A mink or minks devastated our flock of hens. I talked to a neighbor down the road and minks wiped out his neighbor's entire flock. It's not just us. Misery loves company, I presume, but that doesn't make it any better. So I began putting a plan into action. This plan involves retribution. I gutted all fifteen of the hens that the mink killed and collected it all in a bucket. Then, for a couple days, I hunted squirrels in the yard, killed 14 of them and added their guts to my bucket.
This may look nasty to you, but to a varmint, like a mink that likes smelly, bloody stuff, this is heaven.
I put a little bit of everything in the back of the trap to try to entice the mink to pay a visit. You can see a chicken head, a squirrel tail, gizzards and entrails. Looks appetizing... for a varmint. The trap is set, along with two others, and we'll see if we're successful in the morning.
We were only somewhat successful. I caught the neighbor's cat. She wasn't happy, but she wasn't hurt. I let her go. I didn't tell the neighbors. No harm. No foul. Let's bait up and try again.
The next night, something had gotten into the trap, eaten the bait, and escaped somehow. In fact, one of the traps had been drug out into the woods. I fixed that issue by wiring the trap to the fence. We'll bait up and try again.
Well, looky here. In the snap trap, we seem to have caught a fat possum.
After the arraignment, the perpetrator was given a speedy trial and was found guilty. At the sentencing, the jury passed down the death penalty. The sentence was carried out swiftly and efficiently on the mink.
I will continue to bait up the traps nightly, until I catch everything or until I run out of guts in my bucket.
Hopefully, our hens will be spared from the murderous nightly rampages that they've been subject to here lately.
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