When I went to feed the chickens yesterday, I found feathers in the roosting shed. The other chickens were spooked. I knew this could not be good.
When I searched further I found the mutilated carcass at the corner under some privets I left to provide shelter.
I was heading to work, but I took the time to bury the poor bird. It was the one tame enough to peck scratch feed from my hand. I was not a happy boy.
Experience told me it was either a racoon or a possum so when I returned from work in the afternoon, I pulled the humane trap from the shed, and I went back into the house to fetch a can of sardines.
This morning when I looked out the garden door, I saw mister opossum in the trap.
After breakfast, I loaded the trap into the back of the truck. The critter now lives in another zip code.
This afternoon I cut the grass and came upon a stump on the new property that had some kind of tall plants with red tips. The picture wasn't that good, but it's all I have today.
I hope there were no opossums in your hen house.
When I searched further I found the mutilated carcass at the corner under some privets I left to provide shelter.
I was heading to work, but I took the time to bury the poor bird. It was the one tame enough to peck scratch feed from my hand. I was not a happy boy.
Experience told me it was either a racoon or a possum so when I returned from work in the afternoon, I pulled the humane trap from the shed, and I went back into the house to fetch a can of sardines.
This morning when I looked out the garden door, I saw mister opossum in the trap.
After breakfast, I loaded the trap into the back of the truck. The critter now lives in another zip code.
This afternoon I cut the grass and came upon a stump on the new property that had some kind of tall plants with red tips. The picture wasn't that good, but it's all I have today.
I hope there were no opossums in your hen house.
There were definitely no opposums in my hen house.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad that you catch & release!!
ReplyDeletei thought they just ate insects and eggs, but then they do have those nasty teeth. I had family of opossums trapped in my crawl space once, maybe I'll rerun that story soon.
ReplyDeleteOh, yes...opossums...they are cute in a snarky rat kind of way. Glad you caught him and set him free. I hope the rest are now aom
ReplyDeleteI meant aok
ReplyDeleteAt least you caught the critter before it did any more damage.
ReplyDeleteToo bad about the opossum in the hen house.
ReplyDeleteI think your red plant is sheep's sorrel. When I was a kid, my classmates called it sour grass, and we chewed the stems of the sour grass growing next to the playground.
Just recently I saw a field full of it. The amount of color it gave the field was remarkable.
Sorry to hear you lost a pet hen. and only you could take a photo of a stump and make it interesting. ha
ReplyDeleteLisa
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ReplyDeleteSo sorry about your poor chicken. We don't have opossums here but we do have raccoons. I wish you had a closeup of the plant in question. Could it be some kind of sorrel? We have sheep sorrel with red tiny flowers on long stalks. the leaves are edible and taste sourish. JB
ReplyDeleteI'm happy you caught him and moved him away! Sorry for your loss!
ReplyDeleteThe only opossums we see here are road kill. they hide/live in a patch of eucalyptus and brush near a busy road.
ReplyDeleteI am very sorry about the hen. I have been surprised by many an opossum in my life while growing up in rural Kentucky!
ReplyDelete