Turkeys attacked by Panthers

[karaokechick]

Three Panthers came up to my house and grabbed and killed one turkey yesterday morning. I thought the others were OK after a quick inspection, except one who looked tramatized.
Well he wasn't looking any better this morning so I did another inspection of him, and what I missed before was a large area under his wing that the skin is GONE. The meat wasn't torn or ripped open, but it is exposed. (I missed it before because a bunch of downy feathers were stuck to it.)
I put alot of bactracin on it to keep the flys off and added some antibiotic to his water, and some electrolites.

But is there anything else I can do? He isolated himself from the other Turkeys earlier, so I put him in a cage by himself.
I am a First Time Turkey/Chicken owner!

BTW yesterday we electified the perimeter fence and the Turkey cage. We have always had the chicken cage electrified, but since the turkeys were almost in my porch we thought they would be OK.

 

[Nava]

try some neosporin, I had a hen that had some skin missing from a fox attack, but now she is fine.
WOW Panthers, talk about predators I'm so sorry you have to deal with that.
keep him away from other birds as they might peck at the wound

 

[karaokechick]

Thanks!
Bactracin is pretty much the non-commercial version of Neosproine.
We have THREE panthers prowling our property this week, so much for them being endangered!

I never thought I'd say this, but It's good I get off work at 2am and my son stays up all night playing video games, because we constantly check on them. He woke the hubby and myself up twice this morning because they were walking the perimiter and doing that weird cat growl call. We are going to try to record audio of it tonight. It's really creepy!

When they took the turkey they were not even intimidated by us. They came out during the day on Friday while my husband was mowing the grass on a rider mower just to check HIM out. They have no fear anymore, being sooo protected, and I guess the breeding with the cougar and mountain lion they did to preserve them has taken the shyness out of them.

I thought it would be the best of both worlds farming vacation land in Naples Fl.
LOL

 

[GammaPoppyLilyFlutter]

Quote:
What? They're endangered? Well that gets rid of the possibilities of shooting them

 

[karaokechick]

Well...My turkey is not looking good. He pretty much collapses to lay down and it breathing real heavy, face beet red. I still haven't seen him eat or drink, so I'm sure he isn't getting the electrolites and antibiotics I put in his water. I am crossing my fingers and saying a lil' prayer for him.
Sooo sad

 

[Nava]

you can tube feed him, give him what he needs

 

[can you hear me now?]

Wow, I know they are supposed to be protected in Florida but I myself would get in touch with DNR and see if there is something that can be done. Not only are they on the prowl but that lack of fear of people could potentially put a smaller child or not so well off adult in danger. They have been know to attack people too. Not the most common thing in the world but neither are shark attacks. They still happen.
Found this link thought if people wanted to look they could learn a bit too?
http://library.thinkquest.org/3822/885945947760.htm
Sorry had to add after.reading the info myself that there definitely panther here in Missouri again and the attacks were the mountain lions from California mountains.

 

[karaokechick]

He just passed away, my son & I were with him for him final moments, said a lil' prayer for him.
I wanted to post the injury so you can see that it did not look like it would kill him.
After he passed I went over him completely and there were no puncture wounds to be found. Just the bruised shoulder and the skin / feathers missing.

Before Attack
http://flic.kr/p/8Q6kth

Wounds-My husbands thumb is in it so you can get an idea of the actual size of the wound he is a Big man 6'4
http://flic.kr/p/8Q3do6

Overview
http://flic.kr/p/8Q6ku5

 

[Sumatra503]

I'm so sorry.

I have had a lot of injuries of this nature. Sometimes things just happen and turkeys can stress easily.

OMG!!! Panthers!!! Where do you Live??!!!

We have Cougars around here, but they leave the chickens alone.

Which do you think is more terrifying?

You should talk to your department of Fish and Wildlife. They can generally trap and relocate them.

 

[TheFeatheredTempest]

First, I'm really sorry to hear about your loss. It sounds like a very upsetting and sad situation.

Yes, the Florida Panther is critically endangered and protected by federal law with fewer than 100 individuals remaining in the wild. It is one of the most endangered cats in the world. Sightings of live panthers are actually rather rare. Many FL biologists work their entire career without getting to see one! If you saw more than one then it would have been a female with her young. Did you see if any of them were radio collared? The state and/or federal wildlife officials will want to know about your observations and what happened and need to know when pets or livestock are attacked so that they can manage the small remaining panther population. Your observation may provide important data to their research biologists that can be used to help protect these majestic cats but also protect people and their animals in the area.

The FL Fish and Wildlife Commission has a wildlife alert hotline at 1-888-404-3922

http://www.floridapanthernet.org/images/uploads/LivingWithPanthers.pdf

Good luck and take care