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What Killed My Pheasants?


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To add a bit of variety to our shoot I hatched out a dozen white pheasants a couple of months ago. I found all but 2 dead the other day. One or two had been completely eaten, the rest all partially or completely decapitated with some damage the back.

We have no fox on the island so the pen was made cat proof only. The only way in was via a couple of small gaps 2 -3 inches wide. The roof is covered. My first suspect is polecat. Can anyone tell me the best way to trap them?

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Any chance a tawny owl- possibly with young in tow- could have found its way in? . They will take quite big poults and often single out the funny coloured ones. Talon marks on the back and decapitation are the trade marks but if the pen is covered by fine mesh its unlikely.

You could spread some smooth sand round the pen and look for tracks.

Having just googled "Polecats IOM" it seems Manx polecats are descended from escaped ferrets. Even so, if it looks like a polecat, smells like a polecat;best assume it is protected like polecat.

Edited by comanche
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We did indeed have a few after some clown released half a dozen or so. A friend of mine knocked the first one down in a post van, which is how most of the rest met their demise. A couple were shot. That was about 15 or more years ago.

As to the traps, I have borrowed a Fenn 4 & placed it in a length of pipe along one side of the pen. Sound correct?

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  • 1 month later...

what year were these pole cats released iknow afew lads on the island who have hunted for years,say they never heard of pole cats being released,as regards controlling rabbits the manx goverment used pay a fifty pence bounty on the tails but stopped in the early nineties.rabbits pretty scarce there now.

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