egg eating somethingornuther

heehaw · Jun 9, 2003

give me your guess on what has been getting my eggs, but i will tell you in advance, i haven't got a clue what is/was doing it. had a goose sitting on 8-10 eggs, the next day they where all gone, with no sign of any remains: took 12 hen eggs out of a nest and put them under the goose, 2 days later they where all gone, with no sign...bought a ceramic egg, put it in the nest with 4 or so hen eggs, the next day the eggs where gone, and the next day the ceramic egg was gone. drilled holes in some hen eggs and filled them with pyrithimins(misspelled), put them in the nest and 2 days later they where gone, put in a couple more hen eggs and they disappeared, oh yes, i forgot, i had a live trap with 2 eggs in it, sitting 2 ft. from the nest all this time, those eggs never disappeared. i finally admitted defeat and quit putting eggs in the nest. any ideas???
heehaw

RichZ · Jun 9, 2003

Could be lots of critters. Could be raccoons, possums, foxes even some kinds of snakes eats eggs, but snakes wouldn't take so many so fast.

I'm guessing raccoons. Possums would be my second choice.

Von · Jun 9, 2003

With no sign of the shells around, my guess is a neighbor! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif Might want to set up some kind of video cam.

PBMAX · Jun 9, 2003

Hate to say it but neighbors or kids was my 1st thought given the things you have tried. But I guess it could be a varment. Do ya'll have weasels out yonder?They can be sneaky. So I've been told,me I've never seen one except on loony tunes....
But I remeber my Grandaddy cussing about them and O'possume /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif. and the occasional fox...

Instead of a camera try a sign that says hiddin servalance camera (with the FOX alarm LOGO on it) in use a friend tried this over buying one when some one kept messing with things around his house and it stopped and was cheap.... If it's poeple that might work if it's a varmit good luck...

Anonymous Poster · Jun 9, 2003

Any egg sucking dogs around ????

heehaw · Jun 9, 2003

i "figured" raccoons or neighbors would have taken the eggs out of the live trap too?? the hen eggs i was using are in a nest inside my barn, about 100ft from the location of the goose nest, also the goose nest was about 25 ft from the pond..but i have a small pond, no brush around it, and haven't seen a snake on it in 4-5 years. this one sure has stumped me..
heehaw

StoneHeartFarm · Jun 10, 2003

The goose may be moving the eggs or another bird. Our Duck moves eggs around in the hen house and occasionally the golf balls that we use to get them to lay in the nesting boxes. In fact, there is one in her pool right now that she carriedd out of the hen house.

Usually she doesn't carry them too far, though. No more than a few feet.

Steve

Tdog · Jun 10, 2003

Hmmm, snakes eat eggs whole, so no shell fragments would be left. How large are goose eggs? Snakes can swallow big meals, relative to their own size - - - not sure you'd want to meet the offending snake, if that is your villian.

heehaw · Jun 11, 2003

i'm betting on it being a snake...a opossum, racoon or other animal would have gone in the live trap and got the eggs in there too....and the fake egg may just take a long time to kill the snake??? i never thought about trying golf balls to keep her laying??? i have to mark the fake eggs or i can't tell them from a hen egg...
heehaw