New tracks to identify! Pic Heavy!

[chickenjones]

I looked through the board and couldn't match these to anything. We have lost two chickens in the middle of the day (well around 3pm) on two different days. It stinks because I have been off work due to weather here and there was no noise or warning as to what was going on. I think on both occasions the hens taken had not stayed with the flock. They were on a different side of the house alone. We found some feathers, no blood, and on the most recent attack we found a few feathers and an egg yolk (disturbing). Any ideas? I was hoping some of these tracks might lead to the predator. We are thinking dog or fox but these are dog tracks. I don't know what fox tracks look like in snow as deep as ours (about 3 inches so far). I looked on line and found pics in very shallow snow so that didn't help. Some of the pics don't look like impressions for some reason, but they are. What do you think?

 

[magoochie]

They are definitely not fox tracks. A gray fox will have a small print, the size of a housecat, and a red fox is slightly bigger. They do not take long strided steps, so you would have no trouble identifiying them.

http://www.google.com/images?rlz=1T...tle&resnum=4&ved=0CEYQsAQwAw&biw=1328&bih=632

It is hard to tell exactly what they are because there is snow covering the tracks.

The first picture to me, looks like a squirrel was sitting there.

The middle ones, I am not sure are animal tracks. (because they are filled with snow, and I cant see how far apart they are)

The last one looks like some sort of rodent/vermine track.

I wonder if you had a hawk or something come in and carry them off?

 

[chickenjones]

We definitely have hawks. We have had a few close shaves and some have lost feathers before. I just don't know why there was no sound/noise at all. Usually the roo or alpha female sounds the alarm if there was a hawk flying over. I actually went outside probably right before it happened to check on them. All seemed well. Then poof! Missing chicken.

 

[swimmer]

Looks like some kind of rodent.

 

[chickenjones]

yup we are starting to think so too. Hubby came home with a new game cam and its installed so that'll will be telling!

 

[woodmort]

Quote:
The last ones are rat or mouse track tough to tell without something to determine size. Without seeing paw prints in the other ones, it is tough to tell what made them--they just look like holes in the snow made by something walking. They aren't patterned like cat tracks though.

 

[mama24]

I agree with the previous posters. 1st pic is squirrel and last pic looks like squirrel to me, too, bt I haven't see mouse or rat prints, so pp probably know more about those than I do. Middle ones don't look like anything I can recognize. Maybe if you could get a pic when they were fresh. The pattern seems really odd to me, though. Looks more like clumps of snow fell from the trees than actual tracks, kwim?

 

[Tinkspirit70]

I am thinking a rodent too, we had a rat nest under our coop when I was growing up and they killed our baby chicks...when my dad tore down the coop ...there they were...Thanks to my uncle's dog they ended up dead )

 

[Ema]

the first pic I have no clue, the middle ones are hard to tell, no definite tracks to really be able to identify, maybe bunny???

the last one I can tell you for certain is rodent, I have them all over near the bird feeders out front, and over a few logs that are hollowed out that I left to keep moles and mice from wanting to go nest near my house, I watch the rodents, which in this case are moles come out gather a few seeds and scurry right back into the logs under the snow...lol....so far they have stayed away from my house, I don't like them in my house but I like watching the wildlife do their thing :-D

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Looks like "Littlefoot" tracks, son of "Bigfoot"