What hair is this?

[Bigcypresshunter]

A bobcat has been killing animals on my vacant property in South Central Florida. Judging by the feathers, it is mostly birds and the neighbors chickens.

But I found this tuff of hair. The hair tips are grey but it has a lot of brown. What is it from?

 

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[kuger]

doesnt sound like Bobcat ,Bigcy..............they usually pack em Way off or bury em for later.Have you seen any tracks?Are the chickens decapitated?

Really? I didnt know they bury them.

I havent seen many tracks because the area is so dry lately. For some reason they are pumping off all the water. I actually like a little swamp. Its like sugarsand now. But there is scat everywhere in my driveway.

I cannot tell if they are decapitated. Are you suggesting that maybe the neighbors are tossing them over the fence?

....all felines bury there kill.........lions do it the most.

If they are decapitated it is an owl,coon or weasle

 

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[Bigcypresshunter]

doesnt sound like Bobcat ,Bigcy..............they usually pack em Way off or bury em for later.Have you seen any tracks?Are the chickens decapitated?

Really? I didnt know they bury them.

I havent seen many tracks because the area is so dry lately. For some reason they are pumping off all the water. I actually like a little swamp. Its like sugarsand now. But there is scat everywhere in my driveway.

I cannot tell if they are decapitated. Are you suggesting that maybe the neighbors are tossing them over the fence?

....all felines bury there kill.........lions do it the most.

If they are decapitated it is an owl,coon or weasle

Ah, I have huge hawks and Caracara. I saw one land on the coop and the chickens went crazy. He has an open top enclosure. Im sure I also have coons. Raccoon scat it may be. OK thanks.

 

[maipenrai]

All feline burry their their kill? Wow, never heard of that! Cats like it fresh, but sometimes put it in a tree for later, but never heard of a cat digging, thats the trait of canine animals, like foxes, cats are climbers. Tuff looked like raccoon to me.

 

[kuger]

All feline burry their their kill? Wow, never heard of that! Cats like it fresh, but sometimes put it in a tree for later, but never heard of a cat digging, thats the trait of canine animals, like foxes, cats are climbers. Tuff looked like raccoon to me.

Well obviously you are not familiar with our felines.Lions(MT) or Bobcats..................I have worked with both of them for over 30 years and neither take there kill into trees....thats something one would see a Leopard do in Africa where there are many other large predators.I never said they dig a hole!They pull dirt and debri over the kill to conceal it....research it,educate your self

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I have found panther kills. They will try and bury a deer or hog with vegetation. I didnt really know about Bobcats.

My housecats would bury their scat. Do Bobcats bury scat as well?

 

[kuger]

I have found panther kills. They will try and bury a deer or hog with vegetation. I didnt really know about Bobcats.

My housecats would bury their scat. Do Bobcats bury scat as well?

.....sometimes..they mound dirt over it as well.Again.......they dont "dig",they pull dirt over the kill.They do not like rotten meat though(as said)and often after eating the heart,liver,and lungs(on deer and such)do not return.
Bobcats took to my chickens here the last couple years and killed over 25,before I got it stopped......I never found a single carcass

 

[spartacus53]

You are all wrong.... But a good guess

I'm an expert in this area, and what you have there is the tuft of an aging Bigfoot

 

[maipenrai]

Well, then you must have meant, they HIDE their kill, bury still sounds more like digging a hole. Sorry if I misunderstood you.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Bobcats took to my chickens here the last couple years and killed over 25,before I got it stopped......I never found a single carcass

Conclusion:

I guess I will eliminate Bobcat as the killer. The culprit may be a hawk or owl. We also have large Caracara, a very unique bird. I even saw a bluebird kill a dove once on the property but I doubt they can kill a large rooster. All hawks are protected here.


The scat in my drivway is from a combination of animals including wild turkey, racoon, wild hog and possibly raccoon. Im going to rule out Bigfoot. There is more wildlife in the Devils Garden area than anywhere in the Everglades region.

I have squirrels, they eat the pinecones. I also have rabbits. The tuft is most likely the tip of a grey squirrel tail. Why he lost it, I do not know. It was nowhere near barbwire. I havent ruled out the possibility of a raccoon tuft but it matches grey squirrel perfectly.

Thanks everyone. I love learning animal sign.

 

[kuger]

......hawks are what are laying into my chickens now,and there isnt a whole lot you can do to stop that.Keep em penned,but to me thats not an option.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

......hawks are what are laying into my chickens now,and there isnt a whole lot you can do to stop that.Keep em penned,but to me thats not an option.

Whatever it is, they do not carry them very far at all. There are about 3 carcasses 10 feet from the open top coop.

 

[kuger]

......hawks are what are laying into my chickens now,and there isnt a whole lot you can do to stop that.Keep em penned,but to me thats not an option.

Whatever it is, they do not carry them very far at all. There are about 3 carcasses 10 feet from the open top coop.

.............hawks........and probably the executioner of the squirrel as well

 

[RGINN]

Could be squirrel, but reminds me more of raccoon. Bobcats in Oklahoma don't bury their kills, but if it's a big one they'll cover it with brush or branches and return to feed.

 

[stevemc]

Southern fox squirrel. I knew as soon as I saw the pic of the hair. They are about twice the size of a grey squirrel. They have white ears and white tipped tails. Usually light brown but can be black, grey, white, yellow, but always with black head, white nose, ears that tipped with white, or pure white ears, and a white tipped tail. When they are black, they look like a skunk walking along, the tail is so big. This pic is fairly usual, usually around here they have a pale brown body and grey and white tail.

 

[tomjiggy]

Best way I've seen to stop the hawks is net them, but you don't want to be the one getting them untangled from the net. In South Korea some farmers put light nets suspended above their fruit trees. Birds fly into them and get tangled so the owner of the trees can capture them. I don't know what they do with their birds, but if you decide to take this course of action, have a wildlife handling expert on hand. Maybe you'll be able to get someone who's interested in saving the animals to help you get rid of your problem.

 

[kuger]

Best way I've seen to stop the hawks is net them, but you don't want to be the one getting them untangled from the net. In South Korea some farmers put light nets suspended above their fruit trees. Birds fly into them and get tangled so the owner of the trees can capture them. I don't know what they do with their birds, but if you decide to take this course of action, have a wildlife handling expert on hand. Maybe you'll be able to get someone who's interested in saving the animals to help you get rid of your problem.

Then what do you do with em?Raptors are Federally Protected so I dont think I would take that route even if euthanasia is not your final intent.

I have used Balshotry Traps/snares to catch Hawks feeding on endangered shore birds on contract with the Fed Fish & Wildlife Service and had to have a huge staff on site(Animal Vets,Raptor Specialists,etc)They would band them,and then take them far away to release them..........................over %40 returned

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

I work for Florida Fish and Wildlife and I want to share an interesting story. I dont have pictures but hawks were being found dead all along the road where I work last December. One was brought into my check station by a tourist half dead and it went to a place to try and save it. Its when I found a dead hawk at my doorstep, I decided to investigate..

It seems the hawks have a habit of carrying snakes to the top of a telephone pole to eat them. Only problem the Pythons they are catching on the roadway are a lot longer and apparently touch the wrong wires and the hawks are being electrocuted. I came to this theory by looking up and finding a fried snake draped over the wires.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

That makes me wonder. Every hawk I ever witnessed carried its prey up high to eat it. Kuger, do hawks eat on the ground? Because the ground is where I am finding the carcasses.

 

[Bigcypresshunter]

Southern fox squirrel. I knew as soon as I saw the pic of the hair. They are about twice the size of a grey squirrel. They have white ears and white tipped tails. Usually light brown but can be black, grey, white, yellow, but always with black head, white nose, ears that tipped with white, or pure white ears, and a white tipped tail. When they are black, they look like a skunk walking along, the tail is so big. This pic is fairly usual, usually around here they have a pale brown body and grey and white tail.

While we do have fox squirrels in the area, the coloring seems to match well with a common grey squirrel. But then again, maybe, or it could be something else. The grey hair does seem longer.

I like the black ones are cool.

View attachment 605615

 

[kuger]

That makes me wonder. Every hawk I ever witnessed carried its prey up high to eat it. Kuger, do hawks eat on the ground? Because the ground is where I am finding the carcasses.

I am not familiar with what hawks yall have,but out here the Redtails are pretty good sized and they can/do take em off quite a ways.The Coopers Hawk(we call em Chicken Hawks are a little smaller,and they eat em on the ground.
I built some really nice fully enclosed fly pens a few years ago for some of my higher priced chickens,and was out detecting when my wife called to inform me that a Quail Hawk(they are not very big)had got into one of the pens and killed a hen!!!When I got home,the hawk was still in there and had actually eaten some of the chicken....I never did figure out how that little booger got in!!

The Owls take em off too,but I have found where they ate em on the ground too