Duck!

Shadeslayer · Post by **Shadeslayer** » Sun Jun 17, 2007 8:00 pm

Well for the badger thing...

http://www.badgers.org.uk/brocks-world/01fact2a.html

We do have badgers up here. I am two hours south of the bridge crossing to the U.P. The guy I work with (on a golf course) says that he has seen some on the fairways. also has been some chickens on local farms being killed but not buy k-9s. I think cougar.

The mongoose thing... HAHA I was thinking of a cougar and typed mongoose. Sorry bout that.

We also have very few wolves but I am not worried about it cause I live near a small city and wolves stay in wooded areas.

We have these crazy big snakes (only seen a baby) called puff adders. They are supposed to be venomous. They stretch out and puff up like a cobra.

My g-pa's dog (very small) almost got killed by an eagle so I will have to have some BIG protection on top to.

I have a black lab puppy (7 months) and he barks when anything is outside so that is good.

Thanks for your help and sorry again about the mongoose/cougar mix up.

dman762000 · Post by **dman762000** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 1:28 am

Well badgers might be a problem but you can look up how to keep badgers out of your yard, cayouts, (yes im from arkansas and yes i do wear shoes) are usually very timid and easily scared, all it takes is a dog barkin around here, as for the puff adders, are they the hog-nosed type, if they are they ain't venomous, not deadly to humans anyway, might make a sore spot on ya but they are fun to play with cause they play dead. One word of advice, since you got a duckling keep an eye out for possums they will kill small birds and young

Shadeslayer · Post by **Shadeslayer** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:35 am

holy cow never thought of possums. Man there are lot of predators. my friends dad just killed a puff adder last night and it had 5 eggs in it. He said that if they bite you enough you could die but mostly get really sore.

thanks again.

Felino · Post by **Felino** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 4:48 am

make an electric fence yourself! Flash caps anyone?

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:38 am

I don't think that would work. But electric fence would work.

Kenny_McCormic · Post by **Kenny_McCormic** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 9:58 am

buy a gun if any criters come in your yard kill them.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 10:54 am

Guns are for mean violent people!

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 11:26 am

Kurt_ wrote:Guns are for mean violent people!

Um, I'm not a mean violent person...

Limewater · Post by **Limewater** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:05 pm

Shadeslayer wrote:holy cow never thought of possums. Man there are lot of predators. my friends dad just killed a puff adder last night and it had 5 eggs in it. He said that if they bite you enough you could die but mostly get really sore.

You seem to have a few friends who have kept ducks. They would probably be your best sources of advice. I mean, they're probably facing the same issues you are.

But I agree with the motion sensor light suggestion. Or, you could try to put a radio or something on a motion sensor. The audio would help dissuade the predators, but it could also bother your neighbors, depending on how close they are.

But why did your friend's dad kill a harmless little hog-nosed snake? They just put on a show. They rarely bite people, and they're harmless, unless you're worried about them eating all of your toads or something. I guess one could go after a really small duck, though.

The thing about dying is totally B.S. The only north american snakes you have to worry about are copperheads, rattlesnakes, water moccasins, and coral snakes.

Post by **CronoTriggerfan** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 12:39 pm

Yeah, I was wondering about that, too; the hog-nosed snakes aren't venomous at all, the only venomous snake in Michigan is the massassagua rattlesnake.

CTFan

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 1:11 pm

That's the only poisonous one in Canada, too. The Eastern Mississauga Rattlesnake. "Hognose" might be thrown in there somewhere too.

vskid · Post by **vskid** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 1:41 pm

My dad turned a rattlesnake into tiny pieces with a shotgun last year while we were camping. Better the rattlesnake be turned into raccoon food (they dug up the stuff embedded in the ground that night) than for it to bite one of my little siblings (I'd kinda be fine with it biting me, cause it would make for a good story).

Limewater · Post by **Limewater** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 2:05 pm

Yeah, if they're hanging around your campsite it's a good idea to do something about them.

If you dad hadn't mangled it too bad you could have eaten it. It's not too bad, though it's definitely not kosher.

I try not to kill snakes unless I have very good reason, but once I killed a copperhead that was on a trail and carried around its heart for a several hours after. I think the old folk legend is that if you kill a snake its heart beats until sunset. I doubt the heart knows what time it is, but the heart was still beating four hours later when I finally just threw it over into some bushes for fertilizer.

Shadeslayer · Post by **Shadeslayer** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 6:52 pm

Limewater wrote:You seem to have a few friends who have kept ducks

Yeah I have a lot of friends that raise chickens, ducks, and pheasant.

Limewater wrote:But why did your friend's dad kill a harmless little hog-nosed snake?

They are one of the people that raise chickens and they have a lot of chicks so the snake is a threat to there profits. Also he just doesnt like snakes

Kurt_ wrote:Guns are for mean violent people!

They are not! They are for protection and hunting purposes. If there is a coyote on my property then I am going to protect my property and while I am at it... might as well hunt!

gamemasterAS · Post by **gamemasterAS** » Mon Jun 18, 2007 7:56 pm

Damn I want a duck now.