OT, deal animal?

Ok, first some background, we live in the country, surrounded by apx. 15 other places and we all have at the very least ½ acre of yard; we have just over an acre. A chain link fence surrounds our place. We don’t really have stray dogs in the area and with my fence they cannot get into my yard.

So this morning I let our cats out just after sunrise and got some coffee. After a bit went out to get them in cause it is heating up and we need them in during the heat of the day.

On the edge of our slightly raised back deck with in 6 feet of the backdoor, lay the entrails of some animal! From the condition of the stuff, it had not passed through another animal, it appeared to be regurgitated or like you had cleaned an animal.. I grabbed the water hose and washed it off onto the flowerbed. In doing so I could clearly see that this appeared to be the entire digestive track of something. Still a nice healthy pink color, not digested or very old!! Looked to be about the size of a cottontail rabbit or cat. Not chewed up either. And no fur to help with ID.

What in the wide wide world of the wild is going on around here?? We came up with a few possibilities, dog attack, but nope, no dogs in our yard, same with coyotes, although we do have them in the area but can they get over my fence? Then I thought owl or hawk, which we do have in the area. I thought a large snake,, naw, it would have fur or skin on it. So, at this point I am at a loss as to what got ole peter cottontail, if that is in fact who it was. We do have a family of bunnies that frequent our yard; they enjoy the garden, which is fine with us.

Anyway, now that I have ruined your breakfast, back to what ever.

While mowing my pastures a hawk? will take advantage of small running furry animals. And will carry them to a fencepost to pull apart.

Soundguy

Did you find all of your cats? If not, I suspect an owl.

Not too many things will eat a cat but owls will.

Dean

There are many things that will kill & eat cats! Owls, & Bald Eagles, Dogs, Coyotes, & of course Lions,Tigers & Bears, hehehe. I have personally seen Bald Eagles carrying cats away, presumably to their nests, where they feed them to their young eaglets. Got quite a infestation of eagles here now! Sorta looks like a AD for the US MAIL, hehehe! They look so neat cruising about..glad they are staging a comeback, despite their cat-eating propensities!! & It seems like they only eat the ones thay can see, the Bolder Patterns have a larger attrition rate than the more well-camoflauged ones!! CC

Sure that was startling to find critter guts on your back step. Imagine learning that the guts are those of your own dog.

I live way out in the country too, and a couple of years ago we came home after church and noticed that our dogs didn't greet us at the fence. Then we noticed chairs and flower pots turned over on our back porch, and streaks of blood. The little square of carpet that had served as a swinging door to my double-wide doghouse had been ripped off.

I walked out into the yard and found my little Corgi lying dead, inviscerated, guts scattered around her. The most bizarre wound was a neat round hole bitten through her ribcage about the size of a half-dollar. It looked almost like someone had used a hole saw like you'd use for a doorknob. Didn't know any kind of predator's teeth worked that way. (Alien???)

My big dog (mix) didn't show up until late that night, hardly able to walk. He was chewed up unmercifully ($750 worth). He had been persuaded by his tormentors to jump a four-foot fence he didn't know that he could jump.

I think his attackers were wild dogs who jumped down into the yard from a side porch. We have many many coyotes, but I don't think they were the culprits.

I even had the horrrible thought of one of the bad news neighbor kids. :-( Ted Bundy started that way, killing small animals.. :-(

I felt kinda bad for punishing the dog, after that. I figure she heard the owl get the bunny and that's why she wanted out in the first place.

Same thing happened again this winter under the same feeder, also at night.

Joe

What about a mole or pocket gopher? They"re also big enough that a cat won"t eat some of the less choice internal organs.

Colin, MN