I would say i'm 99% sure its a cat. None of my neighbors have seen any coons, skunks, rats etc. I stayed at the window most of the night and counted 4 different cats prowling my yard. But nothing else. More than I've seen around during the day... Let my dogs out and they cornered one and scared the life out of it if not worse... My boxer despises any cat. I've not found and signs of other predators. Not to say they are not there. I've been a hunter all my life, and see no sign of other creatures in or around my yard. I figure my ladies are only 2 months old. Still relatively small. I felt they were big enough. But I've decided to only let them out for a few hours at a time while my boxer is outside to guard them . Shes such a priss, she wants to hang out inside lol. SO they stay in the pen most of the day. Its a decent sized area to be in, I just wanted free ranged chickens. I also keep my yard very poop free. I don't know if that matters. I've read that cats dislike dog and chicken feces, but i'm to clean to let it lay around for more than a day or two.
I'm seriously considering an Airsoft pellet gun. As soon as I open the door they bolt. Sooo, I could just hang out with an open window and pop the sneaky little shyts. I figure once or twice should get the point across. Do you think they communicate to the other cats that the yard is no longer "cat friendly", so to speak?
I had a *&#&$ feral cat kill my 2 bantam hens *just to eat their breast meat, nothing else*, so don't let anyone tell you a cat can't take a small chicken or even a mid-size one. There're toms prowling around here that may outsize a bobcat. Shoot them, trap them...whatever!!