Found a dead duck today

[Sfraker]

Today I was gone from noon until 5 PM. The sunsets at 5:15 PM. When I got home at five one of my ducks was dead and half eaten. The duck was laying on its stomach it's entire neck and top portion of the back in between the wings had been plucked and all the meat was gone. It had obviously been killed and eaten in that spot.
Whatever it was left the bulk of the meat on the duck. The duck was stiff so I think she had been there a little while.
I am in North Carolina just south of Charlotte. Predators in the area that I am aware of are coyote, Fox, owl, Cooper's Hawk, bald eagle, bobcat, raccoons and dogs. However the only predators I have seen are the Coopers hawk and dogs.
Whatever got the duck had to of done it in the middle of the day. And since it didn't eat the whole dock or move it from where it killed it I'm thinking it was something small. Also my 4 foot high fence was still intact all the way around and the electric wire is working because I accidentally tested it myself

The ducks will be staying in their ducky Fort Knox for the next week or so. What type of predator do you think I'm dealing with?

 

[Orca5094]

Sounds like a bird of prey to me. Their Fort Knox has something over the top, right?

 

[Sfraker]

I was thinking bird of prey too. Yes it is a chain link dog kennel 30' X 10' with a chain link top.

 

[Orca5094]

I was thinking bird of prey too. Yes it is a chain link dog kennel 30' X 10' with a chain link top.

Ok, good.

Do you have raccoons where you are? They can (and will) reach their little hands through chain-link and pull a duck through to eat it. Or at least, eat the part they get through the fence (speaking from personal experience back when I lived in the US; thankfully we don't have raccoons here in Sweden). Do you have smaller hard wire around the outside of the pen to prevent that? Never hurts to beef up your ducky Fort Knox.