A Solemn Farewell to 2 little Quail

The other morning after milking, I went about my normal morning chores.  It was still dark as I walked out to the chicken tractor that houses our new chickens and quail.  I carry a lantern with me in one hand to light my way.  In the other hand I carry a bucket of Chick Grower ration.  I pour in a generous portion for the birds to eat on and then I refill their water containers with fresh water.  I peeked through the chicken wire at a couple of little fat quail.

Plump little quail

As I stood up something caught my eye.  Oh no!  I saw two quail carcasses.  That is not good.  If you look very closely, you can see that the chicken wire has been pulled away from the bottom 2 x 4 frame of the chicken tractor.  Something from the outside reached through the chicken wire, grabbed a couple of birds and pulled them through the holes of the wire eating off the heads and most of the meat in the process. That was a smart, strong critter that ate my birds.  It sounds like a raccoon to me.

Rest in Peace, Quail

The predator pulled the poor quail's head right off last night while we were sleeping.  I can't let this continue.

Carnage

The first order of business is to get the staple gun and fasten the chicken wire back to the tractor.  I don't understand how the raccoon was able to lure the quail close enough to the fence to grab them.  Maybe the quail were sleeping right next to the frame, I don't know?  Regardless, as a defensive measure, I repaired the damage.

Mending fences

I also went on the offensive and pulled out our cage trap and placed it right next to where the killer struck last night. 

Cage trap

I baited it with the remainder of the birds that the predator didn't eat.  Maybe he'd come back for leftovers.

Baiting the trap

To sweeten the pot, I also poured a scoopful of tuna flavored cat food on top of the quail carcasses for additional bait.

Fish flavored Cat food to attract Mr. Raccoon

Now we'll just wait to see if the raccoon will return to the quail buffet line tonight and meander into our trap. Tick tock...

An update:  After a couple of nights with nothing in the trap and no additional quail dead, I wondered what had happened.  On our way to church, though, I looked and saw this guy on the side of the road right next to our house, evidently recently hit by a car.

The Culprit?

Although my trap was unsuccessful in killing our quail killer, the front right tire of a Buick did the job for us. Neat how things work out sometime.