What Could Have Done THIS!?!?
Okay, so today started out like a pretty normal day. However, all that changed as soon as we went outside to let the animals out and rotate the animal tractors. And then we found this:
It was our rabbit tractor, but with a notable difference: the rabbits didn't come out to greet us like they do every other time we get anywhere close to their tractor. As we walked around to the far side of the tractor, we noticed something very peculiar - mainly the SIDE OF THE TRACTOR WAS EATEN OFF.
Ummm...yeah. Something had chewed threw the side of the rabbit tractor - chewed through plywood. And whatever it was also ripped off the welded wire and chicken wire from the top of the cage...
So, needless to say, there were no rabbits left. We quickly found this pile of some of the softest hair around:
And upon further investigation, we were able to find signs left by the predator:
Here is another:
Apparently, we are dealing with some sort of canine. By what exactly is it? Is it a coyote? Is it the Great Dane that we have seen trespassing on our land before? Some other large stray dog?
What on earth could have chewed through the wood and messed up the cage this bad? Also, it had an appetite large enough for two full-sized rabbits.
Any suggestions on what it could be?
Has anyone else ever seen such damage as this?
Comments appreciated!
im sorry to hear that about your rabbits, what area do you live in ? North America?
Most likely looks like coyote or dog
but the bite entry looks more like Bobcat or fishercat
hope this helps
Dante
Yup. We are in North America. In the central United States. I know for sure that there are bobcats around here, but the print near the cage was definitely canine. Do you think a bobcat could crew through wood like that?
Could it be a small/young bear rather than a large dog? First thing I thought when I saw the damage pics was “bear!” ETA or a wolverine? Are those in your area? I’m having a hard time reconciling the wire damage with a dog. Maaaaybe a coyote.
Oh, man, thankfully we are not in the area of wolverine. They are vicious and tenacious! There are bears in the area, but I didn't see any giant paw prints around. Bear prints are pretty distinctive. But the ground was pretty hard, so a print may have been hard to find.
A big dog could do that, also a coyote might. A fox wouldn't be able to do that much damage, I think.
A dog is actually more persistant at digging through the wood than a coyote. I've had dogs damage my rabbit pens more than coyotes ever did.
My in-laws have a Great Dane and my husband says he thinks a Dane would be too lazy to go through that trouble. Especially if it’s already being fed.
Ha! That is good to know. I would prefer it to be a wild animals to someone's out of control pet...
Hard to judge the size of those prints. How wide were they? Coyotes could certainly do that if they were hungry enough.
Sorry for you loss! I hope you catch the critter since they will be back, testing your new chicken pen?
Of all the animals we could have lost, those are the ones we would have chosen. They weren't providing us with any food product like all of our other animals. They were good at keeping the grass down and providing manure, though...
And I just got back in from setting some traps, and one of those traps was right next to the new coop. :)
Yikes! I don't know, but whatever it was I don't want to meet it in a dark alley. Keep it tight...
Hahhaha! That is exactly what I thought. I just got back in from setting traps, and I kept looking over my shoulder...
@brimwoodfarm just had an incident like this with a chicken coop. In his case, it was a fox. In your case, I'm guessing coyote. The hungrier the wildlife is, the more determined they get. Sure hope you find out what did it.
Yeah, we do, too. It was a LOT of work to get at those rabbits. It had to REALLY want them. That is the troubling part - its determination.
Most likely a dog. Someone's pet. No one think their pet could do this. We've been deceived by the domesticity that we see in dogs. If there were two or more dogs they will sometimes work themselves up competing to get the animal. I've lost an entire chicken tractor of young poults to a couple of "my-dogs-would-never-do-that" pets.
Yeah, we have certainly had some "precious" pet dogs on our land. Two of them came and terrorized our goats when they were out eating brush; and another morning, two came and tried to get in the chicken tractor (unsuccessfully). People really need to keep control of their possibly-killer animals...
Oh no. I'm so sorry about your rabbits.