Well i had my fist predator related casualty today. I lost my 5 month old ameraucana cockerel to an unknown animal. I got home late last night after dark due to hurricane Sandy blowing thru and the bids were up in the coop already. I couldn't see anything so I hoped they were all inside. This morning as I was leaving for work I realized that he was not in the coop. Tonight I came home early to look for him and found him under a small stand of trees in the back corner of the yard. 
Something had eaten the meat from the bone after pulling off most of the feathers. His skull was about 5 feet from the rest of the body along with a few delicate bones, like the wish bone, pretty much intact. That tells med that it was likely a bird of prey. Wouldn't a raccoon or possum have the jaw strength to eat the bones?
Based on the maggot infestation & the crop contents i am guessing he died sometime Wednesday morning after eating.
Does this sound like a hawk? We had one ( Red tail i think) swoop down 2 weeks ago but it was deterred by my dog.
I had to let my beautiful old dog go on Monday & now I'm closing out the week with this. I am afraid that whatever it is will be back for more.
Something had eaten the meat from the bone after pulling off most of the feathers. His skull was about 5 feet from the rest of the body along with a few delicate bones, like the wish bone, pretty much intact. That tells med that it was likely a bird of prey. Wouldn't a raccoon or possum have the jaw strength to eat the bones?
Based on the maggot infestation & the crop contents i am guessing he died sometime Wednesday morning after eating.
Does this sound like a hawk? We had one ( Red tail i think) swoop down 2 weeks ago but it was deterred by my dog.
I had to let my beautiful old dog go on Monday & now I'm closing out the week with this. I am afraid that whatever it is will be back for more.
