Holy Cow!

or should i say chicken.....
we had 26 chickens, then one died of seemingly nothing. probably parasites or something of that sort did it in seeing as it was about 5 days old. they were starting to get bigger and feathered when something bigger than protazoa got into the cage. a description of the cage is in order. its a chain link dog kennel with a sheet metal roof and welded wire poultry netting wrapped around all sides, including the floor. the floor netting was then covered with about 4 inches of dirt. so the big predator dug under the kennel and then ran into the netting, and tore through it. i realize poultry netting is not the strongest stuff in the world, but even a coyote couldn't have done that.
about 9 months ago we saw a big cat in the brush outside our fence line with 2 slightly smaller cats. camoflauged with some kind of coloring, the only way we really could see them was with a large spot light and binoculars. they have huge eyes. mom mentioned this to the local game warden while complaining about some wild local dogs, and she (the game warden) says its an ocelot, they are endangered, so don't kill it.
we now have 13 chicks. i did some reading and found out that at zoos ocelots are fed live chicks. we're upgrading to a steel dog cage for a night time enclosure. i just wish i new how small the holes have to be to keep it out.
i also wish i could find my camera to get some pics of the paw prints. they are HUGE! is it wrong that i want to set up a video feed to catch it coming back?
now my mother is all paranoid about me going to water the chicks late at night. these cats apperantly also hunt small deer. i think i'm larger and more intimidating that a small deer. i'm more the size of an average deer.....

a 35 pound wild cat lives in the next yard over and had 2 kittens last year......
now i can't even take my kids outside alone near dusk. a dingo ate my baby type thing. its no wonder wild cats have been hunted near extinction. i don't like my neighbors to eat my pets. that's my job.