In the movie Big Fish, the main character looks into a witch's eye and sees how he dies. Armed with this information, he is able to live life to the fullest knowing no matter what he does, he will sur

Community Profile You are one of the best chicken farmers known to man. In fact , you are so good that you have been o n the front cover of Chicken Farmer Magazine which is a very prestigious accomplishment in the world of chicken farmers. However, you are having a bit of a problem, something keeps eating your chickens. Of course, this is not a good situation if you want t o make the cover of Chicken Farmer Magazine again! What to do? What to do? Community Overview You live in Glen Iron, Pennsylvania and your chicken coop sits on the edge of the woods. The woods are owned by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resour ces (DCNR) and is around 100 acres and is home to all kinds of wildlife. The woods connect with the Glen Iron Mountain (Bald Eagle State Forest). You have a large field that a farmer allows to grow to make hay on the right side of the coop and a field with overgrowth (briars, vines, tall weeds, etc.) to your left side. To the front of the coop is the house and a small development. Behind the coop is the woods. Situation Your chickens are turning up injured or dead in the early morning hours. Some of the c hickens are badly beaten like the predator thrashed them around. The ones that are no longer among the living have had the region above their neck eaten off (also known as the head). The animal leaves the carcass and doesn't seem to eat anything else. Ther e was no immediate evidence that anything burrowed under the chicken run area. The exterior door (human entrance) to the chicken run has a small 2” gap between the latch and the metal fence door. The run fence (chain link) is about 1.5 inches by 1.5 inches and the chicken wire is normal chicken wire that is coated with plastic to prevent it from rusting. Coop Design Your coop is a built structure with a window and screen in the window. It has a clean -out door on the right side that is locked with a latch and a small door that leads out into the chicken run area to the rear of the pen. The chicken run is constructed using a chain linked fence like you would see used for a dog cage. Around the bottom of the chain link fence there is chicken wire zip tied to the fence. The chicken wire is 3 -feet tall and runs the entire perimeter of the chicken run. The run has no roof on it. None of the wire extends into the ground to prevent critters from digging into the chicken run. The chickens go into their pen each nigh t but the door to the chicken run remains open. The chickens sleep on a roost that is elevated 14” off the ground.

Some of the chickens also sleep in the nesting boxes. Farmer John (Subject Matter Expert #1) Farmer John has lived in the community for 35 years and has raised chickens most of his life. He speculates that based on the time of day when the chickens are being killed that it is a possum. He had similar experiences in the past with possums. Professor Patrick Jane (SME #2) Professor Jane is a p rofessor of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. He is a Harvard graduate and holds a PhD in economics. He has written numerous books on Pennsylvania wildlife and has been featured on the Discovery channel. Based on his assessment, he believes that the animal killing the chickens is a mountain lion. His focus of study is mountain lions and he is one of the world’s most senior experts on this animal. Neighbor, Joe Jones (SME #3) Your neighbor Joe has been keeping chickens now for a solid month. He is a real nice guy, a little over zealous and erratic, but generally a nice guy. He has had a few chickens come up missing recently and believes that UFOs are abducting them. Ok, he doesn’t really believe this, but he thinks the evidence points to a possum or a skunk. H owever, this is a hunch and he has not factual evidence to base this hunch off of.