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.
Black bears are regularly spotted crossing the woods between the north Atlanta suburbs ... 30 - 60 miles of isolated bear reports over a two week period.
Are you sure it is not one of these? http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=chupacabra&qpvt=chupacabra&FORM=IGRE
Find its kittens take one and raise it as your own.
What could go wrong?
Could very well be. Or BIGFOOT. Or even .... ALIENS!!
Since I have no definitive evidence of it being anything at all, then it could be anything at all.
Of course our Parks and Rec guys claimed for years there weren’t any and then one was road killed on I-80 just West of Omaha. Then the cat in Kearney killed by law enforcement wandering around in a school zone.
Not to mention all the ones in Western Nebraska killed by farmers and ranchers.
They have plenty of game and domestic cattle to keep them from getting hungry enough to attack humans. But if a chance encounter should ensue, you never know what might take place.
“I’d feel better totin’ something like this.”
I like the way you think.
You need to give Mountainman Rich a call - he’ll put Trubo and Capone on the case........
Better to be safe than sorry. I live in rural California and there are thousands of lions here, more than any other state. Since they outlawed hunting them here several decades ago, mountain lions have become habituated to people and have lost their fear of us. If you are unarmed, you are not the apex predator.
Sounds like a cat. I had a HUGE black panther cross in front of me in NC. Even though I was in a truck, it still scared the carp out of me.
You and your wife need to pack on your walks.
“Oh, yeah. That’s a cat. Be armed, be loud,”
Have a can of bear spray on all walks at night. Bear spray does not require a dead on hit.. which but even if you are a bit uncertain a good blast in the general direction will work.
Oh, don’t trust me on that, even polar bears have never attacked anyone who used it It’s effects are completely harmless to mammals. Eye’s sting and the animal/human is having problems breathing. For a half an hour they are not doing anything harmful to you.
My mom used it in FLA on an alligator that showed itself on a trail when walking her dog. It turned around and exited back to the water pronto.
A large spray can can be had for $25.
I keep one in the house within reach to home protection at all times.
I think there are even Black Panthers (real ones!) in Florida.
Nice video and one very nice “sun room”. :)
All we got are opossums, raccoons and an occasional fox. I’m off of Forest and 75 Central in Dallas. They fight the neighborhood cats all the time. The big cats are gone. Moved off to edges of the burbs.
Wrap yourself in bacon and stake out that cornfield : )
Our cats welcome possums coons and skunks up to eat and drink with them. Regular socialites they are.
I can’t tell you how many we “run off” spring through fall.
Mountain lion. They go for the liver first and drag the carcasses of the next day. Took a large calf from me, drug it over a mile away in a weeks time.
Ditch the field and game load for #00 for a big cat would probably be wise. Or #00, slug, #00, etc.
Around here it is often a jogger or mountain bike rider that will get attacked. The “fleeing animal” thing I suppose. Although walking might trigger it as well.
For decades, the related Florida panther was thought to be extinct. Nevertheless, in that era, on a bright summer day in the Orlando suburbs, I saw one emerge from a small patch of woods and leap onto our neighbor's fence. It saw me though and, with an annoyed look, turned around and sprang back into the brush.
Eventually, the persistence of panther sightings led to professional biologists taking up the search and establishing that the Florida panther was not extinct. Today there are though to be about 160 Florida panthers in the wild.
For your situation, I suggest that you and your neighbors set out some trail cameras in likely spots. You should also consider home installation of outdoor lights and surveillance cameras with movement sensors. If a mountain lion takes up residence in you area, it may be drawn to patrolling near houses due to pets, food odors, and curiosity. Mountain lion attacks on humans are rare but not unknown.
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