Red's cottage cold case. <Graphic dead bunny warning!>

[British Red]

My security lights and external PIRs got tripped about 10pm last night. When the alarm sounded I ent for a look around, but there was clearly no person around.

Had a good look around this morning and, at the base of one of the barns was a (very) dead bunny

Dead Rabbit 3 by British Red, on Flickr

Initially I thought the head was entirely missing. It wasn't.

From the other side you can see a large bite has been taken from the scruff of the neck and the neck broken

Dead Rabbit 2 by British Red, on Flickr

Straightened out you can see the head is left - but the spine is defunct

Dead Rabbit 1 by British Red, on Flickr

Anyone care to pick a killer?

Red

 

[Puddock]

I would suggest that it has been killed by a bird of prey, due to the way the back of the neck has been opened and the eating has been in one localised area. It has had a feed and then had flown away. If it was dark though this could only have been an owl, and a rabbit is much too large a quarry for an owl.

A fox would probably have carried it away to eat somewhere else? Very strange

 

[Sabot]

I'm gonna guess weasel, stoat or ferret.

 

[HeltorChasca]

Fox that got disturbed by the alarms and ran off?

 

[wattsy]

canine definitely when my dog catches rabbits she always starts eating the head first, birds of prey tend to be a bit more delicate when the yeat (not tearing it to bits)

 

[_scorpio_]

thats been done by a dog hasnt it? i dont see how an owl could set off an alarm.
could it be a badger? i have heard of them being pretty nasty at times.

 

[British Red]

Not a dog - we have a "way with" feral dogs round here (farming area)

 

[_mark_]

Owl or a zombie, maybe a cat.

 

[British Red]

I could well be wrong, but I don't think anyone has picked what I suspect is the culprit yet.

An additional clue is that I live in the Fens of Lincolnshire

 

[Robbi]

could it be a mink ?

 

[Shewie]

Lindsey Leopard ?

 

[geordienemisis]

The Devil Hound of the Fens maybe, or is that just a old lady's tale?

 

[British Red]

could it be a mink ?

....annd we have a winner! I could be wrong and if so, the prize goes to Sabot (who was certainly in the right group).

The reason I pick the mink is we don't really have the right habitat for stoat here. In my old place I would have said stoat. But here, there is a fair sized mink population and we are pretty certain that one has taken one of my neighbours chicken (seen in the immediate vicinity when chick was killed). Thats a couple of hundred yards away.

Pure speculation on my part rather than a definitive answer but a look at a stoat kill in this video - looks very similar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNbqvqf3-14

So I reckon mink, but if not a stoat on a long trip!

 

[Samon]

It was you wasn't it red!? Teaching those bunnies a lesson about trespassing

 

[British Red]

There is a much neater, rounder hole when I teach them

 

[JonathanD]

How did I miss this thread. Great stuff.

 

[British Red]

What's your diagnosis on this one Jon?

 

[JonathanD]

What's your diagnosis on this one Jon?

Oh, it's definately dead allright.

 

[British Red]

Lol.............ask a silly question....

 

[JonathanD]

Lol.............ask a silly question....

Ask a silly question when a fella has had too many bevvies.

In all seriousness though, a fox would have made off with it. Definitely mustelid of some description.