***Look below as I update this post.***
New image updated Feb 8th
This fox has been a nightly visitor to the carcass, where are the coyotes?
Feb 5th ( scroll down to see updates)
Its hard to say if this is the same deer I photographed last week with the injured leg, but I'm willing to bet it is. It was found dead at the teeth of coyotes Monday morning.
The deer is a one and a half year old buck that has shed its antlers. Its amazing to think how fast the coyotes ate basically half this deer in one night, the same night they brought it down. Since the deer was found its carcass was reported to the DNR and moved to the back of the property. Here, I fastened my motion activated camera pointed right on it and plan to leave it for a week to see just how many coyotes are traveling in the local pack that is responsible for this. It is said that 1/3rd of a coyotes diet in the Northeast consist of deer meat. This is the third deer in as many years that has been found dead from coyote attacks in the same orchard. The previous two had fought so hard for life that in the battle they actually shed their antlers, and they were found next to the carcass. Wow. Check back int he next few days to see more as this story unfolds .
***UPDATE Feb 8th**
The deer has been dragged about 100 yards by the coyotes. You can see in the background of the second image , a trail of hair from the drag. Its amazing to think how the coyotes were able to drag the deer this far, it must weight about 100 lbs. It must have been a team effort? I cant imagine one coyote can drag an entire deer, or can it? I have had the motion sensor camera on the carcass about a week now, so far the only visitor has been this beautiful healthy fox. To keep the deer in one place we have driven some steel rebar into the frozen ground and fastened its legs with wire. Since then, the coyotes have vanished. I can only think that the human sent at the site has kept them back. I will be checking the cameras tomorrow.
stay tuned!!
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