What predators "bury" thier kill?

[JDinPA]

Originally posted by insttech1:
eL CHUPaCABre amigo....si, he will bury his kill...and your ex-wife too, senor....

LOL el Chupacabre...
I just saw that episode of Scooby Doo - "the Monster of Mexico" with my kids this weekend.

[BamBooBender]

Never known em to bury, but coons are good for eating the hind end out of a deer.

[draco]

We dont have bears in central Texas darnit but we got cats.I would say a bobcat. A lion can eat a whole lot off a deer in one night. If not a whole lot was missing,a bob cat,if almost half the deer was missing than probably a lion.

[JBiorn]

Non-typical, were you married to my ex-wife? Heh, thats some good stuff right there. On a serious note, I don't think she would bury her prey---but I truly believe she would eat her young if left unchecked!

[dorris]

I know around here we dont have bears . had a trapper tell me if i wanted to know if a bobcat was on a carcass just see if it was covered by leaves and sticks and stuff so you probably got a bobcat on your deer . coud be a bear though in your area .been reading alaskan bear tales for the last few nights and they said that bears will cover there prey and let it set for a bit to tenderize the meat before eating it especialy when there not starveing or real hungry . may be the case here .

[non-typical]

JBiorn,

that would make us husbands-in-law

[Green Arrow]

hey talondale,

if you want a really interesting read/resource guide/some answers to your questions go to your closest barnes and noble and pick up "The Art of Seeing and Tracking", by Paul Rezendes.  absoluetly amazing!!  he is an incredible tracker/naturalist/photographer and the book covers behavior, mating, habitat etc..... and pretty much every species of critter we have around here from coons and deer to coyotes, bears, and cougars.  i can't recommend it enough, and i refer to it all the time when i find little mysteries like the one you just found.

enjoy the day,
Kyle

ps.  i'm up near charlottesville and someone just photographed a cougar near the shenandoah park.  

[strick9]

Love that sense of humor..never been married for that reason.. don't want to be buried..

[O2]

My vote is for the ex wife ask otto he knows all about it

O2

[JBiorn]

non-typical, it's always nice to meet family!

[Forester]

Talondale,

Like you I would think of cats and bears when it comes to burial/covering a "kill". I saw a bobcat Thursday evening while on stand.  Another remote possibility would be a fisher, not likely but possible I suppose:   http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/?s=050113

Not to insult your father, but to what extent was the deer covered with leaves?  Was there dirt and other ground litter in with the leaves?  If the deer was covered with scratched up leaves I would expect possibly twigs, a little dirt, old leaves etc...  If it was a light covering of only new leaves could it have been from current leaf fall after a little coyote chewing?  I know things in my woods have been covered in leaves in one nights time earlier this week.

I hope you get to solve the mystery.  Let us know what you conclude.

[Buckhorn47]

Talondale

Just a little folklore from my part of the world and some degree of verification - black bears quite often not only use leaves to cover their food but will hide in the same manner a short distance away under a pile of leaves depending on terrain and particularly when homo sapiens is around. Sometimes an unexplained mound of leaves is a good thing to avoid.

[Talondale]

Well, sorry, I can't shed any more light on the subject.  My Dad went and set up the camera a day later (rain prevented him from getting it set up that next day).  He said the doe was pretty eat up by that time. I pulled the camera last night and the only picture on there is me getting the camera, no bears, bobcats, or "ex".  The only thing left of the doe was hair and the back legs minus meat.  I don't know if the aim wasn't right or what but it got me walking back from the "mound" towards the camera.

Forester, he said it was pretty well covered.  He saw a mound of leaves and they looked out of place so he looked closer and saw it was her.  It was in a stand of white pines and oaks and the oaks aren't dropping leaves yet, heck, they're still green.

[Brian Krebs]

I have personally never seen a black bear cover the bait at a bait site; or cover dead animals they were feeding on. I do know that Brown bears; and grizzlies will. I would be interested in anything factual on black bears burying dead stuff or bait.
                                                     
Now lions; and bobcats- they do bury their kills. I vote for a cat of somekind.                                        
 I cannot believe an 'ex' did it. My ex would have taken the whole deer; not part of it.

[Sacred mt]

outlaws...

[hoebow]

hey non-typical,
Man you made my day I laughed for 30 minutes. After 22 years of marriage that really struck home.
Hoebow

[non-typical]

:D

[Littlefeather]

I'm no expert on the subject so take it with a grain of salt. Judging by what was target to eat first on the deer I'm going to say it wasn't cat. I only say this because I've seen several cat kills(2 actually) that were made on hogs. One was a pig I stumbled across while hunting and the other was a hog I shot and blood trailed in the morning. Both had hide stripped off in strips that were discarded and not eaten. Both also had major organs eaten first(liver/heart). The one kill was not returned to. I'm not sure why the cat left the kill. Maybe it was my visit. The other kill was eaten two days later, mainly back legs and neck. Again, strips of hide were pulled off before eating the meat below. I'm ging to say it's a bear. You should be able to get on hands and knees and find bear hair readly in the dirt, If it's bear he's shedding hair as he wallers around with the kill. JMHO. CK

[Forester]

CK says it probably wasn't cats but Mr. Krebs mentioned lions and that has me wondering.  There has been an African lion spotted in the Lewisburg area in the last few days.....better be careful out there.....

[Labs4me]

Ohio State!!!