Duck beheader turner egg thief

[Safronsue]

It began when a runner duck was noted missing...then I found her head. Nothing else. The nest containing the eggs, all intact, that she had been brooding, was nearby.

Couple weeks later and we realize 4 eggs have disappeared from a well hidden nest in the oregano patch. Then 2 from another nest.

What predator can carry off a duck carcass and jump with it over a high boundary? Our property is pretty securely walled and fenced though trees overhang. Is this decapitation a hall mark of a particular critter?

Am planning to set a trap of some kind but need to know what I’m dealing with.

 

[Doobly]

Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry for your loss. No advice here but hopefully this will bump your post to someone who might have an idea. A security camera that records motion might be handy in the meantime to identify what's happening?

 

[Safronsue]

Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry for your loss. No advice here but hopefully this will bump your post to someone who might have an idea. A security camera that records motion might be handy in the meantime to identify what's happening?

Thanks.nice idea but sounds expensive

 

[Doobly]

Thanks.nice idea but sounds expensive

I think you can pick simplish ones out online for about £30. You don't need to be able to make out a human face, just an animal shape so something cheap would do.