Attack in the light?
So...it was a very strange night last night. There was a foreboding atmosphere about the darkness which made us feel very uneasy. It didn't stop Will from falling asleep though so he didn't hear the alarm call of another hen. I got up thinking it might be one of our hens but they were all ok. When the fox first attacked next door one of their hens must have escaped out of the shed and later in the night the fox returned and found it.There was also a strange, regular, deep rasping sound which Will heard before drifting off which he thought might be a Koala. There were a few other unidentifiable noises that did not help with the atmosphere. Eventually I too went of to sleep. Will was up at 4.00 and off to the Cheese Factory and I fell back asleep and woke at 7.15. I could still hear the deep, rasping sound so got up and went to investigate it.I followed the sound through the bush behind the dam and down the hill to the kiwi fruit orchard. Whatever was making the sound sounded like it was distressed or trapped but I was wrong. Will was wrong too. It wasn't a koala....
It was a stag who was bellowing in the middle of his herd. I didn't manage to get a picture of him before he and the herd disappeared into the bush.I let the 'chooks' out before heading off to work at 10.00. I got home about 1.30 and Will was already home. He said that he couldn't find all of the birds. Yudhisthira was outside the house keeping guard over Pacha who was hiding under a cupboard at the front. Sheng-Mu was laying low in one of the nesting boxes in the pen. The Guinea fowl were huddled around the back by the old pen and Arke and the as yet un-named black hen were missing. We did find a clump of black feathers by the dam and everything seemed to point to another fox attack but during daylight.Something had definitely spooked the birds as they were all acting strangely all afternoon. I felt bad that I had let them all out in the morning and felt that I shouldn't have after the events of the night before but Arke and the un-named black hen turned up again just before sunset as they wandering back out of the bush. It was such a relief.We have re-set the fox trap...
It was a stag who was bellowing in the middle of his herd. I didn't manage to get a picture of him before he and the herd disappeared into the bush.I let the 'chooks' out before heading off to work at 10.00. I got home about 1.30 and Will was already home. He said that he couldn't find all of the birds. Yudhisthira was outside the house keeping guard over Pacha who was hiding under a cupboard at the front. Sheng-Mu was laying low in one of the nesting boxes in the pen. The Guinea fowl were huddled around the back by the old pen and Arke and the as yet un-named black hen were missing. We did find a clump of black feathers by the dam and everything seemed to point to another fox attack but during daylight.Something had definitely spooked the birds as they were all acting strangely all afternoon. I felt bad that I had let them all out in the morning and felt that I shouldn't have after the events of the night before but Arke and the un-named black hen turned up again just before sunset as they wandering back out of the bush. It was such a relief.We have re-set the fox trap...