Suggestion to identify predator

[zazouse]

Similar appearance. Except that in our case, neck was completely stripped down to bare bones along with part of the chest. Head was also down to bare bone.

My dogs ran the owl off at the pond and took the bird it would have been picked clean had they not interrupted

many times they will take the head clean off especially on a rabbit.

 

[ukrkoz]

Aren't owls nocturnal hunters? Our flock is locked in coop as soon as it's dusk outside.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Possibly a hawk, though I'm not sure they would carry it under a bush to eat it. A lot of things go for the head first. That makes it hard to tell.

Were there any marks on the body, like punctures from a bobcat's claws or a hawk's claws? Was there any poop[ around you could identify?

 

[ukrkoz]

I'll scratch bobcats, we are in too civilized area.
Also, it was flashlight job. After 9 pm it's like middle of the night. No, I could not tell any puncture marks - only complete flash stripped from head through neck into the left chest area.
But she was apparently dragged under the shrubs, as feathers are outside the shrub away from body location. So something had her moved under the shrubs. I think this rules out a bird predator. Might as well have been a stray cat. We do have all kinds of stray animals wonder around. Dogs, cats. Seen coyote twice. But it's too civilized and right off arterial for any wild wild animals.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t know where you live but talk to your local animal control. You might be amazed at how many wild animals live in suburbia.

It's horse acre property backed against trees in loosely populated area.

I took this quote from your first post in this thread. I would not rule out wild animals at all.

Still after seeing that photo I'm leaning toward Hawk. But it could still be many things.

 

[TheDarkLord098]

It might be a bobcat, we can help you further and find clues if you tell us the location. Try reading this http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobcat if not a bobcat, it might be a hawk then.

 

[TheDarkLord098]

Big chances that it's a fox:
Gray and red foxes feed primarily on rabbits, hares, small rodents, poultry, birds, and insects. They also consume fruits. The gray fox eats fish, a prey seldom eaten by the red fox. Gray and especially red foxes kill young livestock, although poultry is their more common domestic prey. Foxes usually attack the throat of lambs and birds, but kill some by multiple bites to the neck and back. Normally, foxes taking fowl leave behind only a few drops of blood and feathers and carry the prey away from the kill location, often to a den. Eggs are usually opened enough to be licked out. The shells are left beside the nest and are rarely removed to the den, even though fox dens are noted for containing the remains of their prey, particularly the wings of birds.
Breast and legs of birds killed by foxes are eaten first and the other appendages are scattered about. The toes of the victims are usually drawn up in a curled position because of tendons pulled when the fox strips meat from the leg bone. Smaller bones are likely to be sheared off. The remains are often partially buried.
Foxes will return to established denning areas year after year. They dig dens in wooded areas or open plains. Hollow logs are also used. Dens may be identified by the small doglike tracks or by fox hairs clinging to the entrance. The gray fox is the only fox that readily climbs trees, sometimes denning in a hollow cavity.

 

[carsonwild]

I'm telling you have a bird of pray stalking your flock.
They are the only animal that stripes the meat off the bone in that fashion.
Coons and other mammals well eat the bone and all the only thing that well be left is the feathers.
Carson

 

[ukrkoz]

I don’t know where you live but talk to your local animal control. You might be amazed at how many wild animals live in suburbia.

It's horse acre property backed against trees in loosely populated area.

I took this quote from your first post in this thread. I would not rule out wild animals at all.

Still after seeing that photo I'm leaning toward Hawk. But it could still be many things.

I owe explanation.
We live in scarcely populated area because it's mostly properties on acreage. 1 to over 20 acres, horse and farm properties. That makes population scarce, not like in city packed. Lots of green. But not really a wild country.

 

[ukrkoz]

I'm telling you have a bird of pray stalking your flock.
They are the only animal that stripes the meat off the bone in that fashion.
Coons and other mammals well eat the bone and all the only thing that well be left is the feathers.
Carson

And I am not really questioning this, only wondering, how body ended under the shrubs.
Reason being, it's different lines of defense. If it's an airborne predator, I'll have to put bird netting over the fenced area. If it's a ground one, then trapping and such is considered.