What is killing these animals???

[vxf111]

I’m in South Jersey (Burlington County). My pasture backs up to woods with a stream. I’ve lived her for more than 2 years now, and what is happening now has never happened before. I’m starting to get very freaked out.

2 weeks ago I was walking with the dog and I stumbled across a fox den elsewhere on the property. A little baby fox, maybe 8-10 weeks old, scurried in when it saw us. We left.

The following day I was walking in the back part of my pasture. I saw what was left of a chicken (just the feet and some feathers). I assumed the fox ate it. That didn’t seem so strange. But then the next day I was walking in the same part of the pasture and on top of the chicken was a dead baby fox. Fully intact, no obvious sign of injury, neither thin nor bloated looking, not mangy looking. I also found in the same area an eviscerated medium-ish-sized rodent of some type (vole/mole/squirrel). I was really sorry about the fox and buried it.

Today I was walking back there and discovered a spine from something, picked clean, something maybe rabbit sized. What’s left of a dead skunk. Another eviscerated medium rodent. And ANOTHER DEAD BABY FOX. I know it’s not the first once, because I buried it, and this one looks like it has never been buried.

So now I am completely freaked out. Foxes aren’t doing this, right? It has to be either something bigger/more deadly than a fox or else maybe some kind of poison? Which has me terrified because I have a barn cat. Something that could kill a fox/skunk could get her too. And poison could be a risk for her as well. What would kill a baby fox and then not eat it/take the body?

I live in a pretty quiet neighborhood that is pretty farm-y. We all like foxes and many of us have barn cats/dogs. I feel confident no one here would poison a fox on purpose, but I could absolutely see it happening by accident (poisoning rodents and then the fox eats the rodents). But that doesn’t explain all the other dead things. What killed the skunk?

I’m completely freaked out and worried for the foxes and my cat. Any ideas on what this could be and what I should do?

[Bluey]

We have mice, brown rats three times the size of mice and big light grey rats twice the size of brown rats.

The other day I was opening our gate over the cattleguard and under there a big grey rat scurried away with a half eaten grown mouse in it’s snout.

Those will eat cats and most anything out there that doesn’t run fast enough away.
We had some of those kill and carry off half grown ducks bigger than they are.
I think it would take a badger to back those off.

I wonder if you have those there?

[Mango20]

Maybe it was a hawk.

[vxf111]

I have never seen so much as a regular sized rat, let alone one bigger. What is that? A muskrat? I don’t know that we have those here. I have seen all a manner of moles, voles, mice, squirrels, and chipmunks but nothing bigger in the rodent category other than a rabbit.

We have hawks. I see them all the time. When they get something they usually take it away? That could explain the dead things other than the foxes. But it doesn’t explain the foxes, which are left behind and I think large enough not to be killed by a hawk. And they had no visible marks on them.

[Equibrit]

Coyote.

[rememberthenight]

I believe vixens in a group will kill a subordinate vixen cubs if she whelps or neighboring vixen from a close territory will kill cubs if she finds them. Cubs will also kill their siblings fighting for dominance. If I remember that section of my wildlife class.

[vxf111]

@rememberthenight

I believe vixens in a group will kill a subordinate vixen cubs if she whelps or neighboring vixen from a close territory will kill cubs if she finds them. Cubs will also kill their siblings fighting for dominance. If I remember that section of my wildlife class.

I think foxes eat the cubs when that happens though?! And these appear to be uninjured

I’m freaking out that it is something like coyotes. But again why are the foxes left behind and seemingly not wounded?!

[Equibrit]

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien…hey-180968424/

“Red foxes are hunters and flexible foragers, eating rodents and birds as well as fish, frogs or garbage. In rural settings, the smaller foxes avoid coyote territory; although coyotes won’t eat foxes, they do kill them to prevent them from causing resource scarcity.”

Maybe you can’t see the punctures in the neck.

[vxf111]

I’m not going to lie, I’m freaked out at the thought of coyotes

[Derid]

I’d be freaked out about the Jersey Devil; grew up in a farming community in South Jersey, saw and heard some pretty strange things…

[keysfins]

@vxf111

I’m not going to lie, I’m freaked out at the thought of coyotes

Set up a trail cam? Sounds like you have a very distinct area where things are happening.

[Bluey]

If you have coyotes there, well, that is probably who is doing all that.

[hoopoe]

it would be pretty unusual for a poison to cause animals to die all in one general location.

I would suspect a favorite hunting area / perch area for a raptor.

great horned owls will take rabbits and small mammals. It is about time for this years young to be venturing out

add mink and long tailed weasel to the possible “rat like” animals

you for sure need game cameras, they can be quite fun

[vxf111]

We don’t normally have coyotes here but it’s not unheard of. I guess a camera is the way to go but I am a little scared to find out!

[Simkie]

I haven’t seen my foxes since I started seeing bobcat. So maybe bobcat?

Fisher cats are also getting a lot of press lately.

Coyotes are certainly a strong possibility, too. Why do they freak you out? I’d think you’d be hearing them sing at night, though, if they were in the area.

[vxf111]

@Simkie

I haven’t seen my foxes since I started seeing bobcat. So maybe bobcat?

Fisher cats are also getting a lot of press lately.

Coyotes are certainly a strong possibility, too. Why do they freak you out? I’d think you’d be hearing them sing at night, though, if they were in the area.

Because they’re a threat to my barn cat and the foxes

[khall]

Coyotes and great horned owls are why my barn cat is locked in the tack room at night. I’ve lost one cat to an owl already and coyotes are rampant here.

[shiloh]

Poison. The skunks and other things ate the poison. And when they were dying maybe staggering they were easy prey for a young fox. Everyone thinks the poison dies when the animal dies but it does not - it goes on and on.

Coyotes will usually drag their prey away and eat it, even foxes. Also, they do not necessarily sing or talk when they are around. I SEE the coyotes in my area but I rarely HEAR them.

I love foxes. I would love to see a baby one but not dead, thank you. I am sorry you had to see them like that. Glad you buried them.

[vxf111]

@khall

Coyotes and great horned owls are why my barn cat is locked in the tack room at night. I’ve lost one cat to an owl already and coyotes are rampant here.

I lock mine in at night too, but I was doing that more for cars than anything else

[S1969]

@vxf111

We don’t normally have coyotes here but it’s not unheard of. I guess a camera is the way to go but I am a little scared to find out!

I would bet you do have coyotes. They are amazingly adaptable; I saw a program on PBS (I think) a few years ago that used night cameras to show the population of coyotes in suburban and urban areas. It was amazing how many there were, and how close they got to people and homes without being seen. The researchers said that people don’t have any idea they are there until they are removed, and then they notice an increase in rabbits and other small rodents.

I have cats and coyotes and have never had problems. Most coyotes are looking for easier prey than cats - which, unless declawed, are not going to be easy to kill/eat.

Just for fun, here’s a video from my back deck; a couple of barks from my dogs and then some howls. I actually think they are fun to have around.

https://youtu.be/P3WZcL9zyg8