Monsters in our woods? Or something explainable?

[LynneP]

I think you have it narrowed to cougar, fisher cat, pine marten and wolverine.


Of these, wolverines are most likely in Michigan, Alaska or the Canadaian north. Do you have a pic of the scat you found or other sign?

 

[nautical_bouy]

Breaking a 3'' branch is not easy especially for a 30-40 lb. animal.....

Maybe it's the "Grassman",,,,, you are in the middle of the sightings.

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Quote:
You know, something might have initially killed and eaten part of it, and then another, smaller something may have taken part of the leftovers...

Here's a list of mammals found in Ohio: http://www.mammalsociety.org/statelists/ohmammals.html
There are quite a few large predators on that list. (Don't bother with "extirpated" ones; that means they are alive elsewhere in the world but as of now, in Ohio, they are extinct). "Extirpated" would rule out the fisher cat and the mountain lion. However, you DO have black bears statewide. They are endangered, but exist. My guess would be bear, with the claw marks. Bobcat is possible, too. I don't know about the "giant squirrel" thing, but I think you guys ought to start walking your property with digital cameras/cell phone cameras handy...

Have you had any recent thunderstorms that *might* have snapped some tree branches? I know a few good storm systems moved through northern Ohio in the past week or so. It might be a coincidence (not that I'm doubting your story, just trying all possible hypotheses).

 

[SterlingAcres]

Quote:
A trail camera, they are motion activated. these days you can get the basic ones pretty cheep or maybe you could borrow one, I definately would. Next door in Pa they wont say we dont have mountain lions they just say there is no verified population. Very curious with the claw marks.

I'd believe it. My grandfather's 1500 acres holds some massive bobcats and I've seen coyotes as big as wolves. So I'd put money on mountain lions in the area... you never know. I want game cameras here, since the only wildlife I've seen are a neighborhood turkey hen and her chicks. No deer or anything!

 

[The Chicken Lady]

Can you get a pic of the tracks or the claw marks and post it in this thread?

 

[chicknmania]

OK, here's what I think, for those who are interested. We did some research on minks, and discovered that: they eat muskrats, and chickens, of course...they also eat their prey on the spot and consume most of it. They also sometimes climb, though not good at it. And we already knew that they are native to Ohio and that we have them in our woods, because we have seen their tracks in the snow in the winter, especially around the pond, of course. And, I also learned that they have a big territory, and they move around a lot, so they wouldn't necessarily stay in the same area more than a day or so. So that explains, the nocturnal squirrel the kids saw (probably); the total and on the spot consumption of the muskrat and our hen, the neck cracking (they kill by breaking the neck), and only one hen being killed. Of course, it isn't conclusive, but it makes sense. And there may be more than one predator involved here, but, as I said, there were some similarities in those two attacks that I had not seen before in other predator attacks. In the case of our hen I don't think anything had time to drag the rest away (like mice) because it was a very fresh kill, and it was during the morning. Mink are related to Fishers and are native to Ohio, whereas Fishers are not native to Ohio. (I know that doesn't mean they can't be here though) The claw marks and broken tree branches we still can't explain, other than maybe a very large cat or raccoon maybe got far enough out on the branch to break it? We are still interested in getting a game camera or two.

 

[chicknmania]

Quote:
There were none, sorry, ground is hard here...dirt forest floor, no claw marks or tracks.

 

[JoeOxfordCT]

Not to hijack the thread but....

Fisher Cats & weasels are night time only predators ??

 

[mmajw]

Quote:
Anything will come out when hungry or feeding young

 

[HeadHen]

Hey, you mentioned you thought it killed a muskrat because of the musky smell in the area and I wanted to mention that I read that Fisher Cats have a scent pad in their rear paws that they release a musky smell with... maybe marking it's territory? Just a thought.