This weekend I found a dead fox in my back 40. It was not eaten up or shot but did have some blood on it and what looks like some torn skin on the neck.

I did some reading and discovered that many animals will kill for a variety of reasons other than the need for food. The term used is surplus killing. Has anyone else found dead animals that appear to have been killed by this? Curious.

Tom

Could have lost a fight with a whole bunch of different things.

Dogs and cats do this all the time. Have you never received any presents from any of your pets?

Most exotic: winter phase weasel (Ermine) left on grandmother's steps by her cat.

Most gross: Bloody Cottontail head left on back steps by family dog. The body was found flung over the fence in the neighbor's yard.

Most surprising: Large wounded centipede that the cat dropped in front of me while I was sitting on the floor. It proceeded to run for cover under my crotch.

Found this in my yard last fall....still not sure what the culprit was. I'm thinking hawk.

As a kid we had a dog on the farm that would leave us presents on the porch in the morning raccoons, cats, skunks w/without getting sprayed and some times other stray dogs. He wasn't very big only about 60 lbs. and annoyingly friendly to people.

I live in the woods so I'm thinking wolves or coyotes, not family pets. I've just never heard of this activity before.

Sounds like the work of another canine. Coyote comes mostly to mind. I was surprised that it wasn't eaten as fox meat is highly prized in the animal kingdom and most things will eat it quite readily. Fox are very frail despite their big set of choppers and easily killed but they are fast as lightning and very agile. Sounds like it got ridden down and killed with a single bite to the neck. Several coyote could of worked together.......the yotes do not tolerate fox much.

The grey with its face off is very odd.

On a fishing trip in Canada we saw an eagle carcus on a portage. Years ago I or I should say my dog found a dead cougar. Seemed suspicious, no wounds.

treehorn: "Found this in my yard last fall....still not sure what the culprit was. I'm thinking hawk.



"

Coyotes won't tolerate foxes and will kill them when the opportunity shows. Hard to tell from picture,but was the fox kind of emancipated or in poor condition before it got killed?

these surplus kills could be for social reasons or to remove competition perhaps.

Coyote. Bank on it.

Before I saw the time this thread was started, I thought it was a reference to the game last night vs. the Jets. :)

Pinetree: "Coyotes won't tolerate foxes and will kill them when the opportunity shows. Hard to tell from picture,but was the fox kind of emancipated or in poor condition before it got killed?"

That looks like a grey squirrel to me.

I watched a nature show where a coyote pushed its luck near a wolf kill. What the wolves did to the coyote is not something one forgets any time soon.

I was sitting on the deck last evening with a cold one when a bald eagle dove down after a fish, now this is a regular occurrence here as I have many Bald Eagles and even one golden that sit in a tree about 40 feet from my deck, they usually swoop down grab the fish and fly off with it, not this time. What erupted was a battle royal with the fish trying to pull the eagle down with it eventually the eagle spread its wings to use as leverage against the water and dragged the fish to the shallow water then up into my yard where it ate only the guts (fat content) and then flew off leaving all of the meat untouched.

Pinetree: "

treehorn: "Found this in my yard last fall....still not sure what the culprit was. I'm thinking hawk.



"

Coyotes won't tolerate foxes and will kill them when the opportunity shows. Hard to tell from picture,but was the fox kind of emancipated or in poor condition before it got killed?"

That's a squirrel...sorry for any confusion.

I think any coyote or fox would have taken it with them for a meal. I was thinking bird because maybe it couldn't get off the ground with it, stood there and pulled at it's face for a while then got spooked off or something.

murphylakejim: "these surplus kills could be for social reasons or to remove competition perhaps. "

Lots of animals kill way more than they can eat, otters will take one bite out of a fish and catch another and another killing them all but not eating an entire fish. Here they can wipe a pond out. If you've ever had chickens and a coon get in with them at night, they will kill till all the chickens are dead or the coon gets tired of it. I don't think it has anything to do with social reasons or competition and everything to do with blood lust.

Owls are good at killing a animal and attacking and eating around the head first.

My neighbors cat, in the cool temps, used to crawl up into the engine compartment of their vehicle, shortly after it was shut off, to get warm. On one occasion, the neighbor started their car, with the cat in the proximity of the fan blade. The cat lost most of it's tail, and got fairly beat up in general.

That kinda makes me wonder if the squirrel was in a similar situation, and perhaps lived long enough to struggle out into the yard, before succumbing to it's injury.

critters do this to chickens all the time. It's such a waist. Some animals only want chicken heads, some only want the guts. Few want an entire chicken

Blue Planet videos also show Orcas "playing" with a baby seal before eating it.

Canoearoo: "critters do this to chickens all the time. It's such a waist. Some animals only want chicken heads, some only want the guts. Few want an entire chicken"

Yes. This is very common. Here is a link that tries to identify the culprit depending on what part of the chicken was eaten.

Chickens

Mad_Angler: "

Canoearoo: "critters do this to chickens all the time. It's such a waist. Some animals only want chicken heads, some only want the guts. Few want an entire chicken"

Yes. This is very common. Here is a link that tries to identify the culprit depending on what part of the chicken was eaten.


Chickens "

Yes I've seen this before.. it's a good link. One time my neighbor went to her chickens and they were all gone. Someone had stolen them while she was in town. She said they must have needed them more than her. We have only lost one here or there is the past from skunks, fox, coyotes and birds. My other neighbor lost a few to feral cats. People think dropping off their extra cats in the country is good for them. It is not.

K52: "

murphylakejim: "these surplus kills could be for social reasons or to remove competition perhaps. "

Lots of animals kill way more than they can eat, otters will take one bite out of a fish and catch another and another killing them all but not eating an entire fish. Here they can wipe a pond out. If you've ever had chickens and a coon get in with them at night, they will kill till all the chickens are dead or the coon gets tired of it. I don't think it has anything to do with social reasons or competition and everything to do with blood lust."

That's why I use hardware cloth on the coop instead of cheaper poultry netting. A coon will reach in and behead as many chickens as it can just for sport. And, of course, chickens being not-so-clever, will walk right up to the coons outstretched arm to a death-grip. meh.

tumblehome: "This weekend I found a dead fox in my back 40. It was not eaten up or shot but did have some blood on it and what looks like some torn skin on the neck.

I did some reading and discovered that many animals will kill for a variety of reasons other than the need for food. The term used is surplus killing. Has anyone else found dead animals that appear to have been killed by this? Curious.

Tom"

speaking of surplus killing, why don;t they transplant some of those moose from isle royale to say... MN mainland, instead of, or in addition to, bringing a wolf pack there to balance the ecology of that national park?
They said there is over 2000 moose on Isle Royale, i bet that number rivals the total in MN mainland.
Just thoughts.

BlackSwanAdventures: "speaking of surplus killing, why don;t they transplant some of those moose from isle royale to say... MN mainland, instead of, or in addition to, bringing a wolf pack there to balance the ecology of that national park?
They said there is over 2000 moose on Isle Royale, i bet that number rivals the total in MN mainland. Just thoughts. "

Would guess it is a cost issue.

drnatus: "

BlackSwanAdventures: "speaking of surplus killing, why don;t they transplant some of those moose from isle royale to say... MN mainland, instead of, or in addition to, bringing a wolf pack there to balance the ecology of that national park?
They said there is over 2000 moose on Isle Royale, i bet that number rivals the total in MN mainland. Just thoughts. "

Would guess it is a cost issue. "

Naw, they could just do an ark kinda thing..........pull up to the dock, drop the tailgate........"all aboard", next stop etc.

mastertangler: "

drnatus: "

BlackSwanAdventures: "speaking of surplus killing, why don;t they transplant some of those moose from isle royale to say... MN mainland, instead of, or in addition to, bringing a wolf pack there to balance the ecology of that national park?
They said there is over 2000 moose on Isle Royale, i bet that number rivals the total in MN mainland. Just thoughts. "

Would guess it is a cost issue. "

Naw, they could just do an ark kinda thing..........pull up to the dock, drop the tailgate........"all aboard", next stop etc. "

haha! :)
would be cool though