Mink Hunt - 2

As we said in the last post on this matter - here - this is some mink. The Brigand - as he's now called - is still alive and well, feeding on fresh chicken, and defying all that Tom Bryson's technology can throw at him.

The Brigand originally got into the hen house by pushing his nose under the shutter that came down at night. Unfortunately, he couldn't do the same from the inside, which explains why he didn't remove some of his victims, so had to try to gnaw his way out. He hadn't finished the job when Tom confronted him - and he escaped.

Tom has now modified the door so The Brigand can't make a similar entry.

On Friday and Saturday, the traps in the shed where Hughie's cockerel was killed were baited with pieces from the corpse, and The Brigand, despite an array of tunnel and Fenn traps, gratefully ate the lot.

Yesterday, with the final remains of the cockerel hanging over traps, Tom and The Raptor went out to the shed to check on progress, to be confronted by the mink, who had stripped the carcass bare. Leaving The Raptor to hiss at him - mink are curious beasts - Tom ran for his gun but, by the time he returned, The Brigand had made his escape.

One of Tom's dead hens is now the bait (above). Two of the Fenn traps can be seen next to it. There are two more within a metre, and the shed is surrounded by tunnel traps, one of them, by way of a change of menu, baited with a roasted chicken leg.

An infra-red camera, capable of taking both video and stills, has been deployed to watch over the main chicken runs. If we're lucky, it might provide a picture of the elusive Brigand for The Diary.

Meanwhile, back home and nothing daunted, Tom is busy rearing the next generation of chickens. There's plenty of advice for him on the web, such as here, but this looks like being a long battle.

This is one hell of a mink.