Owl? The guineas are in an enclosed run 9/16!

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Situtaion Sunday the 5th I saw and owl at my neighbors about 1/4 mile away. I toook note and contacted my uncle about methods of protecting my flock. Well last night at 2:36 am I hear the guineas squawking in the baby monitor I have in my coop. I get the gun, run out back door, the guineas roost right outside my back door in the maples. I see the ruckas in the tree take a shot but miss because #1 it is pitch dark and #2 I am not that great of a shot, but was aiming out a little, as not to hit the other guineas. I did not see anything just heard the ruckas. Well the guinea takes off back towards the wood line and the predator takes off in the opposite direction flying. Dang it. I went as far as I could make myself looking for the guinea but I live OUT in the boones and do not venture too far without someone here. I came in and turned the monitor up 100% to listen for anything but heard nothing the rest of the night.
There is no carcass and I am missing a guinea, only feathers in the direction the guinea took off in. This thing has to go NOW not tomorrow. I can sit up and wait for it but what are my options. I have been given a couple suggestions from my uncle, and I do not want to shoot in the tree because there are 14 now guineas that roost in 2 trees I have a double barrel pump and would be shooting from 30 feet away, I can not imagine that would be too wise. Can I shoot this thing if it is killing my livestock in TN. Or are there other ways to take care of this? Will it not just pick my guineas off one by one. I am reinforcing my coop with the Silkies in it now, there was 3 ft wide x 12 long opening for sunlight to come in, but I will get it covered before I lay down tonight.
I will be searching online till I get some responses. Do the owl decoys work at all? What can I do? Is this owl feeding babies?
Thanks for you help!

 

[Schultz]

Sorry to hear about your attack. I wish I had more advise for you on the owl. I do however know that the owl decoys that we have havn't scared off the coons or anything else that I know of. I don't think that they work. Good luck to you!

 

[bobbi-j]

I believe owls are federally protected. Not sure - you'll want to do some research on that, and if you can legally kill them if they're killing your birds. I wouldn't go shooting at things in the night when you don't have a clear target. Especially since you said that you're not that good of a shot. You don't want to accidentally kill or injure one or more of your guineas. Is there any way you can put your guineas in at night? I've heard that they like to roost outside, but it may be the only way to keep them safe at night. Not only from owls, but also raccoons.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Ok so I can not Legally shoot the thing right? So what are my options? If I set a leg trap for maybe the buzzards or some other predator, and he gets caught in it then it would be of no fault of my own. I know this thing will pick my guineas off one by one till they are gone. And then he may try for my Silkies and that is NOT going to happen. We have a rule around here if you kill livestock you will be around long, and that goes for my purebreed pit-bull, my 8 year old nephews lab, as well as this owl.

 

[bobbi-j]

Unfortunately, I think your local conservation officer would still hold you responsible if you *accidentally* caught an owl in your trap. (Not sure you can legally trap buzzards, either, but that's a whole new can of worms. There are very few birds that you can legally kill....) The thing with a leg-hold is, you don't know what's going to stick its foot in there and you may catch something that you don't want to - like a pet. I still think that the only way to guarantee your guineas' safety is to make sure they are inside at night, and in a building that you can close up for the night. A friend of mine had a great horned owl fly into her barn one night while she was in there putting her chickens up. I hope you can figure something out.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

The guenies have a coop but will not use it at all. It is inside electric fencing, and sit much higher than the silkie coops. Maybe if I catch them and put them up a few nights they will get it. I strictly use the guenies as pest control. They work great! As far as the leg trap I would put it on a post in the ground attach the leg trap to the top and no pets would get caught in it. Although I am not opposed to killing animals at large or wildlife if they are killing my livestock. And I expect the same. I read about the predator light thing and may bite the bullet and buy that thing, but I will have to figure out how to install it. What if I played a radio out there on a talk station. Wonder if that would help? My mind is working hard over here. I appreciate the help. I also saw a you tube video of someone with a moving owl and she played owl sounds on a cd. I am working on some really nice showgirls maybe before Christmas and will not risk having an owl roaming around making a buffet with my pets. NO WAY IN well you know. Gotta go work on my Silkie run I will check back later.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
That will for sure get you in big trouble, trapping bird of prey. Setting leghold trays like that ,just show you are trapping bird of prey, and no other predators.
I learn as a very young boy....NEVER EVER shoot at anything until you are sure of your target...that is one way hunters get kill every year.

If you can pen them at night for a few week,maybe the owl will find another hunting area. The light may help I have never try one.

Also be careful post about killing and trapping bird of prey. More than one person have been caught by doing so.

 

[SteveP]

Birds of prey (owls, hawks and vultures) are protected federally and it is a HUGE no no to trap, kill or otherwise harass them. I understand the issue here and would probably be in the same predicament as you, just be careful. You may want to contact your local DNR agent or conservation agent or game warden (whatever you call them in your neck of the woods) as to what measures to take should it return, make sure NOT to mention you have fired a warning shot as it could land you in some hot water. The light sounds like a decent idea and worth a shot. The local agent may be able to turn you on to other methods of fixing this problem as well.

Steve

 

[Papadavid]

Time to SS&S. Good luck.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Ok so no more shots fired. The Silkies coop is now almost 100% covered. I ran out of fencing for the top but will get it tomorrow. I will start making the quineas nest boxes tomorrow as well and attach them directly the 16 x16 dog kennel and will leave either my pit or my boxer in the kennel over night. It is a wooden kennel and has 2 2 x 6's about 14 foot off the ground, spaced perfectly for me to build some sort of nesting boxes for them and until this owl dies or moves on. I can put corn on the step ladder to encourage the to go there and maybe they will start going on their own eventually. The dogs do not bother any of my animals they were raised with them and will protect them. I think this will work. I was not shooting to kill the first time jsut shooting to scare it away. I did not know at 2 am if it was an owl, a cat, a coon or what all I could see was the ruckas in the trees. But with no carcass discovered this morning, I asume it was that owl. I will post pics when I get the boxes finished. But I think this will work. My neighbor came down to help me with the ideas. This has to be resolved before my Showgirl gets here. Although he will most likely stay inside with me for awhile simply because I can not imagine putting him outside I have waited for him for so long. I feel like I have done everything to protect my Silkies and do admit I have neglected the guineas, but I am trying to fix it now. I will catch them (if I can) in about 30 mins and put them in there coop for the night. I have the monitor on and will keep it at full volume tonight so I can be quicker to respond if the thing comes back. But I will not shoot at it I will just yell and scream to scare it off. I just hope I can catch the guineas and put them up so I will get some sleep tonight. I have a feeling once I go for one the others will catch on and hit the trees. This should be intresting to watch wish I had a live webcam. I am sure you all would enjoy watching me try and catch them. Wish me luck gotta go. Thanks for the heads up you guys are the best.