predators on the deer farm

the impactzone

the impactzone

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Predators on the deer farm
Was at the deer farm for a few hours last night called lightly and sat and watched for an hour or so from 2:30 to 4:30 am from a 12’ tripod overlooking 4 pastures. The owner called this morning and said he lost another doe last night and wondered if I had been there
I thought finally we had some rain and a fresh kill that the buzzards had not gotten to and I’m able to scout for tracks and scat and look at the kill.
The kill and manner that it is eaten looks cat to me? But could not find any of the hide , leg bones where not that far away and striped clean not broken joints intact , no gut pile and could not really tell the cause of death as it is pretty much deboned

The scat I found looks fresh and has hair and bone in it, kind of coyote looking but then again could be cat? But Don’t thinks cats will eat much bone or only rib if that and it did look like rib bone???

I found tracks that could be dog, and I say this because of the length of the claws? They where inline like a coyote but didn’t look 100% coyote to me? this one does


Found another set that look 100% cat to me? No claw marks and very round


So help me out, I told the owner I think he has both and I don’t’ know which is doing the killing but it appears that both are eating on the kill, I asked him to mow the pasture the kills are in as its waist high goat weed and even from a 12’ tripod I could not have seen anything with thermal or NV.

Any suggestion?. I did find were I think a coyote or dog had come under the fence and tripped one of his snares, the cat I think is coming through the 6’ squares or over the 8’ fence?
 
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What would be nice is if you could put a game cam on that carcass. I have seen dead calf's bones cleaned up like that before and caught a huge coyote in the game cam picture.
 
dd413

soft wet sand going up hill the rest of the track looked to be slight pads no claw marks,

never seen a coyote be so precise in eating leaving rib bones

thinking both are feeding on the same kill?
 
I bet its cats/dogs/birds combined for sure. Possibly one of this chupacabras being that you're in TX LOL.

I've chained carcasses to trees before to keep them restricted to one area, and then killed dogs off of it that way. That may be something you could try, but setup snares around it instead of just near the fence. That is, if you haven't already thought of that.
 
Last track def looks like a cat to me. Round in shape and three lobes on rear pad. Coyotes and dogs only have two and are usually longer than they are wide.
 
catntr good point didn't spot the 3 lobes, may have been on the move when it left this track, to many where covered by the land owners gator for me to follow
 
Pretty sure the scat is K9 though its hard to see any detail in the pic. Looks like its been torn apart.

I agree that the first track doesn't look coyote. At first I was thinking dog but now I'm leaning towards fox. Any red fox in the area???

The second track does look a lot like a cat track but, its K9 for sure. This one I'm leaning towards gray fox.
 
First track looks coyote, as does the scat.

Was the scat in close proximity to the carcass?

Could be a cat killing and eating what he wants, and the coyotes cleaning up the crime scene...
 
I've put a cam on deer carcasses several times. I've gotten pics of both cats and coyotes in the same night, just not at the same time. In fact, I had one evening where there were cats, coyotes, and feral dogs trading off. That carcass was gone in about 48 hours.

So the answer to the question is prolly both....

Also, I didn't think cats liked to use the crapper and eat in the same spot, the way coyotes will. I could be wrong.
 
busted a coyote last night across the game fence and had a cat I think started to come through the fence get spooked and back in to the brush, couldn't call it back in to the open,

till try again tomorrow night
 
Originally Posted By: DirtyDave413I dont see any cat tracks. Just coyote. Last pic is not wide enough for a cat and I see claw marks on 3 out of 4 toes.

I see the same claw depressions on the second photo. The top photo is a yote, not a dog.

The scat is not as easy to discern. The one thing I remind myself of when looking at scat is that it doesn't come from a mold. I mean, I'm sure coyotes get a case of the ol' "sting ring" just like people.

The scat in your picture has been disturbed, so it's hard to say. Either way, it obviously came from a predator and it seems like you got a place picked for you and Spined to do a stand or two.
 
Beware of calling the same small tract too often, either daylight, or night time... (I believe this one is 40 acres)

The killing will continue, and the sightings of what is doing it will become non-existent.

Might pay to have the land owner, and yourself try and cultivate the surrounding properties for predator control.

When dealing with a predator issue where snares, trapping, or other predator control methods are in place on the property, I treat that area like the "bull's-eye" of a target, and concentrate more on the outter rings of the target, and less on the ones closer to the bull's-eye...

It's easier the kill the killer that way, many times.
 
going out to set traps and snares tomorrow, the owner has tried but really doesn't know what he is doing with traps, IE no pan covers or funneling. one problem with the foot holds will be setting them where and in a way the deer don't trip them. maybe funneling from the holes under the fence.

next time I call it will be low volume puppy's this has worked on cats for me in the past and will make a long set 1.5 +

the Neighbors are not real keen on him because of his removal of there dogs in the past that have been caught chasing his deer, but will check with surrounding area, saw a lost dog sign that had me thinking of a coyote kill, that has gotten me on property in the past
 
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