NEW: Foster Farm Attacked by Vicious Fisher Cat
Monday, December 12, 2011
Frog Hill Farm, a wooded acre farm located in Foster Center that offers educational programs, is putting out a warning to other animal owners after a fisher cat killed several animals on the property.
Owner Barbara Schultz says she was convinced it was a fisher cat, catching a glimpse of a black tail as it escaped the barn. “I know he will come back. A fisher can wipe out an entire barn in one night. The question is how do I protect my farm animals?”
The predator has caused problems in the area in the past. Back in 2009, a fisher cat attacked a 6 year old boy in Hopkinton.
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After eight the next morning, she says, she did not hear her ducks' nomal quacking. "The silence screamed," she said. "I ran to the coop where my fowl spend the night." An overnight rain storm had wiped the blood away, but Schultz said her worst fears were confirmed. "Necks broken, soaked feathers covered in mud, many of my chickens and roosters had died at the closed gate, only one beheaded," she said. "Miraculously the ducks were unharmed, their webbed feet stepped quietly over the bodies strewn in all directions. They waddled past reverently, noiselessly, leaving me sobbing in disbelief."
Fisher cat: cunning and skilled predator
The fisher cat, a weasel-fast, cunning, tenacious and a skilled predator, had returned. "Just days before, I surprised the fisher after he killed a single chicken inside my barn," Schultz said. "Horrified, I caught a glimpse of his black tail and shiny fur as he escaped through a hole in the barn wall. Since then, I allowed my llamas and livestock guardian dog access to the coop area, but with the chain link gate shut they could not reach the fisher. Additionally, the wind and rain from the storm had drowned out the screams and the power outage afforded the perfect curtain of darkness.”
Schultz said her options are few, but she has set a trap with cans of tuna fish and sardines to lure the predator. So far, it's eluded capture. "I'm worred they're one step ahead of me," she said. "They're cunning."
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