bobcats killed my sheep? graphic description

[dwbonfire]

has anyone had any experience with bobcats taking down thier adult sheep? i am in NC and recently lost my two rams. i was never sure of thier breed but they were biiig boys, one in particular. we have never had any animals killed here, and we have horses, and all sorts of poultry, cats, dogs etc. and we did have our sheep for some time. they stayed out at night, because they would stay in the field with the horses and i am usually a light sleeper so i always heard if there was anything going on out there. friday morning i woke up to my two boys mauled in the field. i never heard a peep. even my dogs didnt bark. they werent dead but very very badly injured and needed to be put down immediately. i am heartbroken to say the least, they were more like dogs than sheep. aside from that, i am so stumped as to what would have done this and not made much noise. i have talked to a few people locally and they all agree it was not coyotes, because of thier size and the fact that coyotes would have surely killed and consumed them. others thought maybe a stray dog, but i would hate to think my dogs are so useless that they wouldnt even bark if a dog was on the property. two different people first off thought of a bobcat after hearing of the wounds on the sheep. im going to get graphic here: ones throat was totally slashed open in a clean slice, but terribly deep that he couldnt be saved. the other had punctures on his throat but his back end was totally stripped of his wool and had been "worked on" ill say. there was also a clear clean slice down his haunches that just doesnt look to me like a dog would or could have made. im really horrified by this all, and i wish i knew what happened. i had thought my dog (german shepherd) could have been involved because she was loose all night. shes 5 years old, and been around the sheep since they were lambs and only chased in a playful way, never showed aggression. she also is always around ducks, guineas, chickens, cats, kittens, horses, children and never showed any signs of aggression. i was horrified to think she could have done it, but i am aware that an animal is an animal, and she may have started to play and got carried away with them. she had no blood on her at all, nothing under her nails, and the wounds on the sheep just dont seem like she could have done it. shes a bit of a sissy, so i wouldnt expect her to really attack a preditor either. my question is, has anyone heard of trouble with bobcats in NC at all? does anyone know of thier hunting behaviors and whatnot?
thanks for any advice or info.

 

[elevan]

I am so sorry to hear this

I've no experience in bobcats but it certainly does sound like it could have been one.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

I don't really have any advice to offer, because I'm not familiar with how bobcats would attack. I just wanted to say how sorry I am that this happened.

 

[currycomb]

sorry. it is a tragic loss. ours started with a big wether goat, had stayed with the horses, ponies and donkey in the pasture. never knew he was a goat. found him dead, not far from the house, broad daylight. he had been attacked from the rear. damaged so he bled out. no wild animal near, but our catahoula was laying next to him just licking him. still don't know if she ran wild animal off or did the deed herself.
next one was a doe had given birth, had all the signs, just no baby. we walked the goat pen and found some blood and a bit of umbilical cord. no other sign. gone, poof.
next one was a 40 lb doeling, again just vanished. poof(this was a nice spotted kinder/fainter)
next one was a black doeling we had bought a few months before. again, poof
next one was a tan doeling we had purchased with the black one. this one we found the stomach and rumen inside the goat pen, the rest of the carcass, poof. no blood, no tracks. varmit had to jump a 4ft wire fence into the pen, and then jump out with the goat in its mouth. goats were about 40 lbs.
so you tell me. the last 3 kills were just as the moon was turning full, 3 months in a row.
goats are now in lock down. no pasture until moon looses it's fullness. new goat barn by chicken house, radio blaring, more fences for varmit to jump, possibly time for pyreneese to get said varmit
last night, husband runs for gun, momma coyote right in back yard, guard dogs in feed room eating, so she got away.
really nervous about what winter will bring when varmits get really hungry.
oh yeah, once they find an easy meal, they will be back!!!

 

[dwbonfire]

thanks everyone...

curry, sorry to hear your losses too. isnt it strange, the moon was full the night this happened also. ive never been one to believe anything like that, but apparently it must have some truth.
i have no sheep left, those were my only two boys left. i miss them terribly.
i sure hope nothing would have a go at my horses. im thinking not, but as you say once winter comes do you think thats a possibility?

the hunters that hunt the land all around me say we have a ton of coyotes, and wild boar. i cannot even imagine a boar would do anything like this right? and as i said about the coyotes most likely not them. they never mentioned any bobcats seen on the game cameras they have. maybe they are coming into the area..

 

[elevan]

I had a boar pot belly (fully grown) attack both of our fully grown horses...slashed them up pretty good...it was ugly. So I suppose you couldn't rule out a wild boar...they can push under the fences quite easily and are pretty aggressive.

About the full moon...it lights up the night better than any other moon phase. So there's really no wonder that these things are more frequent during full moons - it's just easier to see what the prey are doing.

 

[redtailgal]

z

 

[Bossroo]

I seriously doubt that it was a Bobcat. They are just not big enough and their teeth are just too small to kill a full grown animal such as a sheep or goat. The largest that they can kill would be a lamb about a month old. Think COUGAR !!! ( NO MATTER what the local Fish and Game say about NO COUGARS existing in the area) Or COYOTE !!! A wild pig also can do the kill like that. Another very real possibility is a pack of dogs... about 30 years a go a neighbor had 3 lab x and German Shepherd x mongrels kill 152 sheep in a couple of hours with NO sounds.( owner woke up as the rest of the sheep ran past his bedroom window next to the pasture) We hunted them down and shot them on sight in the pastures. He collected triple damages from the owners of those dogs as luck would have it , 2 of the dogs had collars with licences on them. Sorry for your loss and Good Luck finding the culprit!!!

 

[elevan]

Whatever it was didn't kill the sheep...

they werent dead but very very badly injured and needed to be put down immediately.

 

[dwbonfire]

well im almost let down that it wasnt a bobcat. only because now im possibly pointing the finger back at my own dog :/ i just find it hard to believe a pack of dogs came in here and did it ONLY because my dog was loose, plus i have a dog tied out all night, plus two in my garage. i would think with the commotion someone would have barked. this is upsetting because my relationship with my dog is tainted now, because ill really never know if it was her but ill always be suspicious, and thats unfortunate.
i did look for tracks, but didnt find much just a few from one of the sheep that lead to a pile of wool which was what was off his back end. thats all, plus my dogs tracks are all over that field and everywhere around here, and i have 3 dogs loose during the daytime here.
this is really upsetting, i just cant piece it all together. that very moment i woke up and ran outside was because i heard the dog that is tied barking at the hunter coming down the road. when i didnt hear my other dog (the one that was loose) bark thats what tipped me off she was gone. i went out and called her and she came from across the field past where i found one of the sheep. she came from in the woods. the thing i dont get is how i heard that dog bark at the car coming, but not if she barked if something was out in the field? which makes me think she did NOT bark. which then makes me think nothing came into the yard which leaves my dog in the spotlight. everyone just finds it hard to believe she could take down the two of them and leave the wounds they had. my only answer is that she had all night to do it, who knows if she just started to play and chase and got carried away. again- i looked on her and under her nails and no blood or signs of anything. would i really find that tho?
gosh i just wish she was locked up so i at least knew it was not her.

p.s im also near charlotte redtailgal, about an hour east.