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Subscriber Comments for
Bobcat's Chicken Dinner


 COMMENT 365734P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:00 AM

I would find it difficult to believe that it's just OK to shoot a bobcat (or anything else) without some sort of special permit type thing from the county expressing property distress caused by a wildlife... a loose chicken ain't gonna do it.


 COMMENT 365735 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:02 AM

And I'm sorry but if you build a house in their natural habitat that's your problem not the cats. It's nature. That makes me upset.


 COMMENT 365736P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:03 AM

It's a jungle out there. If you let chickens roam where wild animals can get to them, they are! I would hope the chicken owner wouldn't shoot the cat because of it (although I emphasize with the frustration of losing a hen). Mr. Chicken Owner; could losing 3 chickens be the universes way of telling you the perimeter is not secure?

Is shooting a wild animal illegal? Are bobcats protected in any way?


 COMMENT 365740 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:19 AM

Except as provided in subsections (c) and (d) below no person shall pursue, take or possess any bobcat without first procuring a trapping license or a hunting license and bobcat hunting tags. The pursuit, take and/or possession of a bobcat under the authority of a hunting license and a bobcat hunting tag shall be in accordance with the provisions of this section and Sections 265 and 472-479 of these regulations.

Google FBC Bobcat if you want to read it all.


 COMMENT 365741 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:19 AM

Last year I took a full day workshop from Patricia Foreman, author of City Chicks, a book on keeping backyard chickens. The first thing she told the class was that chickens can't see more than one inch (or so) in front of them in daylight and can't at all in the dark and that is why you must, for their own protection, keep them in a coop at night so that predators won't eat them.

I imagine this is not news to any 9 year-old 4Her! If you don't know this and can't read a book on keeping chickens then you have no business complaining when your backyard becomes a buffet for wildlife.


 COMMENT 365742 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:23 AM

You need a permit to shoot them if they are harassing livestock, so unless he has one, it's illegal. And I know someone who had a bobcat get into their coop (of 20 or so chickens) and killed/severely injured about half. The owners were sad to lose their chickens, which were like pets, but also knew the poor cat was probably terrified after it got stuck inside, what with 20 chickens screaming & flapping around it. Probably thrilled at first, then really freaked out. This was just after one of the fires, and the poor thing probably hadn't eaten in ages. This guy needs to beef up his coop - no reason to complain about losing 3 chickens on separate occasions if he doesn't. Kitty knows a good food source when it sees one. Remove that, and problem is solved.


 COMMENT 365743 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:33 AM

Roast Chicken, so good brah. Can't say I blame the poor kitty. Try the Zuni Cafe recipe.


 COMMENT 365747 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:44 AM

This won't happen if you keep your chickens protected! We have numerous properties in our neighborhood with chickens and they have never become prey.


 COMMENT 365748 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:45 AM

Years ago I shot a coyote in my front yard near TV Hill while it was stalking some of my chickens. My neighbors complained, and animal control came out, but since it was on my property and attacking my livestock they didn't do anything. Then I put the dead coyote on my hood and slowly drove back and forth outside the complaining neighbor's house.


 COMMENT 365761P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:02 AM

I very confused. I don't see a bobcat but do see a cougar. The cougar ate the chicken? I don't think it's nice to shoot wildcats.


 COMMENT 365762P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:04 AM

Shooting a bobcat? NO WAY, especially discharging a firearm in the city.


 COMMENT 365768P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:14 AM

@748 I pity your neighbors, not your chickens. I would hope that in the intervening years, you'd had a chance to reflect on this episode and realize that you handled it badly. It's hardly something to brag about.


 COMMENT 365776 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:28 AM

741 I think you misunderstood or misheard the lecture. Chickens have pretty good distance vision during the day. My kid's preschool had a chicken. That stupid bird would be across the yard and if any kid opened the compost bin, she'd be there faster than a New York minute because she knew someone was getting a worm or slug out of the gore for her. Bird vision is very different than human, doesn't mean it's worse. They actually see more colors than we do. Birds, in general, have much better visual acuity than humans, and that includes chickens.


 COMMENT 365781 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:34 AM

And most chickens are really inexpensive. It's not like this guy is out hundreds of dollars.


 COMMENT 365786 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:42 AM

Please call Fish & Wildlife at once. It is the full responsibilty of ALL livstock owners to keep your pets safe. Discharging a firearm with in 150 yards of a residence is also illegal. OP please call our wildlife hotline 805 896-1859. ART, Inc.

Thank you.


 COMMENT 365787 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:42 AM

748.... the hole in your story is that Animal Control does not deal with killing wildlife without a permit or license... aka poaching. That would be CA Fish and Wildlife's jurisdiction.


 COMMENT 365788 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:42 AM

What kind of idiot/jerk shoots a bobcat over a $10 chicken?

A .22 isnt going to kill a bobcat quickly unless you hit it right in the head or heart, instead it will suffer for weeks while the infection slowly kills it...


 COMMENT 365803 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 12:47 PM

Bobcat Tags $3.19
(each, up to 5 tags) Resident and nonresident licensed hunters may purchase one (1) book of five (5) Bobcat Tags per license year. Tags are nonrefundable and nontransferable.


 COMMENT 365748 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 01:13 PM

787, that's probably why Animal Control didn't do anything. I never heard anything more about it.

If in doubt, you could always claim the animal attacked you. Then you can shoot it under any circumstances.


 COMMENT 365857 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 03:39 PM

365762P - Tunnel Rd is NOT in the city limits. This is under county jurisdiction. And as long as this guy wasn't drunk, he is TOTALLY WITHIN HIS RIGHTS to kill the bobcat.

Section 14A-9 of the Santa Barbara County Code of Ordinances: "This chapter, except as otherwise provided, DOES NOT PROHIBIT the discharge of any firearm, airgun or spring gun or shooting of any other missile when necessary so to do to protect life or property, or to DESTROY OR KILL ANY PREDATORY OR DANGEROUS ANIMAL.


 COMMENT 365867 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 04:17 PM

857 got it right. If a predatory animal is on your property endangering your livestock you have a right to shoot it. I've been through this before, had to shoot a mountain lion and had a neighbor complain, Sherrif and fish and game both sided with me.


 COMMENT 365870 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 04:29 PM

The legality of killing this bobcat lies in the difference between "hunting" the bobcat and "protecting yourself" against the bobcat.

If this guy stood on his property with his rifle, waiting for the bobcat to return, then shot it...no problem.

If this guy walked up and down Tunnel Rd looking for the bobcat to shoot it...problem.


 COMMENT 365875 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 04:43 PM

One more person wanting to kill something. It gets so old.
The biggest idiotic aspect of this is that when you kill ONE of a species, who happens to be a successful hunter, others of the species fill the vacuum. They however may be younger, less careful, more risk-taking, and even more imprudent and aggressive. It is especially true of coyotes. You actually end up with more young, less savvy coyotes being drawn in when you remove one.
Extermination doesn't work. Ace Hardware 2x4s and chicken wire does.


 COMMENT 365748 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 05:07 PM

EddieKD, extermination worked for me. Never had a coyote in my yard again after that.


 AUNTIE S. helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 06:50 PM

I'm confused. What does "brah" mean? I see it all the time on Edhat - is it from just one person? Should it be "bro" or what?


 COMMENT 365950P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 07:01 PM

740: A friend and I did a lot of research on this re raccoons, even talked to a Los Padres ranger, who didn't know the law for wild animals in residential areas.There are different and conflicting laws that apply to hunting animals and dealing with them in residential areas where they're called an "urban nuisance", don't know about cougars (that's not a bobcat, it's a mountain lion/cougar).


 COMMENT 365986P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 10:13 PM

Here's my vote to remove any comment that has the word "brah" in it.
(Probably means this one too :-))


 COMMENT 365988P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-21 11:31 PM

I wish, 986P. But it must be included. This is a honest not nasty comment. Freedom of speech and all. Gotta leanr to let it go.


 COMMENT 365995 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 07:01 AM

I have had chickens all my life. When I loose one to a predator it is my fault for not protecting them. Dogs, bob cats, skunks, hawks, owls, raccoons, weasels, coyotes, etc., do I kill them all or take responsibility for my lack of awareness?
I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY! Letting chickens free range without a protective inclosure is not responsible.


 FLICKA helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 07:15 AM

Brah is common in Hawaii, such as "Shaka Brah"; don't know if I spelled it right, it's a greeting, with thumb and little finger held up. T-shirts were sold when I lived there with greeting and hand jesture. No need to remove a word because a couple people don't know the meaning!


 COMMENT 366015 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 07:47 AM

Why was the cat sulking? Was he sad? Or, maybe he was actually skulking.


 COMMENT 366026 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 08:25 AM

736 - thank you. right to the point.....fix your fence, secure your livestock and the cat will go elsewhere.....
For years I ran a chicken business in a remote area near Piru and learned the hard way .....


 COMMENT 366030P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 08:50 AM

I vote to remove the brah posts. The person posting it is not using it as a greeting. And btw, a few years ago any post mentioning, "floatopia" was deleted.

Who said Edhat has to follow Freedom of speech?


 COMMENT 366050 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 09:25 AM

I'm with all the others who said it's the responsibility of the owner of the chickens to make sure they're secured and safe.

We humans have encroached terribly on the environment of our wildlife, and are continuing to do that. Do your homework before you move to an area with predatory wildlife. If you have animals - or even children - who might become prey to them, don't move there. Or take other precautions, but be well aware of the risk involved.


 COMMENT 366094 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 10:57 AM

Yes it is 100% the responsibility of the owners of the chickens to make them as safe as possible from predators. That being said the worst 'predator' to chickens are dogs. Dog owners need to also be responsible for keeping their pets secured. If your dog somehow gets into my yard and goes after my chickens, the dog will be taken care of.

In the industry we have a little thing called SSS. Shoot, shovel, shut up.


 COMMENT 365857 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 11:49 AM

The same mentality that causes posters to always use the term "brah" also causes young men to wear their pants halfway down their butts.


 COMMENT 366138P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 12:07 PM

857, I don't get the same impression. Anyone under thirty would leave after ten seconds of this drivel. It's all old people, here. The Snowhead Society.


 COMMENT 366138P helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 12:10 PM

I used to think of chickens as obnoxious and without character until I met my nephew's pet. This chicken had appointed herself his guardian. When she saw him try to make a break for the stairs off the porch, she would stop her scratching from thirty feet away and shoo him back up the steps. He was the only one she allowed to pick her up and just carry her around in any position for hours. Anyone else that tried, she went for the eyes. There were predators in the area but the chickens were put back in the enclosure, which contained their coop, before dark. The entire covered enclosure was firmly attached to a foundation that prevented digging under the fence.


 COMMENT 366150 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 12:31 PM

EDDIEKD provided us with the anti-theory of evolution ... the real theory works the other way around.

AUNTIE S, if you google "brah" you'll get 8,120,000 hits ... the first few are for dictionary entries.


 COMMENT 366050 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 02:24 PM

138P, very interesting story about that chicken.

094, it would be the responsibility of the dog owner to keep their dog contained, we agree. However, to *shoot* the dog, whose fault it is not, is fatally punishing the wrong party.

I cannot fathom killing what would most likely be a loved member of someone's family. But dealing appropriately with the dog's owner, I'd be 100% in favor of that.


 COMMENT 366094 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 03:28 PM

094 here

050 - It's not about 'punishing' the dog. It is about protecting our own animals on OUR land. If i chose to let a neighbor's dog kill my chickens is that fair to the chickens?

If you can't keep your animals contained then you shouldn't have animals period.

Like Elvis said; Clean up your own backyard...


 COMMENT 366253 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 03:39 PM

748: You are a JERK.


 COMMENT 366050 helpful negative off topic

2013-01-22 07:51 PM

094, as I said, I have no problem whatsoever with your protecting your animals, and dealing with the actual responsible party/parties, should a neighbor's dog kill your chickens.

But again, it's not the fault of the dog, and the reality is you *are* punishing the dog, fatally, if you make that decision.

I don't disagree that if you can't keep your animals contained, then you don't make the definition of responsible animal 'owner,' and shouldn't have them. With the exception of an accident, as accidents do happen to us all. But the animals shouldn't be the ones to suffer for the irresponsibility of their human (sometimes so-called) caretakers. Especially not with their lives. There are other recourses.






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