- Jun 8, 2014
- 9
- 5
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Hi, I posted a few days back about my other of two roosters that was killed by what at the time I perceived to be a possum, but I'm not so sure anymore. I came home this past Monday to find the gruesome scene of my other rooster, Squash, his cold lifeless body frozen to the ground and the extent of the attack was his throat and neck were cut open and picked apart with the feathers on his neck ripped out and his head and face chewed until unrecognizable as my own Squash with his comb, waddles, and eyes gone. In the heat of the moment when I saw a possum crossing the yard the opposite direction, I shot and killed it. I felt temporarily that justice had been served but Now I'm not so sure. We live in a rural area just outside Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It's a long, nearly 2 mile road with maybe a mere 25 houses on it. We have 2 acres, our next door neighbor has 5 and the field next to us is 18. People just let their animals kind of roam wild around here, Dogs, cats, even peacocks and chickens. I've had multiple experiences with cats. About 6months ago, we had different next door neighbors, they had an orange young cat who was the nicest little guy, I thought was a stray until i saw him in their yard. I have seen multiple cats that I'm sure were feral in our front yard with at least 3 or 4 kittens following and they all grew up because i once caught them tormenting our roosters. I also had a scary experience after my first rooster Peep died, Squash was sleeping in his coop when i went to lock him up, unbeknown to me, a cat was cuddling with him, before I could slide the door shut, a cat came charging out and almost gave me a heart attack. Now I just hot home from work, got out of my truck, Walked around the side of my house to the back and knew I saw movement at the now vacant chicken coop in the pitch blackness, not to brag but I have 20-10 vision and am a hunter, so i can pick out the littlest things of movement in the shadows. I stood still for a minute and waited, and slowly I saw a creature crawling along and it hid behind a tree. At that moment the motion sensor light came on and exposed just beyond sight, the outline of a cat's head peeking from behind a tree. It slowly kept out and then i bolted after it and it ran around the front yard and out of sight. When i got home the previous day, I also saw the same large creature in my yard in broad daylight but by the time I ran out to the back with the gun ready for what I thought was a possum, was only a rabbit far off. I have no idea if what I saw was a house cat because if it was it was about 3 times as large as a normal house cat, it was very large, unnaturally large for a house cat. It did not have a collar, so if it was, I don't know also if it was a feral or domestic cat, but by the way it was so sneaky and skittish, I don't think It acted very tame. It would be a slim to none chance that there is a bobcat or lynx in this area, so I was debating n whether to trap it, just wait until I see it again to shoot it, but then the question came up, when is it legal to kill a cat? If it were feral or tame? Does that matter? If it killed my livestock/pets? If it's trespassing and disturbing my property. Not that I would want to kill it but, If I am to get more chickens this spring, they will not fall victim to some entitled neighborhood bully. Please help and let me know what the laws say because all I could find was about dogs, nothing on cats, and for all I know it could have been a racoon, but I'm almost positive it was a giant feral cat. Maybe someone could even tell me by the style of attack what it was because the description sounds like a racoon, but a possum was at the scene of the crime, running away and killed, and now a giant cat sneaking around my chicken coop and yard for more than a day? What killed my chicken, Was the killing of the possum justified, and can I kill this cat in these circumstances if it appears again?
Thanks a ton
Sincerely, M4 EnthUZIast
P.S. Sorry I really tend to ramble a lot, for just small questions. and what should be small posts.
Thanks a ton
Sincerely, M4 EnthUZIast
P.S. Sorry I really tend to ramble a lot, for just small questions. and what should be small posts.