beccabonny
Songster
- Apr 21, 2020
- 51
- 164
- 146
Caught a baby ermine in the live trap today and mama was right there trying to get it out. She followed us around the yard.
It's legal in NYS to take weasels damaging property (i.e. the 10 quail they murdered a few days ago).
I'm wondering if it would be logical to use baby as bait since mama is too smart to fall for that.
We've had a good run, but as soon as she had a litter and started teaching them to hunt with *my* birds, things have to change. The quail were arguably my fault, since they weren't properly protected (they had been earmarked for culling), but their presence is freaking the chickens out and making them into nervous wrecks.
Chickens and the rest of the quail are as secure as I can make them behind 1/2" hardware cloth. I covered the inside of the coop after the last attack and check it weekly, if not daily, because I know they are checking for weaknesses too. I like the rodent control they provide (though we have the food secured in a locked truck box, so they've resorted to eating gas lines etc). They also feed the hawks (also after my birds).
I know they can't get along and it's one or the other, but it's a bummer.
My plan is to take baby out closer to dusk, fully enclosed in the hartz trap, which is inside of a pet carrier, and set it near the barn along the path they take. I'll douse myself in deet and settle in with my pellet gun and wait for mama. The rest of the babies should be simple to trap after that since they were still blind like baby bunnies four days ago.
I'm not experienced with pest control, we mainly try to prevent things. Is this a decent plan?
It's legal in NYS to take weasels damaging property (i.e. the 10 quail they murdered a few days ago).
I'm wondering if it would be logical to use baby as bait since mama is too smart to fall for that.
We've had a good run, but as soon as she had a litter and started teaching them to hunt with *my* birds, things have to change. The quail were arguably my fault, since they weren't properly protected (they had been earmarked for culling), but their presence is freaking the chickens out and making them into nervous wrecks.
Chickens and the rest of the quail are as secure as I can make them behind 1/2" hardware cloth. I covered the inside of the coop after the last attack and check it weekly, if not daily, because I know they are checking for weaknesses too. I like the rodent control they provide (though we have the food secured in a locked truck box, so they've resorted to eating gas lines etc). They also feed the hawks (also after my birds).
I know they can't get along and it's one or the other, but it's a bummer.
My plan is to take baby out closer to dusk, fully enclosed in the hartz trap, which is inside of a pet carrier, and set it near the barn along the path they take. I'll douse myself in deet and settle in with my pellet gun and wait for mama. The rest of the babies should be simple to trap after that since they were still blind like baby bunnies four days ago.
I'm not experienced with pest control, we mainly try to prevent things. Is this a decent plan?