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.
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.
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.
Here is a story from Lincoln, Nebraska:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2810036/posts
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?
You need to give Mountainman Rich a call - he’ll put Trubo and Capone on the case........
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.
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 : )
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.
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.
What else could it be?
cougar or young black bear. Both are territorial, both will come back for a carcass, both are curious. Check around your own barn and house for tracks. If you find tracks, call Fish and Game (might want to call them anyway to report a possible sighting). Stay safe.
Three years ago I had a cat picking off my sheep. They are very stealthy, see in the dark well, and most always know of your presence long before you catch on that they are around, if you ever do. That dang cat waited for me to leave my hide on night for over 5 hours, when I went inside to drink a cup of coffee. Came back 5 minutes later to catch it dragging another ewe to the edge of the corral!
Then this winter I had a deer problem in the garden. There would be between 15-20 in there eating the cover crop and were very reluctant to leave even with headlights, horns, etc. I’d pretty much resigned myself to having to build an 8’ fence before spring when a cat discovered the easy pickings. It only took the cat killing a couple in the garden and dragging them off before the whole herd decided it wasn’t a safe place to graze anymore.
Like a couple other posters mentioned, I think it would be wise to have a shotgun loaded with 00.