Margali's Griffin Wood Ranch

[CLSranch]

Cats can/will carry off prey and hide it, usually in a tree so they can come back and eat it at their leisure. Maybe the cat or another animal moved it last night. A bobcat could easily jump a fence carrying that. A mountain lion can carry a large deer up a tree.
Just my 2 cents.

 

[farmerjan]

Have to agree with @CLSranch as far as something had it "stored" somewhere then it got moved and a bobcat could be a good possibility... or a raccoon got ahold of it and moved it... I remember when you went nuts looking for it. A fox or a coyote could have grabbed it and carried it off at first, and then something else got ahold of it.... but a bobcat getting it first and then something else got ahold of it just the other day, is a good possibility.
If you have a very large live trap, I would use it for bait and try to catch whatever had it recently at least. Perhaps whatever was dragging it somewhere, dropped it on the grass there because a dog or something else scared it off... and might come back....

 

[Margali]

Well largest trap from TSC is baited with the remains. We will see what happens.

 

[Ridgetop]

OMG! Is that the remaining lamb that was killed? Or is it the original missing lamb's carcass that you found?

 

[farmerjan]

Missing lamb from Nov.

 

[Margali]

Big twin with orange collar still doing okay per lunch check.

 

[Ridgetop]

How big of a "look but don't touch" pen would you recommend for the LDG? This would be mostly used during introduction to sheep, time out for stupid behaviors, or lambing if dog tries to lick babies to death.

Introduction to anything should be made on a lead so you can control the dog. Just putting it in a pen next to the sheep won't guarantee that bad things won't happen once he has access. The LGD must have access to the sheep to be an effective guardian.

I would be less worried introducing the dog to the sheep (if it i a trained LGD) than introducing it to Bruno. To be safe I would make sure to get a spayed female since a female is less likely to attack your grown male dog. It is not a guarantee, since if the LGD sees Bruno as a threat she will attack him anyway.

f you are only using the pen to put the dog up when working the sheep, when strangers are on property, etc., it can be a standard 6'wx12'wx6't. You can buy kennels at Lowes with tops. They are assembled with butterfly clips. To be sure dog stays in pen, put on a top, and make sure the kennel is on concrete. Otherwise, if you have a digger, you will be filling in holes. If you have a climber or jumper, you will have a dog out all the time.

I would make sure that if you get a dog from a rescue, even one that guarantees they have tested the dogs, that you make sure they will take it back if it doesn't work out for your purposes and situation.

Go on the Lucky Hit website and read some of Erick's articles about introducing dogs to sheep and each other.

 

[Baymule]

I think a bobcat may have been involved also. Stealthy, in out and gone in seconds.

 

[Ridgetop]

Bobcat yes, but why is the carcass just turning up now? Cats do like to hide their meat and let it "age", but they usually carry it off somewhere for that aging process. Interesting. Any footprints around carcass?

 

[Mini Horses]

Too much left for a cat to have found in it....IMO.