What would kill a goat this way?

[talos321]

This is the culprit. He said cattle mutilations are so 1990's.


Seriously my guess would be bats.
I've seen dogs kill a goat (mine) and
everything was eaten except the head.

 

[dangerouschicken]

DixyGirl, that looks like a coyote with mange.

 

[Nupine]

The chupacabra!!!!!!!!!! He strikes again!!!!! I have been really into them lately, I am doing a research paper on them right now. They put two holes in the neck of their victims, most commonly goats, and dringk the blood dry. Sometimes they also skin, mutilates, and remove organs with surgical precision, but they don't eat them.
Ashlyn

 

[Nupine]

Well, maybe not.

 

[chicknmania]

I just can't believe dogs wouldn't do more damage than that. It would be more than a pinhole wound, wouldn't it? I do know that sheep can die from fright if a dog gets in the pasture and starts chasing them; it doesn't take long, but then, there would be no damage at all. I'm still betting on aliens or chupucabra.

 

[Rafter 7 Paint Horses]

Feral dogs will do a lot of damage, but domestic dogs usually don't. They get excited by the chase, and when the animal is dead, they look for something else to chase.

Jean

 

[HorseFeathers]

chupacabra, definitly!

 

[chicknmania]

I know dogs won't tear the animal up; they bite and keep going. But I wouldn't think they'd leave an identical two pinhole wound on every animal. In my experience they grab, shake, and drop. Our dog, before she knew better, killed one of the first hens we had exactly like that; and there was no wound on her at all; her neck was just broken. And bats biting in Ohio like that is not possible; we don't have bats that would do that here. It sounds like a snake bite, but a snake wouldn't kill 20 goats....????????

 

[ncgnance]

Why didn't someone take one of the little goats in for a necropsy? Most states will do one for free, especially in a case like this.

 

[shaky]

Dogs usually bite wherever they can, shake the prey around, then disembowel, if they are going to eat.

Cats will bite the throat and crush the windpipe.

If a weasel were twice the size of a weasel, that theory might work. Fisher or marten, though, I doubt would hunt goat.

Raptors bite the back of the head/neck to snap the spine.
If this happened at night, perhaps an owl? Daytime, a hawk?

What a strange case.
Baby goats are not tiny - they're about the size of a Jackrabbit (big housecat / small dog size)