please help identify the predator

[OrpingtonManor]

Quote:
only problem is if we both decide to run in the same direction.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

So crazy that I'm reading this and you're just a few miles from me!!!! I hope it isn't anything too big.

Maybe it is those Martinez beavers that were in the news a lot last year... you know, trying to regain their 15 mins. of fame by causing a media frenzy?

 

[kman]

i wish i could find a picture of this on the internet, but anyways our states sportsman mag ( mississippi ) had a picture on the last page from a game cam that clearly showed a black dog with only half a fawn in its mouth the caption said something like " this coyote? is going to have some vension for breakfast. what happened to the other half" now i am almost a 100% that it was a coyote in that picture (we have black ones hear). just wanted to let yall know a coyote is cable of such, with that said i would bet on it being a mt lion because you say you see no claws and that is the normal track you would be seeing with a cat, normal sized bobcat could not do what you have described so my vote Mt. Lion

 

[cw]

Quote:
we have both hear

 

[OrpingtonManor]

kman, thanks for the input on the coyote. I'm hoping for more tracks tomorrow. It has been rainy here lately, so the mud is soft.

Nifty, I don't think you have anything to worry about. Those couple of miles between our houses are totally populated! You've seen my neighborhood. Just 500 feet uphill is the Regional Park. Wild things are born and die in my backyard regularly.

ETA - martinez beavers?

they are entirely peace-loving (unless you mess with their dam!)

 

[Iowa Roo Mom]

While yotes can and do kill fawn, the tracks you describe are cat tracks, as cats have retractable claws. Yote tracks tend to be more elongated than a typical dog track, and you would see toenail prints as well.

Here is a generic chart for comparison...

 

[gsim]

I think CW nailed it. I would not count on it being so afraid of you either. Likely it would be, but there are more reports every day of big cats attacking humans, but usually only in wilderness or isolated places.

 

[Daidohead]

Bet on it being a mountain lion. You'd be suprised how many big cats there are around there. I have taken pic's of 130-160 pounders in the hills along hwy 4. That was 30 years ago tho. They keep to themselves if you let them.

 

[ErieSpurs]

Are there any puncture marks on it's head and neck? If so it's most likely a mountain lion. They usually kill by biting the throat, neck, or sometimes through the skull.

 

[OrpingtonManor]

Quote:
There were no puncture marks on the side that we could see. It looked like it had been attacked from behind. Who knows what was on the side that was down toward the ground.

We went back out this morning. The big tracks were obliterated by hundreds of deer hooves during the night. The fawn carcass was completely gone, however. It's possible that it was taken by the animal that killed it, but no new tracks to prove that. There were canine tracks this morning, very different from yesterday's tracks. We combed the area and did find the ribs and spine, and some good-sized pieces of fur about 50 feet away. The head and neck were dragged off. The vultures had cleaned up the guts that were everywhere yesterday. The neighborhood dogs will probably take care of the bones that were left today. By the next rain, there will be nothing left. Pretty incredible.