Chickens go missing from Newton Community Farm

by | Aug 14, 2019 | Newton, wildlife | 14 comments

| Newton MA News and Politics BlogThese weren’t just chickens.

They were beloved by the children and grownups who visited them weekly at Newton Community Farm. The Globe’s Steve Annear has the story.

14 Comments

  1. Greg Reibman
    Greg Reibman on August 14, 2019 at 8:26 pm

    So many people fretting about losing open space but no one has a comment about losing critters that occupy one of Newton’s best open spaces?

  2. Simon
    Simon on August 14, 2019 at 8:40 pm

    @Greg,
    As it so happens the girl holding the chicken in the picture is my daughter. She was at the camp just last week. She’s very upset, and doesn’t believe it was an animal who took them all away because thats a lot of chickens to kill and take.
    Its very sad, and we are discussing.

  3. Mike Striar
    Mike Striar on August 14, 2019 at 9:40 pm

    A bunch of cooped up chickens are not much of a match for a pack of coyotes. They took out the entire deer population in the preserve near Hammond pond. Parents of small children and pet owners must be aware of the threat from coyotes and exercise caution.

    • Greg Reibman
      Greg Reibman on August 14, 2019 at 11:03 pm

      @Mike: if only someone had warned us about coyotes 15 years ago!

    • Greg Reibman
      Greg Reibman on August 15, 2019 at 7:36 am

      @Simon: My comment was a reference to a time when a mayoral candidate named Mike Striar was rather heavily ridiculed (by, um, me) for saying he would “hunt down and kill” all the coyotes if elected.

  4. Simon
    Simon on August 14, 2019 at 11:50 pm

    @Greg: If only people had been warned about Turnips several years ago!

  5. Norman
    Norman on August 15, 2019 at 6:24 am

    I wouldn’t put beyond the act of one or more Coyotes.

    Last year here in Newton a 10-year-old Cavalier Spaniel was no more than 20 feet away from his home when he was snatched and dragged away.

  6. Michael Singer
    Michael Singer on August 15, 2019 at 8:37 am

    I have seen fisher cats near the farm. They’re vicious. Greg Maslowe told me that years ago he saw one eyeing the chicken coop. I suspect the culprit was a fisher, not a coyote.

  7. Bob Burke
    Bob Burke on August 15, 2019 at 9:14 am

    I would think there would be feathers scattered around if either a coyote or fisher cat grabbed the chickens. The fisher cats were imported here several decades ago to control the porcupine population which had exploded to out of control numbers. The fisher was the only predator that could get around the quills to eat them. We used to have several cats roaming around our neighborhood until a few years back. I haven’t seen one on the loose in over a year.

  8. Newtoner
    Newtoner on August 15, 2019 at 10:03 am

    Most likely the culprit is homo sapiens.

    • Greg Reibman
      Greg Reibman on August 15, 2019 at 10:08 am

      Like in a prison movie only the opposite?

      Sorry to disappoint all our Village 14 conspiracy theorists: From Newton Patch this morning…

      …There was a small dirt tunnel dug from under the fence nearby.

      “We’ve ruled out human theft and believe it was an animal, based on the evidence,” Karyn Novakowski, the farm’s executive director, told Patch in an interview.

  9. Mike Striar
    Mike Striar on August 15, 2019 at 3:50 pm

    I’m more sympathetic to coyotes than I used to be. But they have killed a lot of family pets. You can’t walk a few blocks anywhere in Newton now without seeing a Lost Cat signed tacked to a telephone pole. Pet owners need to be aware of the threat, keep their cats inside, and never leave a small dog unattended in the yard.

    Far more importantly, coyotes do pose a real threat to small children. Forgive the graphic example, but most coyotes are more than capable of snatching a baby from a stroller. Awareness is a more effective preventative than fear.

  10. Mary Mary Quite Contrary
    Mary Mary Quite Contrary on August 15, 2019 at 4:20 pm

    “So many people fretting about losing open space but no one has a comment about losing critters that occupy one of Newton’s best open spaces?”

    Greg, what are you getting at? What happened at NCF is sad and big loss to the farm and the community, but there isn’t too much discussion to be had about the event. Just because this thread has been quiet doesn’t mean that people don’t care about the farm as much as they do other open space.

  11. Jep
    Jep on August 16, 2019 at 4:25 pm

    Racoons…maybe…don’t know if they dig tunnels tho….never heard of a coyote snatching or even killing a child…educate me ,thanks.