This morning I went out in my backyard just as the sun was coming up and found a freshly killed and eaten cottontail rabbit. Still warm. All that was left was it's feet, entrails and it's chewed up head. Everything else was gone. Bones too. It was only about twenty feed from my back porch and I have a chainlink fence so I'm sure it wasn't a dog. Would a cat or sknuk eat a rabbit this completely or would an owl eat it there on the ground? I thought maybe a fox but I've never seen one around where I live but I'm sure there are some. I live in a tiny little town on the prairie so anything's possible. I'm thinking a cat. What do y'all think it was.

-- Joe Cole (jcole@apha.com), October 18, 2000

Answers

My WAG is a raccoon. It's amazing how much they can put away at one meal. A rabbit would be way too much even for a good-sized cat.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), October 18, 2000.

Hi Joe, My neutered/spayed barn cats love rabbit, even good size ones, they usually leave the feet and the head, most times right on my back porch, but I find "remnants" anywhere too. It's the price to pay for excellent rodent control, but I suppose they weed out the dumb ones. Biscuit, the head barn cat, tops 20 pounds, a rabbit is no match for him! Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), October 18, 2000.

Ken, either you've got BIG rabbits or tiny cats. The description is consistent with what I've seen rabbiting cats do. Mind you, it depends on whether they've got the taste or not - some will just mangle them and eat the choice bits, a good one (and remember, rabbits are EVIL here) will take just about the lot.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), October 19, 2000.

INTERESTING.Our cats drag in jackrabbits twice their size, or cottontails. They must sneak up on em since there is no way they could catch them. The cats start at the head and work down, our coyotes leave the heads and feet. I would guess a fox or a weasel.

-- Raymond Gray (RorLgray @GRAYMATTERTV.COM), October 24, 2000.