Dead birds without heads in Swiftlet farm! That is not common but it happens. Mr.Low from Perak desperately wants to know what causes this and which predator so slick that only eat the head and leave the body.
He has asked many Sifus and consultants, surfed the net and forum but no one could confidently answer his question. Most of them assumed …….but no specific answer.
I have realized that I didn’t write about this in my blog and I guess it is good to show and explain what causes dead birds without head in Bh.
First of all the predators have enter the Bh , then attacked the Birds. It shows there are Predators in this Bh. But what kind of Predators that only have the exquisite taste for bird’s head? Many couldn’t answer this because all killings happened inside the Bh during night. And this happened without the presence of the Bh’s owner. If lucky it may be recorded by the CCTV but most CCTV are not installed inside the nesting areas. Most are installed at the Roving area and Entrance hole and the predators are too slick (too fast) to be recorded.
We could assume Owl, Eagle, etc… Owl and Eagle do attack birds as it is part of their diet. They catch birds with theirs claws, their sharp talons kill the bird instantly and there is no chance for escaping. They hold bird with their claws with their body weight on top forcing onto the bird between their claws. From here they would strip the feathers and tear the meat with their powerful curl beak, feeding on the slices of meat they have torn from the bird’s body. They prefer meat from the body not the head.
It is not easy to find out unless one has experienced such incident before. This predator leaves no trace, unlike the Owl with vomit pellets. They don’t stay long in the Bh, once they have indulgent themselves by ripping of the bird’s heads they would leave immediately (except the birds’ body).
無頭死燕子在燕屋農場 ！這並不尋常，但它卻發生了。從霹靂的Low先生很心急地想要知道到底是什麼原因導致了這個事情和到底是哪個獵食動物會那麽狡猾，吃了頭只留下殘屍。
他已經問過許多師傅和顧問，在網路和論壇上詢問，但是沒有人可以自信地回答他的問題。大多數都是假定而以..但是沒有明確的答案。
我發現我沒有在我的部落格中寫過這一點，我想它是很好來解說什麼原因導致無頭的死燕子在燕屋農場。
首先，獵食動物已經進入燕屋農場了，然後攻擊燕子。它顯示了在這個燕屋農場有獵食動物。但是，到底是什麼樣的掠食動物，有這樣品味精緻的口味只吃燕子的頭？許多人不能回答這個問題因為撲殺的時間只是在燕屋農場裏夜間發生。而這個事情發生在燕屋主不在燕屋農場的時間。如果幸運CCTV可能會錄下畫面，但是多數的CCTV不安裝在內部的做窩區。大多數都是安裝在環繞區和入口洞，而這個獵食動物實在是太狡猾了(太快）的被錄下。
我們可以假設是貓頭鷹、 老鷹等......貓頭鷹和老鷹會攻擊燕子，因為燕子是它們的食物的一部分。他們用爪子來捕燕子，它們鋒利的爪可以立刻殺死燕子並且沒有逃跑的機會。它們用爪子來握住燕子，用其體重來把燕子逼緊在它的爪子之間。從這裡它們會把羽毛拔掉，然後用它們強大捲曲的喙來把肉撕裂、 飼喂它們的肉片。它們更喜歡身上的肉，而不是它的頭。
並不容易找出，除非我們之前遇到這種事件。這種類型的獵食動物不會留下跟蹤，不像貓頭鷹一樣留下嘔吐物顆粒。它們不會在燕屋農場停留長的時間，一旦它們縱情的把燕子頭吃掉，它們就會立即離開(除了燕子的身體)。
( The Predator Love the head , without eating the body) （獵食動物只愛吃頭、 不吃身體）
So what is the cause of dead birds without head in Bh? The answer is…….. Civet cat. Civet cat likes birds’ brain. They are naturally born with the love for small animal heads. They like crushing the skull of small animals. Civet cat is omnivorous, large portion of their diet are fruits but occasionally they hunt for small birds and small mammals. Given the opportunity of a Bh with many birds inside which is easy prey, they would turn the Bh their favorite hunting ground for brain and skull.
(The above movie shows how a young Civet Cat eats bird. Crushing and chewing the head as it likes the brain. Most bodys are left behind. It is eating a sparrow, it does the same to Swiftlets)
(上述的影片顯示年輕的果子狸如何吃小鳥。咬碎和嚼頭小鳥的頭，因爲它喜歡其大腦。大部分的殘尸都留下。它正在吃一隻麻雀，對燕子也是同樣的)
It doesn’t mean Bhs located in urban areas are safe from this Skillful and cunning predator. Both Bhs in rural and urban are alike. Few years ago I caught a Civet cat in my house ceiling. For your information I live in an urban town call Subang Jaya.
I have been hearing noisy sound in the night. It came from the ceiling, sometimes rough scratches sound and like someone walking in the ceiling. It really scared me. It happens almost every night. Civet cat would be the least that I suspected. I am living in a town not in a plantation or a Kampong. Few days later I went up the ceiling with a flashlight and to my surprise I found some shits near the water tank. They must have liked the cool area there. I thought it was cat shits as my neighbors love cats. It is common to see cats sneak into my kitchen looking for food. As I look closer I discover it is not cat shit. As an animal lover myself, I really have interest in this and I could easily differentiate them. I knew it is Civet cat.
The next day I made a cage big enough for an adult cat to sit in it, with the features similar to the small cages that we used to catch mice but with rubber tube from my old bicycle as the spring. I put some bananas tying them together with some chicken meat and hooked it onto the release hook in the cage. I place the cage inside the ceiling at 9.30 pm, this is the time where the rough sound often came.
After setting up the trap, I went out to meet a reader who came all the way from Singapore. He had called me many times, he wants my consultation on the design of his soon to be Bh in T.Karang which he has a piece of land there. Minutes into our discussion my wife calls me, she was in panic. She asked me to come back as soon as possible, she was frighten by the violence sound from the ceiling. I have to cut short the meeting and I promised that I will be back in an hour time or more.
I went up the ceiling, the moment I flash the light onto the cage I see this big dark fur cat inside the cage. It was a Civet cat. It tried to escape violently banging the cage with its head. I knew if this going to go on the Civet cat would injure itself so I took a cloth and cover the cage before I took the cage down. (The Civet cat has been surrendered to Perhilitan)
This is what happened in my house. So don’t think that Bhs located in town there will be no Civet cats.
Besides this I have also seen cats, Stray Cats attacking birds. They share the same behavior as Civet cat and cat both like skull and brain. Some Stray cats don’t eat the head but just enjoy crushing and chewing them. This is their animal instinct and behavior.
This often happened to Open roof type Bh or Bh Entrance hole without spikes or nails. Civet cat could easily enter these Bhs thru the Entrance hole.
So now you know why your Bhs have Dead Birds without Heads.
Note: You could trap the Civet cat with Cage make sure the cage is big enough.
這並不代表位於城市地區的燕屋農場是安全的，對於這些熟練和狡猾的獵食動物。在農村和城市的燕屋農場都是一樣。幾年前，我在我家的天花板抓到一只果子狸。讓大家知道我住在一個城市鎮叫做梳邦再也。
在夜裡我經常聽到一些嘈雜的聲音。它使從天花板來的，有時候一些粗糙劃痕的聲音，有時候好像有人在天花板走動。它真的嚇唬我了。幾乎每個夜晚都是這樣。最沒有懷疑到的就是果子狸。我住在一個城鎮而不是一個種植園或甘榜。幾天後我拿了一個手電筒爬上我的天花板，令我驚訝的發現在水箱的附近有一些糞便。它們一定是很喜歡那裡涼爽的地區。我以為這是貓屎因爲我的鄰居很愛貓。是很普通的情況看見貓偷偷跑入我的廚房尋找食物。當我看清楚的時候我發現它不是貓屎。作為動物的愛好者，我對這方面真的很有興趣和很容易地可以區分。我就知道它是果子狸。
第二天，我做了一個可以容下一只大貓的籠子，它的功能類似小的籠子，我們用來捉老鼠的那些，但卻用了我的舊腳踏車的橡膠管來作為彈簧。我把一些雞肉和香蕉綁在一起，它掛接到籠子裡的釋放鉤上。我把籠子放在天花板內9:30晚上，這就是那些聲音來的時間。
設置完陷阱後，我就出去見一位從新加坡來的讀者。他打過很多次電話給我，他想要諮詢關於他燕屋農場的設計，他在T.Karang有一塊土地。開始了幾分鐘的討論之後，我的妻子打電話給我，她是在恐慌中。她要我儘快回家，她被從天花板發出的暴力聲音嚇壞了。逼不得以我只好把會議減短，但是我答應我會在一個小時的時間或更多回來。
我爬到天花板上，當我亮了我的手電筒到籠子的時候，我看到一只這只黑毛的大貓在籠子裡面。它是果子狸。它試圖用頭猛撞那個籠子來逃跑。我知道如果一直這樣的猛撞那只果子狸會受傷，所以在我把籠子從天花板拿下之前，我拿了一塊布把籠子蓋著。(果子狸已經被移交到Perhilitan了。)
這就是在我家發生的事情。所以不要以爲位於市鎮的燕屋農場就沒有果子狸。
除此之外我也看過貓，流浪貓攻擊小鳥。它們共用相同的行為，果子狸也喜歡頭骨和頭腦。一些流浪貓不喜歡吃頭，但只是享受破碎和咀嚼它們。這是動物的本能和行為。
這往往發生在那些開放屋頂類型的燕屋農場或者一些沒有尖利釘子的燕屋農場入口洞。果子狸可以輕鬆地從入口洞爬入這些燕屋農場。
所以，現在你知道為什麼你的燕屋農場有無頭的死燕子。
注： 您可以設陷阱來抓果子狸但是肯定籠子是夠大的。
大家有好燕屋農場 ！