Everythings gone. Lesson in predator protection

[S2G]

Let this be a lesson to everyone on predator protection. Go the extra mile & then some. I had my group of russians in a big pen with a cage over it. Well something broke in & took off with all 8 today during broad daylight. Took my males out of each pen & then hauled off all 6 females. I usually use an electric fence, but decided the cage was enough. They shimmied the halves enough apart to get in. All thats left are slight dig marks where they dug them out from under the bushes. No signs of any shells yet.

Took my 2 river cooter growouts as well. I think this is a group of raccoons.

 

[wellington]

OMG I am so very sorry. That's just awful.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

This is heartbreaking! I’m so sorry!😭💔

 

[zovick]

Let this be a lesson to everyone on predator protection. Go the extra mile & then some. I had my group of russians in a big pen with a cage over it. Well something broke in & took off with all 8 today during broad daylight. Took my males out of each pen & then hauled off all 6 females. I usually use an electric fence, but decided the cage was enough. They shimmied the halves enough apart to get in. All thats left are slight dig marks where they dug them out from under the bushes. No signs of any shells yet.

Took my 2 river cooter growouts as well. I think this is a group of raccoons.

Sorry for your loss.

Raccoons are nocturnal and don't normally travel in groups (other than mothers with a couple or so babies), so I am wondering if the culprit could be something else. Is there any possibility this could have been a theft by a human? It seems very unlikely that ten animals would be taken all at once by an animal predator.

Maybe a pack of coyotes could do it, but I think they would have to be near starving to go after ten turtles/tortoises. Not sure about bears possibly eating turtles/tortoises. Do you have any of them near you?

How big were the animals which were taken?

Did you notice any animal tracks? If so, and you can post photos, I might be able to ID them. I took a course on doing so in my younger days.

 

[Markw84]

Sorry for your loss.

Raccoons are nocturnal and don't normally travel in groups (other than mothers with a couple or so babies), so I am wondering if the culprit could be something else. Is there any possibility this could have been a theft by a human? It seems very unlikely that ten animals would be taken all at once by an animal predator.

Maybe a pack of coyotes could do it, but I think they would have to be near starving to go after ten turtles/tortoises. Not sure about bears possibly eating turtles/tortoises. Do you have any of them near you?

How big were the animals which were taken?

Did you notice any animal tracks? If so, and you can post photos, I might be able to ID them. I took a course on doing so in my younger days.

Agree completely. Have you checked for signs of theft by humans?

 

[SinLA]

I’m so sorry!

 

[Renee_H]

I am so sorry! That’s just terrible 😞

 

[KarenSoCal]

How awful! I'm so sorry!

It sounds like a human to me too. Any footprints?

 

[Tom]

Let this be a lesson to everyone on predator protection. Go the extra mile & then some. I had my group of russians in a big pen with a cage over it. Well something broke in & took off with all 8 today during broad daylight. Took my males out of each pen & then hauled off all 6 females. I usually use an electric fence, but decided the cage was enough. They shimmied the halves enough apart to get in. All thats left are slight dig marks where they dug them out from under the bushes. No signs of any shells yet.

Took my 2 river cooter growouts as well. I think this is a group of raccoons.

So sorry to hear this man. I live out in the country and have all sorts of predators around too. Would you mind posting pics of the pen and cage cover. I want to see how they got in and how substantial it was. I've got large cages made of 1x2 inch welded wire, 4x4s and 2x4s. Nothing has ever gotten in, but I'm planning on building a bunch more over the winter for the new iguanas, and I would love to see where you went wrong and make sure I build it strong enough.

I've never heard of something like this happening during the day. Do you have dogs? I've got 20-30 dogs at the ranch at any given time, plus a donkey, parrots, and assorted other animals. I've always wondered how much of a deterrent all those animals were. Not to mention half a dozen people coming and going from jobs at all hours of the day and night.