Can you ID what animal may have done this?

[20736]

I am going to say a weasel may be your criminal in this case. They can't carry the carcass off, and when we had ducks they would chew on what they could and then go off, leaving the damaged animal. If the duck is a large one, it probably stood up or tried fleeing, and the weasel took off. Weasels prefer the fermented grain in the crop, and they have created problem here (Maryland) for our poultry.
Google "weasel traps". They are easy to make and effective. A weasel has a territory of about 10 acres, and he will probably be back.
Hope this helps.

 

[cafarmgirl]

I tend to agree that a fox or coyote would not likely have mucked things up and left such an easy kill behind. Even if interrupted the duck most likely would simply have been snatched up and carried off. If you are positive your own dogs didn't do this then do you have neighbor dogs or stray dogs in the area perhaps? Long list of potential suspects of course but a dog would be my #1 suspect.

 

[GypsyHorsegirl]

I live on a large property and the dogs are pretty territorial, my dogs don't visit off the property and don't tolerate any strays coming in. I checked everyone's muzzle and neck, no blood stains. All but one is long haired so it's likely I'd see blood given the damage done to the duck. We see fox regularly and the dogs usually light out after them if they spot them. My dogs chase rabbit, deer and fox and will tree an occasional opossum or raccoon. But I've never known them to mess with the farm animals. I do extensive socialization, they don't go into the pastures unless I am in them or something isn't where it should be... They are usually the first to tell me if one of the highlands or horses are out. The ducks, geese, and chickens have free run of the pastures and yard. The other ducks weren't acting like were scared of the dogs when I was catching them. Given the other attacks, I hesitant to blame the dogs, but I will be keeping a close eye on them.

 

[silkiechicken]

That looks very similar to a wound on one of my chickens after a two fold attack, just larger. A dog bit into it's back, the hen got away, but by evening when she could be caught, the other chickens had pecked the wound open and about 5x larger than it appeared at first. Hen was a leghorn, and couldn't be caught during the day... yet somehow managed to allow the rest of the free range flock to take bites out of her thigh area. She's been in the house for a month recovering.

 

[the duck whisperer]

i would probably say a dog. Most other predators try to bite the neck. But could of been anything small too like weasel or mink. Fox or coyotes wouldn't have left the duck behind, and cats usually attack the head/neck, as well as raccoons.