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WI, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:37:18 AM EDT
I was walking the pup around the yard this morning and I'm surprised I found this before her. I didn't know I had weasels, but it appears I have one less now. This appears to be a short-tailed weasel. What predator is picky enough to eat the front quarter but precise enough to leave the head and front paws like that. Hawk? Possum? It looked pretty fresh at 7AM.
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SD, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:46:02 AM EDT
[#1]
My first guess is, owl.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:48:43 AM EDT
[#2]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Rezneck: My first guess is, owl. I also thought some kind of bird of prey. They get in and get out. Or take back to nest. |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:50:42 AM EDT
[#3]
My cat does that.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:51:21 AM EDT
[#4]
Front fell off
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:51:38 AM EDT
[#5]
Did you inspect the anus for trauma?
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:52:06 AM EDT
[Last Edit: FrankSymptoms]
[#6]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By spidey07: I also thought some kind of bird of prey. They get in and get out. Or take back to nest. Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By spidey07: Originally Posted By Rezneck: My first guess is, owl. I also thought some kind of bird of prey. They get in and get out. Or take back to nest. Especially if you are surprised to see it. It was caught somewhere else and dropped in your yard. |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:52:59 AM EDT
[#7]
Wow!
I found TWO chipmunk butts in my yard in the last 4 days. I did see a Cooper's Hawk swoop down. In for more info. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:53:01 AM EDT
[#8]
Don't know, but the killing looks similar to the feral kittens I found last month. Exactly like that too, head, paws, and most of the torso left.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:56:07 AM EDT
[#9]
My guess is whatever was eating it got interrupted.
Predators rarely leave good protein like that. Last fall I watched a good-sized bobcat catch a squirrel. I then watched him tote it off about 40 yards, sit down in the open, and consume the whole thing. Then it walked back within easy slam-dunk range and I shot it. When I went to retrieve it I walked on over to where it had sat to eat the squirrel, and, amazingly, the squirrel's intestines (and tail) were uneaten. 
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Posted: 5/7/2024 11:57:06 AM EDT
[#10]
I found something similar in my backyard the other day. Half eaten rat. Found the upper torso with head still attached, all lower body missing. Pretty clean bite.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:03:18 PM EDT
[#11]
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USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:12:27 PM EDT
[#12]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By midmo: https://www.hautelifehub.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/John-Deere-X739-Lawn-Mower.jpg Deere was my first thought too. 
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:17:55 PM EDT
[#13]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By clutchsmoke: My cat does that. |
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WI, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:27:36 PM EDT
[#14]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By walkinginadangerzone: Don't know, but the killing looks similar to the feral kittens I found last month. Exactly like that too, head, paws, and most of the torso left. I have seen the neighbor's barn cats around occasionally. I didn't figure them to quit on a meal like that but there could well be some kittens around. I've seen other critters around but never a weasel, although it probably shouldn't surprise me. It's full of wildlife around me: whitetail deer, raccoon, fox, coyote, possum, chipmunk, woodchuck, thirteen-lined ground squirrel, mole, vole, skunk, skink, blue spotted salamander, garter snakes, turkey, ducks, geese, sandhill crane, hawks, bald eagle, owls, crow, tons of smaller birds, and on and on. Really a pretty enjoyable place. |
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CT, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:28:54 PM EDT
[#15]
You got yourself a Dogman
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AL, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:36:27 PM EDT
[#16]
Owl. There is a Great Horned at work that does that to rabbits. Also did the same thing to a full size cat
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:37:28 PM EDT
[#17]
Found a rabbit like that in my workshop this winter. I think it's cats.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:50:07 PM EDT
[#18]
I found an armadillo in my part that had the front half missing, almost looked to be surgically cut. Never figured out what did that. We do have fox and some reported a black bear about 10 years ago.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:51:57 PM EDT
[#19]
Bears always wipe their ass with a rabbit after they shit.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 12:53:30 PM EDT
[#20]
Cat.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 1:01:11 PM EDT
[#21]
A house cat might do something like that.
I had one the would only eat the heads off of anole (small lizards down here). I would constantly find the little buggers de-headed. Then I found a puke puddle in the garage of about 6 anole heads. Damn thing made he sick to her stomach, but she just couldn't help herself. |
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OK, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 1:06:07 PM EDT
[#22]
We lose a significant enough number of chickens to predators. In my experience, Owls leave heads. Racoons eat them. Cats and canines take the whole critter with them.
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TX, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 1:34:16 PM EDT
[#23]
The barn cats here eat EVERYTHING but the nose...everything is gone but the snot box and whiskers. Rats, mice, small rabbits and squirrels...cat will not eat their noses.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 1:41:23 PM EDT
[#24]
I have a Great horned owl around our house that always does that.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 1:43:54 PM EDT
[#25]
Cat.
See that all the time with cats. |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 1:44:55 PM EDT
[#26]
I’ve found decapitated mice, rats, and rabbits around the farm for years.
no tiny swords yet thou… 
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Posted: 5/7/2024 1:45:59 PM EDT
[#27]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Waldo: Bears always wipe their ass with a rabbit after they shit. Me too, shit doesn't stick to their fur. |
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TN, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 2:05:04 PM EDT
[Last Edit: Redec]
[#28]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By clutchsmoke: My cat does that.  Attached FileI have cleaned up 3 chipmunks and 2 mice in the last week in the same state |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 2:14:03 PM EDT
[#29]
Housecat.
Birds carry stuff away, especially that size. Also birds will leave marks like they were picking out pieces (pecking or tearing out small chunks.) So my vote is housecat. |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 3:38:20 PM EDT
[Last Edit: spidey07]
[#30]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By RR_Broccoli: Housecat. Birds carry stuff away, especially that size. Also birds will leave marks like they were picking out pieces (pecking or tearing out small chunks.) So my vote is housecat. You’re correct now that I think about it. Birds pull/rip. Cars just bite the head clean off. Plus they kill shit for fun and may not eat it all. Let the lesser animals have what’s left. Could even be another weasel. They are ferocious predators with wicked teeth. |
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KY, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 3:44:01 PM EDT
[#31]
A red-headed step child did that
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Posted: 5/7/2024 3:49:12 PM EDT
[#32]
I have a cat that would do just that. He was a killing machine back in the day so he could be picky. Headless mice, birds, squirrels etc. all over my yard. One year on my wife's birthday he brought her a little headless mouse. He was proud. Now he's so fat he's pretty much out of the game, but he's at least 15 years old.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 3:51:09 PM EDT
[#33]
Many years ago I had an outdoor cat that would decapitate cotton tails and leave them in front of my back door.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 3:59:56 PM EDT
[#34]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By clutchsmoke: My cat does that. |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 4:00:59 PM EDT
[Last Edit: TheWhiteHorse]
[#35]
Either an cat, owl or a hawk would be my guess.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 4:01:28 PM EDT
[#36]
I used to have a house cat that left half-bodies of big rats and bunnies at the feet of my computer desk.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 4:03:22 PM EDT
[#37]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By arowneragain: My guess is whatever was eating it got interrupted. Predators rarely leave good protein like that. Last fall I watched a good-sized bobcat catch a squirrel. I then watched him tote it off about 40 yards, sit down in the open, and consume the whole thing. Then it walked back within easy slam-dunk range and I shot it. When I went to retrieve it I walked on over to where it had sat to eat the squirrel, and, amazingly, the squirrel's intestines (and tail) were uneaten. https://www.ar15.com/media/mediaFiles/47056/1A63FCD4-838A-4379-8982-1CB856C1D9C6-3016507.jpg You shot the bobcat? If I had a bobcat killing squirrels at my place I'd give it a bowl of milk and a bellyrub. |
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SC, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 4:05:22 PM EDT
[#38]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By apexcrusade: Did you inspect the anus for trauma? There are no USMC bases in Wisconsin. |
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USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 4:06:45 PM EDT
[#39]
My little brother had a partially eaten baby rabbit land in front of him once.
Figured a hawk or something dropped it while flying over. |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 4:08:21 PM EDT
[Last Edit: ENGCPT]
[#40]
Lawn mower!
Eta beat |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 4:20:42 PM EDT
[#41]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By Rezneck: My first guess is, owl. |
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WI, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:32:40 PM EDT
[#42]
Naturally not a morsel left checking after work. Not sure if the original culprit came back or if any of the other opportunistic critters cleaned up. I assume this happens a lot more than I notice.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:34:38 PM EDT
[#43]
Babcat
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:36:27 PM EDT
[#44]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JVD: Naturally not a morsel left checking after work. Not sure if the original culprit came back or if any of the other opportunistic critters cleaned up. I assume this happens a lot more than I notice. Never underestimate the power of free shit. Like food. It’s just nature. |
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AR, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:38:46 PM EDT
[#45]
Cats, birds, foxes and probably more do that
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:42:43 PM EDT
[#46]
I hope it’s okay.
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PA, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:44:16 PM EDT
[#47]
Owls, and raptors will eat the head, usually first.. Weasel family will too. All of them require large amounts of taurine in the diet, and the eyeballs are the richest source of taurine. Weasels are fierce, that would be a nasty cat to take one. Mower seems likely.
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:46:26 PM EDT
[Last Edit: spidey07]
[#48]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By manowar669: Owls, and raptors will eat the head, usually first.. Weasel family will too. All of them require large amounts of taurine in the diet, and the eyeballs are the richest source of taurine. Weasels are fierce, that would be a nasty cat to take one. Mower seems likely. Pound for pound the weasel family can go toe to toe with feline. They will wreak shit 4x their size. |
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:47:31 PM EDT
[#49]
Quote HistoryOriginally Posted By JVD: Naturally not a morsel left checking after work. Not sure if the original culprit came back or if any of the other opportunistic critters cleaned up. I assume this happens a lot more than I notice. |
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TX, USA
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Posted: 5/7/2024 7:52:22 PM EDT
[#50]
Neighbor had a cat that would kill rabbits and only eat the brain.
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