Large cat!!

[lacrego]

That's scary. Thank goodness your dog was there. I'd hate to think of the outcome if the dog hadn't been there to distract it!

I'm glad you're alright. Do you think it was a mountain lion? We have those here. Mountain Lions are an ambush predator and some bicyclists and joggers here in CA have been killed.
A Mt. Lion won't eat anything it hasn't killed itself. It's helpful to know that they are "crepuscular" meaning...they prefer to hunt during twilight, dawn and dusk.

Here is how one fellow goat owner dealt with the situation...

*Warning graphic* as it does show what the MT. Lion did to the goat.

(Notice the time it returned to it's kill).

I'm so glad it wasn't a mountain lion! We are on the look out for his return though, we got more wire up on the coop, hopefully he was just passing by? Thanks for the link, very interesting (real world) stuff!

 

[Extra Java]

I'm glad you're OK.

Last night, we had a cat kill a couple of our ducks, today a juvenile hawk killed 2 more for the thrill...the little hawk was no bigger than a blue jay and jumped on the back of our 20 lb Muscovy Drake...killed it and came back to kill 2 more hens (didn't eat any of them). Tonight, the cat came back and drug a duck down the driveway leaving her babies behind. The word is out where to get dinner. We're going to have to start from square 1 again. Going to have to give up on ducks...they just will NOT go in the coop at night.

Hawks? that's another thread!

Maybe we should get a dog? (one that doesn't kill chickens)

 

[lacrego]

Hey thanks, yes I am fine I was just shaken up is all. If anything did happen the faithful dog would have protected me I'm sure.

Yeah, I saw your other thread about your ducks, sorry to hear about that. I've lost a calf, 3 birds and a cat all in the past 5 weeks (all different causes of deaths) and it sucks to loose any of them! I feel for you.

We have several hawks here too, I've stopped letting my chickens out free range when i moved them to the new coop, it'll still be a few days before I can get them out in a covered run. The other day I saw a hawk take a dive at one of the girls while i sipped my coffee. I've been using a pellet gun at them and usually keeps them away for awhile, not enough power to hurt them but it will scare them off (a few pellets later).

And the dog? Yeah she has killed a few (two in fact, one pullet and one hen that found her way over a 5 foot fence into her kennel). I've tried working with her and training her, but it's just too tempting for her she just wants to play!

 

[Extra Java]

Yes, we're building a new enclosed coop for days like this. They love to free range but sometimes they need a few days to hide out until situations improve. They've free ranged for years and only until now have we had problems and on multiple levels.

Hate to hear about the calf...that's a real bummer. I'm guessing it was that same large cat or one of his friends? I was thinking about moving to Montana someday but now I'm wondering if it's just as heavily loaded with predators as here. hmmm Hawaii perhaps?

Almost lost some new goat kids to a bobcat but was able to intervene.

Isn't it amazing that any of us (or our livestock) made it this far? Makes you think of our ancestors...how would you like to have a T-Rex roaming around? Yikes. Now you know why people stuck together to survive. And I doubt they had chicken wire.

Nice to meet you and I forgot...

 

[lacrego]

mmm Hawaii.... now there's a place the girls and I would LOVE!! heehee! We are new to Montana we just moved here from Washington state back in June. We absolutely love it here! The cat the other night was the first encounter with a predator other than the hawks. We lost the calf to natural causes, not by this cat. And no sign of him back around the coop last night. Fingers crossed!! Nice to meet you too!

 

[BrendaJ]

Very scary. Glad you & your dog are ok

 

[lacrego]

So a quick little update....

My uncle runs cows and calves in the acreage around the property, this morning he found a dead calf. Just the hide off his belly was missing. It appears the calf was scared up onto a little hill with over grown with weeds, got tangled on his back and suffocated. This was located just behind the barn where I saw the bobcat 2 nights ago. This is a couple hundred pound calf, we don't think this is the work of a bobcat. Mountain lion? But they don't eat hide. Coyote? Dog? Bear? What kind of animal just eats hide and leaves the rest? So not chicken related but hopefully someone out there knows?

 

[Extra Java]

In the video I posted above, the mountain lion came back to the kill.
Were there any neck puncture wounds? What kind of tracks?

It very well could have been the bobcat that you encountered as they can and will hunt and kill deer...it sure wasn't much afraid of the size of you.
The goats I keep look very much like deer and I caught a large bobcat staring into my buck pen and they are about 200 lbs. If they are hungry enough, they'll do it.

BTW: Cats can carry 6 times their own weight.

If the cow died without being attacked by a predator, then any type of scavenger could be on the list.
Dogs AKA coyotes do like to chew on cowhide.

 

[Extra Java]

My Grandpa always said, "don't underestimate a Bobcat."

 

[chickortreat]

What a shame someone doesn't take the little critter home and feed him some chickens. He has to hunt for his food.....