty much unmolested until recently taken over by deer.
Sahagan0 -
Ive seen crows pop the heads off in the feild. 0 -
Had sort of the same thing happen to my quail with 1/2 wire. The feet and legs of several quail were gone and they were dead. Figured a coon had snared a leg, pulled it thru and bittened it off. All quail so bitten were dead. Tom 0
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