[Nasty Picture] What killed my duck?

[Cole Penner]

Hey guys. I thought I'd ask the experts. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post the gruesome picture or not but I don't know how'd you be able to tell otherwise.

A couple of facts. Barely any blood. Duck was still in the coop (4' high fence). So I'm thinking it wouldn't be a coyote or it would have jumped over the fence with the duck whole. Feather piles in two spots.

Give me your thoughts.

 

[GGBEAR]

Poor thing I'm thinking a raccoon they seem to be messy eaters not eatingvery thing

 

[Watermelon123]

Looking at the picture, a lot of the damage was done around the abdomen and neck. I'm going to go with opossum. They can easily squeeze through any holes in the fencing, as well as climb over the fence. However, I still wouldn't rule out raccoon because opossums try to stay clear of healthy adults and go more for chicks and juveniles.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

A Hawk or else a great horned owl, 100% . The feathers are missing from every part eaten and all the bones are still intact.

You mentioned that there were two piles of feathers. The pile furthest from your duck's body is where the raptor captured your duck and began to pluck the feathers out and eating your duck alive. The other pile of feathers and down is where the duck managed to drag itself by fighting back with the raptor's talons stuck in your duck's body.

Because the head and neck are unharmed that likely means that your duck died from massive tissue loss. Nature is nature, and that Walt Disney fellow is BS.

Hawks and owls feed like a 5 year old slurping spaghetti off of their dinner plate, one long noodle of muscle fiber at a time.

Sorry that I had to be so realistic or graphic with my post but go back and look at the image of your duck one more time and you will see the damage.

 

[GGBEAR]

wow that's really interesting and makes a lot of sense