Posted on 08/08/2014 7:47:16 PM PDT by SolidRedState
So here's a story and you can tell me if I am bat s*** crazy or you can laugh or whatever.
My wife and I walk along a rural paved road in the evening about a half mile and turn around and come back. We have corn and bean fields on each side and nice wide ditches.
One evening about 2 weeks ago on a Monday we were walking back and noticed a dead deer in the ditch on the far side. At first we thought it must have been hut by a car. The strange thing was that it looked like it had its neck broke from the way it was laying and most of the hide was gone from its head. Its rib cage was exposed and a large hole was in its body cavity just ahead of the rib cage. We just figured varmints had been at it already. But realized it wasn't there the evening before and thought it strange it had been so devoured so quickly. So we figured we just must have not noticed it.
The next evening we went further than normal and stopped at the neighbors to drop off something he needed signed and discuss crops. We mentioned it to him and he thought it was odd also.
On our way back we were almost home and realized the deer had disappeared. This aroused our curiosity and we walked back to where we thought the seer should be and it wasn't there.
The next evening we took greater care to search the ditch on our way back to see if we could see signs of where it had been. No luck. We know we did not hallucinate this deer. We are not into drugs or alcohol or any other thing that give us visions.
A week later we were talking to our neighbor again and discussed this with him. He came to the same conclusion I had but my wife is still skeptical.
He and I decided we had never heard of coyotes leaving a kill and then coming back and dragging it off, especially one as large as a deer. This was a good size doe. They would pretty much have to work in concert and besides they usually don't dig out the chest cavity, they just start eating on it.
This morning on the way to work I saw a critter cross the road ahead of me and it was not a dog nor a coyote nor any other critter we are used to seeing. It was about 5 to 6 feet from snout to butt and a tail about as long as its body. It stood about 2 feet at the shoulders or a bit more or less.
Unfortunately it disappeared into the corn before I could get a really good look at it.
So I thought I would post up and see if anyone has an alternate explanation than the one my neighbor and I came up with.
Denman
That is hilarious.
Short vid of the cat at the car wash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHmEM6txwRY
Nobody believed me so I stopped talking about it. All the experts back then said it was impossible 'cause no big cats are around here any more.....
First look at these tracks then... https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1920&bih=845&q=mountain+lion+tracks&oq=Mountain+lion+&gs_l=img.1.1.0l10.1425.4436.0.7318.14.10.0.4.4.0.145.817.8j2.10.0....0...1ac.1.51.img..0.14.841.SVZqDfiIbxs
You need to be careful, if you are passing through that area, they watch game trails.... what you may call foot paths. Mountain lions tend to be shy but will often make a kill then come back for it later. If it was in a ditch and the ground was soft or there was sandy material around, those are called track traps. Take a look where the cat would likely have walked and any ground that would be favorable to leave a mark. Do not look at noon, go out with a flash light just after dusk (be careful as this is hunting time) and point your flash light level with the ground in areas you think may be tracks, then sweep the beam back and forth and you should see the shadows fall into the tracks distinguishing patterns from the noise of regular ground features... of course post picts if you see something.
Your description sounds like a mountain lion. They will split rib cage to get at the lungs and will also bury the remains for later. They tend to become active at dusk and dawn and can have a range of 500 miles.
Your town’s dept. of public works came and picked up the carcass
My town picks up dead dear all the time on the sides of roads.
I live in a rural area of the Florida Panhandle. There are a few Black Bear and a lot of Coyotes. For the last few years I always put a Walther PP in .22LR in my pocket along with a spare mag in the other pocket.
It doesn’t hit hard but it hits hard enough. The only thing I have used it on are rattlesnakes. I would feel comfortable with it on feral dogs or coyotes. Black Bear would be only as a last ditch.
Yes, this is their natural instinct and they go for the neck. I would also be carrying.
“Your town’s dept. of public works came and picked up the carcass
My town picks up dead dear all the time on the sides of roads.”
__________________
Not likely around here. Pretty rural and nobody picks up dead deer carcasses around here. They can lay for weeks.
I suppose it is not impossible but none of the neighbors have ever known any one to come pick up any before.
Talked with a lady at the Heartland Museum of Military Vehicles about three years back. Not sure how we got on the subject, but she said they had mountain lions in Lexington, NE.
Also, I’ll try to find the thread, but got to reading a thread a few years back on FR about mountain lions...in places you wouldn’t normally think. I’ll see if I can come up with it.
“I would also be carrying.”
Yes, I was carrying the P22 but switched to my P95. I might just start carrying the AR as well.
Only problem is it might take us longer on our walk as people would be constantly stopping to inquire about what accessories I have on it. :)
What the heck is that?
Tracker and trained dog team. You don’t need to actually “track” the cat down - if it was one - but only confirm that one is present, and could still BE present.
Tracks, scent, spoor, sleeping spots. Other kills. All you need is a confirmation of the mountain lion. That enables YOU (and your family) to BEGIN taking sensible precautions.
“What the heck is that?”
I am surprised you don’t recognize a chucacabra when you see one. ;)
Here is a story from Lincoln, Nebraska:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2810036/posts
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