These shots were taken in the night by the wildlife camera. It seems that there is a blow out in the center of the camera’s field, which is making it hard for us to see what is there. Whether this is because of the white building (though there is not much white left on that side) or the camera itself I don’t know. But there was definitely something there.
The header has been enhanced. This are the original shots.
Later this (I have enhanced this one too) .
I am fairly sure this is Scrapper. Cool shot actually. Thank you wildlife camera.
Sadly, although we have had no more break-ins, two more old chickens died today, not a mark on them, just laid down and died in the chook house in the daylight. They had been looking a bit puffy at breakfast. Poor old things. I have no idea what to make of that.
Good morning. Weirdly the remaining chickens are laying extremely well.
I hope you all have a lovely day.
your friend on the farmy
celi
The Kitchen's Garden 
56 responses to “What Do You think This is?”
Looks like a skunk to me.
I agree.
Is the first one a skunk? It looks skunky to me. 🙂 I have seen one of my cats chase a skunk in our yard, just to play, but thank goodness, no fumes were expelled! C, I sent you an e-mail last night from my Flickr account with some pics. Did you get it?
Have a great day!
Going on past history – Skunk, maybe? Sad that your chooks survived the horrendous winter and are now keeling over in the Spring. Lets hope no more are lost. Laura
I would have never guessed that the first two shots were of Scrapper! I would have thought.. “skunk maybe”. Ha! Poor chickens. I wonder if they are prone to stress and if it makes them sick. I know if a Mink was stealing and eating my friends, I would be pretty upset about it!
It would seem low and slinky to me too so I’d reckon skunk, having never had the misfortune to meet one personally, unless your mink/weasel friends have the habit of shaking their tails about. 🙂
Having looked back at your previous wildlife camera shot in the chicken house, I think the problem with the shots is overexposure and lens flare. If it has manual controls and flash, try setting the shutter at 1/60th and at that distance from the building, the aperture at about f8. Then make sure there isn’t a building light shining into the camera lens. The best way to get the pictures right is to test the exposure in the location before leaving the camera unattended. I hope this is useful info – do send me an email if I can help further with the settings 😉
What a mystery about your two chickens today C. This is no doubt a really silly question, but, can you eat those 2 chickens? Or do you have to know what they died from before you do that?
Have a happy farmy day and here’s to you getting better pics of the intruder tonight.
🙂 Mandy xo
I agree. Skunk. I do like the shot of Scrapper!
That’s a skunk, no doubt. Do you still have the light on at night in the chook house? Might explain the laying – I’ve been told that more ‘daylight’ can cause that.
There’s not much you can do about the light in the shots, other than to move the camera so that the IR flash doesn’t reflect off the wall. Maybe angle it slightly? I’ve never known a trail cam that had adjustable settings…
Have a good day!
sure looks like a skunk to me too. that is the way they hold their tails. plus, you know you have skunks there so it makes sense.
In the UK I’d be tempted to say the first two remind me of Badger. Somewhat similar in US would be Raccoon? Do you have Raccoon near you? Failing that I imagine it’s a skunk.
Put a piece of cheesecloth (one layer at first) over the flash to reduce it. You could also re-direct the flash a bit with a bit of white cardboard.
cheesecloth is an interesting thought.. I might try that.. c
Skunk! Good luck, C. I’m so sorry you have had more girls die.
First photo looks like a skunk. Last photo looks like a cat.
Sorry to hear you’ve lost more chickens.
HI Celi! So sorry to hear about two more chickens. Very weird! Are they old girls? Is it possible they died from old age? I know that egg production slows down after about two years, and that’s often when folks harvest them for food.
both old.. but I have a feeling the marauder may be coming out in the daytime now, I just found a new hole from the shed door in the wall..will work on their new house again today.. c