help with predator

brian_010 · #1 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 03:08 PM

does anyone know what kind of predator would enter a dovecote and take the heads of two doves kill a further 4 and put them together in a pile,the following night return and take two young doves from their nest either completely eaten or taken away and also eat the contents of two eggs,the dovecote has an enclosure of wire mesh on timber frame round it and is not easily accessible as is nearly 6' off the ground but there is a bush about a foot away from the bottom of dovecote,nearest feild is about 100m away

fluff11 · #2 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 03:44 PM

mmm... rat,weasel or stoat??????????

Paul mabbott · #3 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 03:46 PM

mink?

fluff11 · #4 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 03:56 PM

Just had chat with other half and he reckons a weasel. Says they are known as the "tidy killer",a friend had 40 odd canaries killed in an aviary and "piled up" exactly as descibed. He set a live trap and caught a weasel after the event. Weasels are so small bodywise that they can get through a gap that a mouse can.

brian_010 · #5 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 03:56 PM

thanks for reply paul,i know there were a family of mink at a pool i used to fish about 1/2 mile away,i did report this to staffordshire wildlife trust but wether they have been captured i do not know as i havent been there for a couple of years

brian_010 · #6 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 04:00 PM

thankyou for your help,sounds like a weasel is the likely culprit,hopefully find out for sure in the morning,trap has been set today

bigdave60dog · #7 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 04:13 PM

Busy little devil by the sound of it. I would blame a rat. They do all of these things and are very agil climbers. More so than weasels. Mink or Pine marten are also possible.
If you check on the feathers which have been pulled out, A feathered predator will leave "kinks" in the base of the feathers where he has grabbed the stem with his hooked beak. Four legged predators lalways gnaw the base of the faethers off. Rats do a very clean job of gnawing. There will likely be some droppings of some sort left by the culprit either on the prey, in the room or close by somewhere. That should help.

salukiwhippet · #8 (**permalink**) 16-01-2010, 05:29 PM

Mustelids normally leave 'fang marks', vampire style at the back of the head/neck area. Rats seem to get hold of whatever they can. I would suspect a mustelid but I did hear of a doe rat digging into a brooder house of young (10 days or so) pheasants and killing and caching about 80 of them!! She came to grief in a Fenn the next day.

What sort of trap have you set and baited with what? Good luck!

James

The Woodman · #9 (**permalink**) 17-01-2010, 01:55 PM

It's an interesting one. If you have a mesh barrier, this should exclude the smaller mustelids and rats. Pine Marten has been suggested and this beast can easily jump six feet from ground level.

I understand you live in Staffs. A Pine Marten was photographed near Consall in the Churnett Valley a couple of of years ago and could be the culprit.

For some expert local help quickly I suggest you contact the chairman of Staffordshire Mammal Group via their website who I know will do everything in his power to assist.

It would be a shame to lethally trap (I don't know what sort of trap you are using) one of these Biodiversity Action Plan species.

Staffordshire Mammal Group -

paulinemiller10 · #10 (**permalink**) 17-01-2010, 02:22 PM

I had one of my doves taken a few years ago now, it was taken by a polecat, it got through the air vent which was very narrow, pulled the dove through, left a blood trail, I put wire over the vent, and a live cam and bate in a home made shutter trap, saw him go in, then let string go, caught two of them, they were relocated to my friends smallholding, she saw them with babes later in the year. Pauline.