A sensless Murder

[Little John]

I was out this evening scouting and hunting for desert/canyon land elk, and found a freshly killed grey fox. I nearly stepped on it before seeing it. It had some blood on its neck and I skinned the skin back in a crude autopsy, was actually expecting to find a broad head wound but actually found puncture wounds from a set of teeth. I expect it was killed sometime today. Coyote, bobcat, mountain lion? I think the bite pattern is too small for the lion.  No  tracks to go by. It was a female and appeared to be young by the looks of her teeth. Can't figure what would kill this fox and not for food. It had cooled off some so don't think I scared away the killer. I left her in a natural restful position and  with a short prayer. I found Mountain lion tracks today and bear tracks last  weekend, so it is a rough neighborhood. Oh I found fresh elk tracks so it was a good afternoon.             Kenneth

[Pappy]

Keep us updated Kenneth.
   Pappy

[bluegill68]

Coyotes will kill them regularly. I call many coyotes in with a grey fox pup in distress call.

[Pat B]

Could have been a territorial dispute. I think a bear or Mt lion would have eaten it.

[PEARL DRUMS]

Male or female? If it was a young male maybe an alpha dog took him out.

[Blackcoyote]

Probably a coyote...they've kill them often around me and leave'em.   

[Little John]

Yep, I figure that a coyote is the most likely suspect. When I skinned the neck back the meat did not look or smell bad, reminded me of Howard Hills story of serving fox stew to unsuspecting hunters in camp who thought it was to die for till they found out what they had eaten.

[Outbackbob48]

Foxes are competition for coyotes as are coyotes for wolfs, the greys usually live in thicker cover and seem to fair better than the reds. I have had a few red fox caught in traps an killed by coyotes, they don't seem to eat them or tear them up to bad just a couple bites and probably a quick shake an move on. Sensless murder, no it is just Natures way. Bob

[Dharma]

That's Nature for you. Look at it this way. In some parts of the Universe, a sun farts and a whole solar system disappears. Who knows if a split second after the sun cut the cheese, several billion sentient beings said, "Hey, what was that? I think-" and blip! Gone. The sun just goes, "Ahhhh...that's better!" and it's back to business as usual.

[DC]

A lot of things seem senseless at first glance. Here on the west coast during salmon spawning the wolves kill dozens of salmon and drag them up on the shore and walk away, The eagles and the crows eat them. Wasteful? Wanton? A study determined that salmon flesh has a parasite that is harmful to wolves but the skin is a valuable source of fats and nutrients. The wolves kill the fish, the scavengers eat the flesh and the wolves come back later and scarf down the skins. Everybody wins. Wonderful system.