Party Possum
Oh yes, the predator party isn’t over yet. The Farmer continues to bait the trap now and then. Our last catch was this fellow:
Yes, this party animal is an opossum, commonly called a possum, a member of the largest order of marsupials in the Western Hemisphere.
The name opossum was taken from the Powhatan language of the Virginia Algonquin Indians. It is thought to ultimately be derived from their word for “white beast”.
An Opossum’s Diet
Although their diet is mostly carrion, which is how so many end up as roadkill themselves, they will also eat waste from garbage cans, and are not averse to helping themselves to any pet food they find. They are another one of those animals that will adapt to living close to humans and taking advantage of the situation.
They don’t look very ferocious, do they?
Well, don’t be deceived. Look on any forum about raising chickens, and you’re going to hear horror stories about opossums. Their modus operandi?
One or two birds killed; mauled, abdomen eaten.
Nice, huh? It’s bad enough they kill your chickens, but if they are going to do so, they might as well eat the entire bird, instead of just bits of one or two.
Which Predator Was At The Party?
Actually, you can get a fairly good idea which animal is taking your chickens by the clues they leave behind.
| Clues Left Behind by Predator | Animal Likely Responsible |
| Several birds killed; mauled but not eaten | Dog |
| One or more birds dead / missing; no more than one removed; pile of feathers; those not removed with broken necks, clumps of feathers taken from neck | Fox |
| One bird killed; head eaten | Hawk |
| Several birds disappeared, no trace | Humans |
| Several birds killed; lots of small bites on body, bodies neatly piled, some heads eaten | Mink or Weasel |
| One or two birds killed; mauled, abdomen eaten | Opossum |
| Several birds killed; heads and crops eaten. Or birds still inside the fence but missing limbs. | Raccoon |
| Chicks killed; abdomen eaten, lingering smell | Skunk |
(source About Chicken Predators)
As you can see, foxes and opossums aren’t the worst predators at the party. Of the wild animals, a raccoon or weasel will cause a lot more harm to a flock of chickens, since they are even worse about eating only a small amount… but killing lots of birds.
Domestic Predators
Perhaps even harder to take is the more “civilized” of the predators. Dogs that are let run loose can be a real problem, and most often they just maul and kill. And of course, that happens not only with chickens, but sheep, goats and other small farm livestock.
The problem is when people move to the country and think it’s okay to just let their dogs run free. But they are usually gone a large part of the day, and even if they aren’t, they aren’t outside watching the dog the entire time and have NO idea what that dog is up to.
One roaming dog is bad enough, but when they gather into a pack, the troubles multiply as the “mob mentality” takes over.
The Most Sly Predator To Crash the Party
Oh yes, there is one more predator that crashes the party and our farm has not been immune. This sneaky predator will take your animals and sometimes even the cages.
Maybe some humans don’t think it’s wrong to steal other people’s animals. “It’s only a chicken!” or “It’s only a rabbit!” Well, stealing is stealing. If it’s not yours, and you take it, you stole it.
Actually, it was the 2-legged predators that prompted us to get dogs in the first place. We had trouble with human predators before we ever had any with the wild animal predators. Pretty sad, isn’t it?
Fencing is Not Enough. . .
Good fencing will keep your animals IN, but it’s won’t keep all the predators OUT. Ironically, even when the problem is stray dogs… the answer is often your not-stray dog.
Which is why I’m on the look-out for a good livestock guardian dog!
