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Kirk wrote:

I have a hard time imagining a predatory animal doing that, Malkin.  They kill to eat and the linked image shows no signs of that.

I hate to say it, but I suspect a sadistic person is most likely.

Well, frankly, that's why it's getting a little creepy.  But I just can't think of anyone around who would do that.  As much as the old lady next door hates rabbits (they get into her garden) I can't see her chopping the heads off of them and leaving them in the alley.  Next door it's basically a mom, two teenaged daughters, and two young boys.  MAYBE the 8 year old, as he likes to smash bugs, but I have a hard time envisioning that too.  I can't imagine him even being able to catch one.

No one else would have any business being back there and we haven't seen anyone around.  My husband and my sister are home pretty much all day.  It's just weird.

I know as far as snakes go, the brains of rodents are particularly apetitizing - supposedly it has a narcotic effect. One of the tricks to get a non feeding snake to start feeding is a technique called braining. I won't go into the details, but the young snakes very often can not resist to eat a rodent that has the brain matter exposed.

It could be that cats decapitate animals for the same reason. They want the brain juices.

Gatchaman wrote:

NAG wrote:

Fried Chicken wrote:

Maybe it's a sadistic child.

Would have to be a child with sharp teeth.

Or a teenager with hedge clippers.

Or a riding lawnmower.

One could have been a lucky hit with a car, but a bunch of them? It's an intelligence.

http://www.whatjeffkilled.com/

Kinda gory, not for the weak of heart. Jeff is a cat. A big, mean, hungry cat.

I've had two birds die and one down for the count for an extended time on my lawn this week. Freaky.

resedit wrote:

I think it is a cat or a dog.

Agreed. Everyone seems to be throwing their hat in the cat circle, but I'm going with dog.

Dogs like to grab an animal's head or neck and do that "grrrrrr" head shaky thing to tear the thing apart.

It could also be West Nile Virus.  Beware if all the crows start dying in your neighborhood.

Kirk wrote:

It could also be West Nile Virus.  Beware if all the crows start dying in your neighborhood.

Or if you see tons of dead Starlings around, then it is probably the farmer up the road poisioning them to keep them out of the cow's feed.    The mega-dairy up the road did that and failed to mention it to any of us neighbors.  Needless to say, he got in a bit of hot water over that one.

Imagine walking outside in the morning to find more than 100 dead birds laying around, then firing up the silo unloader and have dozens more come down with the silage.  That was just the area by the farm buildings.  It doesn't include the ones laying dead in the field, on the road, or all over the neighbors' houses and cars.

Last edited by Orion (2007-06-30 1:47 pm)

justine wrote:

Orion wrote:

Or if you see tons of dead Starlings around, then it is probably the farmer up the road poisioning them to keep them out of the cow's feed.    The mega-dairy up the road did that and failed to mention it to any of us neighbors.  Needless to say, he got in a bit of hot water over that one.

How did he manage to do that without poisoning the cows?

You do it a week before you sell meat to McDonalds and Burger King.

mtpalms wrote:

justine wrote:

Orion wrote:

Or if you see tons of dead Starlings around, then it is probably the farmer up the road poisioning them to keep them out of the cow's feed.    The mega-dairy up the road did that and failed to mention it to any of us neighbors.  Needless to say, he got in a bit of hot water over that one.

How did he manage to do that without poisoning the cows?

You put it outside the corrals/feedlots - wherever the livestock is kept, just like you would rat bait or Malrin. Unfortunately you can't control were they go to die.

That was so obvious. I dunno why i didn't think of that.

That is odd. I would suspect it's been done by human hands.  Maybe set up some sort of webcam if possible?

However, if it is a human, then he/she's fast or very sneaky.  How would the person catch the rabbit?  I'm almost convinced that it can't be a human for that reason, but I've never seen an animal do that either.

I think that cats can easily do such things. My neighbors have got a cat. He always kills a bird or a mouse and brings the body to OUR doorstep. I'm tired of sweeping the feathers away. He doesn't eat his victims, he only plays with them until they die (especially mice) - I saw it myself several times. Even had to rescue a mouse from his fangs, it looked so poor and desperate:)