Bobcats Among us! 2, Not for the Squeamish

Yesterday while on my morning walk with Evvy, I found this doe.   Right off the bat I thought, "it must be dogs".  The deer looked to be in good condition, no sign of injury from a car.  No obvious injury, until I turned it over.   A huge gaping wound on its neck.  I also noticed that its teets indicated the doe had been nursing.  I certain any fawn with the doe was also a victim.

The doe appeared to have been dragged into the deep grass at the edge of an overgrown beaver pond.  I returned home and called Fish and Game.  I spoke to a Conservation Officer, telling him about the scene, and condition of the doe.  He told me he believed the doe was killed by a Bobcat.  He said the Bobcats wrap their front legs around the neck, and bite hard until the doe dies.  This doe was less than 100#, and more than 50#. She was quite small, and probably easy prey for the Bobcat.  The CO came out later and checked the deer, presumably to make sure this WAS an animal kill.

Later I ran into my neighbor, told him the story.  He said he had seen a Bobcat in his yard just days before.  I had seen a Bobcat myself some time ago.  Now I am thinking it could be the same cat.  I read they can have a range of 16 square miles.  Though they rarely go for deer, Bobcat will do it if the preferred prey, Eastern Cottontail, are scarce.   The cats will drag their prey to a spot and try to hide it.  They return to the kill again and again.  So do I.  I went back to it today to note any changes, evidence of other animals, and the progress of decomp.   The deer had not been eaten further by animals.  But insects were plentiful on this carcass.   The carcass was just beginning to smell, the abdomen grossly bloated and green.  There were some interesting black beetles.  They were about 3/4" long, black with two horizontal orange lines across their posteriors.   

I know, how morbid right?  I have always been interested in various processes in animals and human life and death.  So this is just another chapter in that book.  I will return to the dead deer daily and report my findings....you have been warned :-)

Meanwhile....who'll stop the raaaaaain???
I don't who'll stop it, I just want it stopped.  The brooks near my house are now rivers.  I have considered "tubing" down them, but there are low fallen trees across the water.   Not as pleasant as the Withlascotee River(FL).  There are ponds where there never were, cascades tripping and falling down moss covered rock walls. Beautiful, and green.  

Twyla my black and white cat, has been quite the rascal lately.  She found a way to push the kitchen window screen out, then she gets out.  My neighbor reported that Twyla was sighted being chased by their dog, "Sheba".  Twyla climbed up the side of a barn, and into the second floor window.  She emerged a while later, climbed back down and ran back home.   I was driving in.  When I got inside, there Twyla was just climbing back into the kitchen!  It made me think of a teenager sneaking back into the house after a late night romp.