Does this sound like a snake? (graphic description)

[phoenix]

This morning I found my 6-month-old female mallard beheaded and with an empty chest cavity in a well-fenced goat pen where she liked to hang out. No other damage except to her upper torso that I could see. We have snakes in the area: racers, rat snakes, and I saw my first rattlesnake in nearly 5 years near the pen a couple of weeks ago. I can't think of another predator that would do that kind of damage.

I'm leaning toward the rattler as I had a racer and a ratsnake living in the chicken coop this past summer with nothing more than the loss of a few eggs (at least until the hens started laying outside and we started losing a lot more eggs!). I have mainly standard-size chickens, which are bigger than the sweet little mallard was, but I also have 4 bantams that are smaller.

The other frequent predators in the area are hawks and owls and coyotes, though I'm pretty certain it wasn't any of them because there weren't feathers or other marks save for a ripped-up shoulder. I know snakes will generally swallow prey head first, so that fits, but would they be able to decapitate a duck if they couldn't swallow it whole? I have the little mallard's mate to watch out for as well as four Pekin ducks and a rooster in my backyard, and a flock of 27 chickens that free-range nearby.

 

[rosecreek]

Several years ago, we had several mallard duck beheaded in one night. Very little blood was left. They were just beheaded and left on the pond bank. We were told it could have been a weasel or something like that. Recently, we had several chickens done the same way. In that instance, I caught a fox in the act. She was leaving them laying around and teaching her young how to hunt.

 

[BeccaOH]

A coon did a similar kill description to my neighbor's pet duck -- at least they believe it was coon. They had lost ducks the year before to coons.

 

[wateboe]

I wouldn't suspect a snake, but rather a four-footed or two-winged type of predator. There would need to be a decent set of tearing teeth or sharp beak to do that sort of damage.

 

[charlindabob]

99.9% sure it was not a snake.

 

[lleighmay]

Definitely not a snake- they are incapable of dismembering their prey.

 

[Sjisty]

Don't snakes swallow their prey whole? I would be more inclined to think raccoon or possum.

 

[clhbubba]

Snakes do not behead nor gut their prey, they eat their prey whole. Probably a possum or a coon. Coyotes carry their prey off, as well as hawks(leave a feather mess where they eat). I had a possum last fall that would eat the head and guts of my ducks/chickens. He's gone.

 

[Kev]

Read owls often just take the head and neck and just leave most of the carcass.

I've lost chicks to snakes before, if they killed a chick they could not swallow, it was very, very obvious.. the head and neck would be "completely slimed" because they could not get their jaws around the shoulders and/or the wings. They never managed to pull any part off.. they would just disgorge the head and neck out of their mouth(that's how it got slimed) and go away if they could not swallow the whole thing.

 

[newchickmom09]

I have to agree with everyone else not a snake. Something else with paws or a strong beak. You would be amazed what some animals can get into just for a quick snack.