# I NEED HELP WITH THIS ONE



## hitnspit (Nov 25, 2012)

Ok i went to the barn this morning and found 3 of my 4 week old rabbits dead. the faces have been eaten off clean. nothing else touched just the faces. ANYONE seen this before or know what could be the issue. Any help please Thank you......


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## Southern by choice (Nov 25, 2012)

Not sure but you might want to post this under pests and predators. You will probably get a greater response. Some say possoms because of the head just being eaten. I don't agree, we have coons and possums and neither one has just eaten the head.


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## brentr (Nov 25, 2012)

How high off the ground are your cages?  I had a friend who lost a pheasant to a raccoon through a chainlink fence.  Said the raccoon grabbed the bird, and essentially plucked and ate it (most of it) through the wire.  If your wire would allow a coon to reach through, and your cage is low enough, that would be my thought.  It could have grabbed the bunnies, pulled them close to the wire, and eaten what it could reach.

See any distinct tracks or disturbances on the ground near your cage?  Bent or stretched wire on the cage?

Sorry for your loss.  If not a coon, not sure what it was (and am not sure it was a coon).


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## hitnspit (Nov 25, 2012)

All rabbits are inside my barn. they are  3.5 feet off the floor. All cages are suspended from the wall. really no way for rats or mice to get to them..... very confused....


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## Southern by choice (Nov 25, 2012)

any evidence of owls?
coons and possoms can jump up to that height easily, and by the way, I am sorry for your lil' guys! Kinda got focused on the question and never said anything about your loss.


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## Abbey (Nov 28, 2012)

I am so sorry! What a horrible thing to find. I don't have any ideas, but a lot of sympathy.


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## 20kidsonhill (Nov 29, 2012)

what size squares(holes) does your wire have?


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## bonbean01 (Nov 29, 2012)

I have no idea...but what a horror for you and hope you can find out what did this and get rid of it


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## pennylove (Nov 29, 2012)

Sounds like raccoons, to me. As someone else suggested, they would have no problem reaching your cages at that height and could easily grab the rabbits through the wires, pull them close enough and eat the parts they could reach. They're both smart and sneaky enough to do this, too. 

How terrible, though. I am so sorry you had to find something like that. Just awful.


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## LadyIsabelle2011 (Dec 5, 2012)

So sorry for your loss  

If I were you I would set up a live trap for the animal and use one of the bunnies it killed as bait. See if you can find some trails leading to your barn, predators like coons and possums are creatures of habit and will take the same trails again and again.


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## Gagroundhog (Dec 18, 2012)

I'm so sorry for your loss, thats a horrible thing to wake up to. I have seen destruction like this before. The culprits at our house were large rats. They were capable of jumping up, dropping down onto or leaping over to cages. They lived in tunnels in the ground around our chicken house and under the shed. They are highly intelligent leaving little evidence behind that they have been there. Before we figured out what they were we lost chicks, quail and bunnies the same way. They didn't bother adult rabbits just the bunnies. Does your barn have dirt floors? If not, look for tunnels outside. If it does, look behind stuff for tunnels. Use a flashlight and look for droppings and we would sneak out out night at night to see if we could see them, we did. We had a comercial chicken farm down the street thats where they came from. I hope its not rats (average size for an adult was 1 lb!) but if it is, i'll tell you some stuff we did to get rid of them. We couldn't use poison b/c of dogs and cats.


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## Rabbit-boy (Dec 20, 2012)

SOOO SORRY for your lost


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## Rabbit-boy (Dec 20, 2012)

it could if been a coon or possum


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