(no subject)

[pacificpikachu]

...Man. It's 5 AM. I should not be posting, but...

I woke up about fifteen minutes ago to the sound of a jay squalling and flapping its wings. I keep my birds out on the deck right outside my bedroom window. Normal logic would say, "Oh, there's something wrong--I'd better check." But I was sleeping, so my sleepiness basically said "One of them probably fell off the perch or something." But it didn't stop, so I peeked out the window.

There was a raccoon there. So I yelled at it through the window to scare it off, and it saw me and ran away.

But I went out there, and one of my little jays had been pulled through part of the cage by his wings and had his head gnawed off. :(

I feel so bad about it... I know it's not technically my fault, and this happens in nature all the time, and even if I had woken up earlier he still probably would have been doomed, but still... Poor little jay. He was so healthy and happy. It was really disturbing to find him like that.

With some difficulty, I pulled him out of the cage to dispose of his body. Then I promptly moved the remaining jays and crow into the sun room.

Needless to say, I'm having some trouble getting back to sleep now. This is made doubly difficult because my arm still hurts like crazy.

*Sigh* Rest in peace, little jay. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you.

Comments

[ylmik-wisty.livejournal.com]

How ironic and unfortunate is that. :( I was about to post because last night at around 3am my pet rabbit was also attacked by a raccoon. It was the first time anything like that has ever happened to me or any of my rabbits, so I'm feeling very paranoid right now. I heard the squealing I ran downstairs and out right away, and the raccoon had gotten into my rabbit's open pen (we have a large pen, and a cage raised on platforms in the middle that has no door, it rotted off). My rabbit was okay but his fur was mussed a bit and wet, so now I'm wondering if I should be worrying about rabies. He didn't get cut but he groomed himself of course afterwards so I don't know... And I don't know how to protect him if the raccoon comes back, we're leaving for a camping trip in August so I can't just wake up and save him again... erk. I wish I took a swing at the raccoon. XD;; When it climbed up the fence it was really close and I was holding my stick which is more like a branch staff.

I'm so sorry about the jay. :( It does sound like even if you had gotten up at your initial impulse that it was already a goner, poor thing. What a bad night, huh.

[pacificpikachu.livejournal.com]

Aw, I'm sorry to hear about your rabbit! You may want to call the vet and see if they recommend any treatment.

We live in the mountains/countryside, so I've actually lost a lot of pets to wild animals. :( I had four pet doves that were killed by skunks, a chinese pheasant that was killed by something, a guinea pig that was killed by something and many others. At our old house, animals seemed to get our pets fairly often... One time, some foxes made off with our landlord's roosters. It sometimes seems to happen no matter how hard you try to prevent it. Luckily, I haven't had anything touch my pets recently, as my new chicken coop is really secure and nothing dares to come on the deck (where my three guinea pigs are) at my mom's house because of our dogs. The jay attack happened here at my dad's, where we don't have a dog.

I really hope you find a way to protect your rabbits! You might want to consider putting up some in-ground electric wire around the chicken coop (you can get it at most hardware stores), and temporarily, if you pour vinegar in the ground around the whole perimeter of the pen or even your yard, it might help discourage them.

[trf-chan.livejournal.com]

That's awful. I'm sorry. <3 *hugs*

[bjango.livejournal.com]

That's so horrible! I'm sorry too! ;_;