How tough are possums and coons????

[MakNat]

We had a possum wipe out 17 birds in one night. My man shot her and all her babys the next night... we have woods all around us, so I KNOW there are more and coons, seen a fox too... So about a week later I found my sweet cat Zonk mauled to death in the barn.... It looks like something with a smaller mouth did it, I mean not like one of my 80 pound dogs. All the dogs and cats get along, raised together. ... We do have a small jack russell mix dog, but she has grown up with these cats as well and I just don't 'see' her all of the sudden killing one... They are/were all buddys... Is it possible and possum or coon did it??? Would they drag a cat away, being Bagels is still missing? This cat was very nonaggrestive. Just trying to figure this one out.

 

[Imp]

Here in my suburban backyard, the cats, possums, and raccoons all coexist, without problems. But they are all semi domesticated. In your situation I would guess raccoon. Just don't see possums being that aggressive. Maybe your fox, but I think they would take the cat back to their den for dinner. Other or your dog being a distant 3rd.

Imp- sorry you are having problems.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Raccoons can kill full sized hunting dogs. They are mean, nasty , and very tough. Possums are not as likely to be a danger to a cat. Foxes woudl probably kill a cat. Coyotes are a huge danger to cats. A bobcat would probably take one out. Lots of possibilities.

 

[the_eagle69]

If they are not very old and cooked slowly they are not tough at all.

 

[mtngrl812]

A fox or coyote would make a meal of a cat....cats are just a candy for those two. A coon would most likely eat a majority of the cat Your cat could have got in a scrap with a possum that was bothering her and more than one ganged up on her. The missing cat was probably a meal for one of the other critters or the commotion was disturbing enough the cat bailed.

It is a sad thing when wild animals decide our pets are the easiest meal around, although they are probably right. Your little Jack might have gotten in a tift with your cat over a mouse chase or something, my dogs get pretty riled up when they think there is something to catch close at hand.

I'd try setting a trap or something, use raw eggs for bait. The only thing is you need more than one size trap for the different varmints you have running around. I'd also start construction on Fort Knox

 

[MysticScorpio82]

A while a go, a fellow BYCer had her cat killed by a coon, so it is poosible. The fact your cat was drug away would lead me to suspect a coyote though (maybe a fox).

I am sorry for your loss!

 

[MakNat]

I need to invest in a camera to put in the barn. Zonk, the cat who I found was only 4 a yr old. Bagels, the one missing, is 14 years old........ He WAS ALWAYS right there in the barn. I would brag about him, nobody ever believed he was that old. Poor fellers, it makes me so sad and sick..... Thanks all. We are going to set have a heart traps. We have 2 pretty good sized ones. I don't think it was my dog,now, because the remaining cat Spaz and Ruby, the suspected dog, have been tooling around the barn barnyard area together like they are trying to figure it out as well.