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Post by 11111 on Dec 6, 2019 10:16:13 GMT -6
Our first round of heifers start 12/29. They’re just down on stalks about 1/4 mile from our house. We will move them home early next week but had to get our fall herd moved out. Lost a calf (fall calf) to what appears to be a mountain lion a few days ago but game and parks will deny it... like they deny the game camera footage. Sheriff sent pics onto a specialist.
Anyhow, I sure hope we can find it before our new ones start calving. Our falls are moved off that pasture but it’s within a good quarter mile of where we calve.
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Post by angusrancher on Dec 6, 2019 10:46:38 GMT -6
It seems like if all of the "tame" deer that hang around suddenly disappear, there may be a cat around. Apparently, after a kill a cat won't be back for ~a week, or something like that. GF&P is a waste of time. Good luck. They're tough to get. Can you post a picture of the fresh kill?
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Post by 11111 on Dec 6, 2019 16:27:04 GMT -6
  I think I did this right. I read up on that too... 6-12 days on new kills. Another thing, this calf was pulled out from a tree (not in but under a cedar tree)... I also read they like to try and cover them up. |
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Post by tcranch on Dec 7, 2019 7:19:07 GMT -6
They do like to cover them up but a cat will hide a calf in a tree. Neighbor lost a number of calves - they just disappeared. Game Warden told him "look up". Sure enough, he found the remains of a calf up in a tree.
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Post by Allenw on Dec 7, 2019 7:23:20 GMT -6
Strange the way it appears to have been eaten down the back need more pictures. I'm not sure what a cat's eating habits are.
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Post by angusrancher on Dec 7, 2019 8:01:58 GMT -6
I think I did this right. I read up on that too... 6-12 days on new kills. Another thing, this calf was pulled out from a tree (not in but under a cedar tree)... I also read they like to try and cover them up. Thanks for posting pictures. That's how they do it, go for the throat. Coyotes will go for the ass. Hopefully it doesn't happen again. Keep us posted. |
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Post by 11111 on Dec 7, 2019 18:10:54 GMT -6
Boys are going out tonight with night scopes to see if they can spot him. We think it’s a waste of time but boys can be boys, so it they want to sit out there all night, they sure can. We set up cameras in various areas. We’ll see if we can catch any activity or habits but they’re pretty elusive and I understand... cover a large territory.
If we catch anything on camera or the boys get the cat... I’ll update. Yes, coyotes eat the ass. My son said it looked like the cat came back for it. But I’m betting it could have been anything.
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Post by dave on Dec 7, 2019 18:34:48 GMT -6
It looks like a cat kill to me. They will come back to feed on it again daily for 3 or 4 days. The best thing to do when this happens to to leave it where it is a set a bunch of snares around the carcass.
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Post by simangking on Dec 8, 2019 18:34:41 GMT -6
If they didn't eat the butthole out then it's for sure not a coyote. They love anus.
lol
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2019 22:59:08 GMT -6
Cats kill by the neck, but the telltale sign is usually the rib cage is cut away cleanly as if done by scissors then they clean out the inside. They also don’t eat hide, so you might find clean hide near the carcass.
Have you got bears down that way?
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Post by Allenw on Dec 9, 2019 10:25:13 GMT -6
Good information dave and silver. We have some mountain lion around here a lot of young cats coming down the river dispersing from Colorado.
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Post by dave on Dec 9, 2019 14:11:04 GMT -6
I have lived my entire life in areas where the big cats are present. Where I am now there are way too many of them. The one thing about that picture that got me was that lack of eating the internal organs the Silver mentioned. In all my years I have only lost one calf that I thought might have been a cat. A late smaller calf in a summer pasture that most certainly had cats in the neighborhood. It simply disappeared. That said we found 5 cat killed deer within 500 yards of the house last winter. One thing they have in common is if you find them on day one the internal organs are gone. Snow or muddy ground where you can find tracks sure helps to ID who the killer is.
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Post by okie on Dec 9, 2019 20:40:28 GMT -6
My experience with cats, and bears for that matter, is that they are curious and will try an easy meal but may not make it a habit. I'm not saying don't shoot the SOB if you get a chance but there is a difference between one that kills a calf and goes back to deer and one that figures out that beef is good eating.
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Post by 11111 on Dec 10, 2019 9:46:15 GMT -6
My experience with cats, and bears for that matter, is that they are curious and will try an easy meal but may not make it a habit. I'm not saying don't shoot the SOB if you get a chance but there is a difference between one that kills a calf and goes back to deer and one that figures out that beef is good eating. The problem I have with this is we are bringing heifers home to calve. Early ones will be calving any time. I can’t have this cat up in my calving facilities waiting for another meal. It’s scary to think. I was told yesterday by a reliable source that he caught the game and parks releasing one on his property. They are being tracked and released. Although he’s a reliable source, I am appalled and hesitant to believe they are releasing them. |
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Post by okie on Dec 10, 2019 13:13:20 GMT -6
My experience with cats, and bears for that matter, is that they are curious and will try an easy meal but may not make it a habit. I'm not saying don't shoot the SOB if you get a chance but there is a difference between one that kills a calf and goes back to deer and one that figures out that beef is good eating. The problem I have with this is we are bringing heifers home to calve. Early ones will be calving any time. I can’t have this cat up in my calving facilities waiting for another meal. It’s scary to think. I was told yesterday by a reliable source that he caught the game and parks releasing one on his property. They are being tracked and released. Although he’s a reliable source, I am appalled and hesitant to believe they are releasing them. They did that to us in California, too. They turned out two young collared cats. The good news there is that they are highly territorial so if you already have one in the area they will push the new cat out of their territory. In my case I'd have rather had the young cats as my resident lion was BIG. |
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