Cougar
Posted on 10/24/2011 6:19:51 PM PDT by eastforker
I live in far NE Harris County, Texas.Got a question for all the hunters and outdoormen here.Yesterday morning I noticed about a 60 pound hog had been hit and killed down my road.I stopped to take a closer look and noticed the pig had been eaten on, from the belly, through the rib cage, the sternom and ribs chewed back several inches, all the way to the throat. Rigor had not set in yet so it was quite fresh, yesterday evening the hog was still there in the same shape it was in(except now bloated and full of flies) the morning. This morning the pig was gone, something had carried it off, question, is this something a mountain lion/cougar would do?
Probably not a radical Muslim...cougar is more likely.
Mountain lions like fresh meat. Bears and buzzards like ripe meat. It the hog was ripe with a strong smell the cat would not touch it a second time.
If it carried the hog off, it’s probably either a dingo or a giant sloth.
Any large tracks in the immediate vicinity of that spot?
Could be cougar or bear, I’m thinking.
We got no bears, the buzzards aren’t that big and fresh kill within about 24 hours.
Jaguars moving up from Mexico? Dang illegals!
“However, two independent sightings this month prove that the big cat’s range does span as far north as Arizona. The Arizona Game and Fish Department recently captured and collared a male jaguar southwest of Tucson. The collar, which can be tracked by satellite, will provide more data about the cat’s movements in the future.”
http://www.animalfactguide.com/blog/2009/02/23/return-of-the-north-american-jaguar/
Buzzards seem likely. Cougars tend to avoid lingering near busy roads even if a meal can be had. They also prefer fresh kills.
Cougar
Could also be coyote.
My vote is a coyote.
hogs will eat road kill (the live ones)
Coyotes or other pigs. Its not uncommon to hunt pigs over a bait pig.
My vote is ... the other Hogs ... they are Cannibals and Ripe doesn’t bother them ... hell still alive doesn’t bother them ... they will attack a wounded hog and eat them while others are still trying to kill it ...
TT
was playing golf in Az at my buddies club. I thought a dog was prancing up the fairway next to us but it was a coyote just staring us down as he made a cut through...scary looking scrubby animal that’s for sure.
“We got no bears,”
I wouldn’t be too sure.
I’m no expert on Texas, but looking at a map, Harris County isn’t too far removed from State-Confirmed bear territory.
Take a look at figure 2 at this link:
Among the other counties listed with confirmed (by the government) bear sightings is San Jacinto County.
San Jacinto County is only two counties away from you.
http://www.censusfinder.com/maptx.htm
I’ve yet to hear of any bear who, upon reaching a county line, stopped and turned back around (”Aw, shucks, I can’t travel any farther than this point. The experts agree that I don’t live there.”)
You may not have a large bear population, but you’re not far away from a county with a bear population significantly large enough that the State of Texas must acknowledge it.
I have not heard any coyotes. There was a couple cougar horse goat incidents about 50 miles north around conroe a while back. About 20 years ago before the Commons was developed we had a big cat in the area.
They will often drag their kill to a more preferred area and stash the carcass for further dinning.
I've seen a large cougar carrying half a deer carcass - twice the size of the cougar, less than a half-mile from my work-site.
Well, so much for going to sleep with just the screen door shut on these cool evenings.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.