What kind of predator....

[KarenN]

will kill just for the sake of killing?

last week some friends lost all 20 of their chickens in one fell swoop, bloody massacre, but none of them were eaten.

Then yesterday my good friend Stacy - Cally you know her - came home from work to find their two show goats dead in their pen, two cats dead near the barn and Peep, their sweet wonderful dog near death (Stacy thought she was dead, and couldn't even look it was so bad, but when Eric went to get Peep, he found that she was barely clinging to life). We don't know if Peep will make it, but she's at the vet still hanging in there.

The strange part is that while these animals are savegely mauled they're not being eaten. I know the coyotes are REALLY bad this year, and I'm worried about the foal I have coming next month. But coyotes will usually eat at least SOME of what they kill. We have big cats, both bob cats and pumas, but again, I don't think they'll kill just for the sake of killing. I'm almost wondering if there aren't some neighborhood dogs that have packed together and are killing for the sport but are being fed at home? It's a mystery right now, but one I really want solved!

There's a poor little boy that is totally heartbroken this morning. Not only did he nearly lose his dog, he did lose two of his cats,and he lost both of his show goats that he had worked so hard to get ready to show this Saturday. One was getting ready to be bred.... poor little guy

[Mary Ann]

I'm so sorry, Wildfire! That's devastating when it happens.

I don't know what you have in your area, but here a coon will get into the chickens and kill every one of them but eat none. They just seem to frenzy and break necks. It's happened to us more times than I want to remember.

We have some coyotes in our area that'll pull down sheep, but I don't know if they eat them, too. Usually you'll know there are coyotes bothering folk's stock when you see a few farmers with shotguns running around in the back of a neighbor's pickup.

I'm so sorry for their loss.

[Sheryl as guest]

I can't even guess what wild animal would do that. On my parents farm, we had sheep attacked and killed (but not eaten) by a pack of domestic dogs that ran wild at night. Our neighbors lost a bunch that we too. We never lost animals to coyotes even though they were pretty common. In fact, the coyotes kept the rabbit/rodent population down.
Sheryl

[wildfire]

The victims were too varied.

Coyotes? Not likely. It would have taken too much time.

The chicken pen wasn't damaged, was it? (Dogs would have damaged the pen. A CAT or racoon usually won't.)

The chickens could have been racoons.

But the later attacks were NOT coons.

I'd look for LARGE cat tracks.
This is NOT the work of a bobcat!
Puma, maybe.

Was the dog gutted?

A Jaguar comes to my mind. (A puma would have done this before in the area, but a Jaguar may have just moved into the area.)

Yes, Jaguar DO kill JUST for fun. (As do MANY animals, despite what the Animal Rightsist claim.)

If it IS a Jaguar, no her son, nor her HUSBAND, can "take care of himself"!

I would contact Fish and Game immediately! (They MAY be able to find the tracks that a less experienced person may have missed.)

I am SO sorry!
Prayers are going up!

[KarenN]

I would think we are too far north for Jaguar - we DO have pumas, though I know that several here deny that, too! This area is much more residential than where I live, yet still rural enough for the occasional large cat and plenty of coyotes. The horses were pretty spooky when my friends got home, but they didn't seem to have been bothered.

[Mary Ann]

Well I feel like a doof! I thought Wildfire made the first post, which kind of surprised me because I figured he'd know what kind of predator. Imagine me reading later and seeing him answer his own post.

I should pay more attention!

Sorry, Karen!

[Littljoe]

Any predator can, on occasion, "kill for the sake of killing," especially if the prey is absurdly easy to kill, like chickens, or has no means of escape. They have an instinctive need to attack and kill, and when they can satisfy that instinct easily, they will. (That's why your pet cat likes to "kill" its toys.) But pumas do prefer larger prey, and I'm not sure they would bother with chickens at all. And they're usually more secretive, taking something quickly and then eating it in a place where they won't be seen. Killing a lot of things out in the open is not really puma style.

I really would suspect a pack of dogs for at least some of these attacks. Depending on the breeds of the dogs involved, they might destroy a fence, but they might not. And if this is the case, yes, you definitely need to watch out for yourselves and your children. Dog packs can be much more dangerous than wild animals. The scariest thing is that sometimes the packs are made up of family pets, who get together to go hunting and then go back to their separate homes for dinner.

The large number of animals killed at the one farm (two goats, two cats, a dog) also suggests multiple attackers, like a dog pack. If a dog saw a puma attacking the goats, it might stand up to it and get mauled for its trouble; but the cats certainly wouldn't wait around in the open to get killed! It sounds to me as if they were all taken by surprise at once, and that sounds like a pack of something. Since coyotes aren't pack hunters, that pretty much leaves dogs.

On the other hand, as Wildfire says, it may not be clear at this point that all these attacks were from the same animal or group of animals. It might just be coincidence that different animals attacked different farms around the same time.

Did the dog have injuries consistent with a fight, like lots of bites and tears on its body, or did it look like it had been grabbed by something big? That would tell you something, too.

What a tragedy. I'm really sorry for that little boy.

--LJ

[KarenN]

My DH just called after talking to Eric... they are headed to a boring job today (not boring like snooze - horizontal boring) Anyway, Carson (the son) asked if "they" were going to come eat him in the night

I sure hope we figure it out soon.

And we do know of at least one puma in the area that was caught in the act of chicken slaughter about 18 monsths ago - scared the poor lady to death when she went out to feed early and saw that big cat in a killing frenzy with her chickens!

[linda]

I second the recommendation to call Fish and Game. The animal needs to be identified so fencing can be improved to keep that critter out of there.

We have cougar here--you don't feed dogs and cats outside (unless you want a cougar on your doorstep during the winter) and dogs and cats stay inside at night. It is a bad time of year for young big cats--their hunting skills are often not very good and so coming to town where the animals are easy prey is sometimes an option.

You said the coyotes were bad--I interpret that to mean that there does not seem to be much natural food supply out there and they are being forced into conflict with people.

You are right--the mystery needs to be solved so you can take appropriate action. A weasel could have killed the chickens--but not the goats. And you would take very different precautions for a weasel problem then a big cat problem
Linda

[Chrisnstar]

We are getting overrun with coyotes here. So far, I haven't heard of too many conflicts with humans and domestic animals, but it's only a matter of time.

they are getting closer and closer and bolder.

Two things have created this...

First more and more people are moving out here from the city, encroaching on the habitat of wild animals.

and second, there used to be a bounty on coyotes in Kansas. The state legislature repealed it about a decade ago because coyotes were actually becoming endangered. Well, they've made a heck of a rebound, the pendulum has swung the other way... sigh....

chris

[denise]

but it seems like they would have made a lot of noise.

I had a free range rooster years back that lost an eye and so he could only get as high as this big stump in my pasture whereas all of the ladies were up in the tree. One night I heard a whole lot of squawking, couldn't find my glasses for the life of me (I am not blind w/o them by any means but distance just isn't that great) and ran out the doorway with the flashlight figuring I would scare the possums off at least even if I couldn't see theml. I ran into the pasture in time to see whatever it was clear my 5+ foot fence with my rooster in his mouth. I waved goodbye to Henry - that it had been nice knowing him for the previous 7 years. I figured it had to be a cougar (my horse wasn't freaked though) because I couldn't imagine a coyote clearing the fence, going under but not over.