Has anyone read Saki's "Sredni Vashtar"?
This message was edited Aug 26, 2008 6:14 PM
Fisher Cats
Both the Marten which is smaller than the Fisher ... are nearby my place ... within 10 miles. Luckily they (and raccoons) do not make there way out to our place from the river like the mink have. The mink are significantly better adapted due to their more diverse feeding and better success with breeding. I have seen Fisher in the nearby mountains ... perhaps less than 50 miles to the west. Marten are a bit smaller than Fisher ... but not much ... and are usually lighter colored to almost tan. Fisher are more like a double sized mink and have a very dark pelts like mink. Both animals ... like raccoons ... can-will kill up to 100 chickens in a single attack. If you have them in your area ... the most prudent choice would be to build a 6 sided enclosure with heavy welded wire or woven wire all around with no larger 1 inch holes. Regular or 1 inch chicken wire is totally inadequate to keep them out. Given the constraints ... I'd say most should/would choose to have small enclosures of 20 ft X 20 ft since covering large areas of ground and air would cost several thousand dollars.
Kelly in Moxee
It is a touching British short story about a little boy, his Houdan hen and a polecat (ferret). Evil grin.
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/vashtar.html
This message was edited Aug 30, 2008 12:43 AM
gee, that was totally off-topic and QUITE an enjoyable read...
Well it had a chicken AND a member of the weasel family in it. And it told about how fierce they are--so how can it be TOTALLY off topic?:0) The little boy loved his chicken. A cautionary tale.
This message was edited Aug 31, 2008 2:04 AM