A Gruesome Discovery

[Vectisbirder]

This morning, we found a headless Rabbit in the garden. All the innards, including - worst of all - a partially developed foetus, were strewn about the lawn.
What would have done this - a cat or a Fox, maybe?

Cheers
VB

[NickCantle]

I watched a Stoat rip apart a Rabbit last week. I would have intervened but I object to people playing God. I don't know if a Weasel or Stoat would just remove the head, but I wouldn't be surprised. I know they like to incise the neck, so maybe it's plausible.

[ellen h]

One of my neighbours rabbits was killed in this way by a fox.
They found it in the morning,luckily before the children did.
It had burrowed its way out(they were keeping them in a greenhouse at the time!!)and the fox got it.
Foxes are foxes,they need to eat be it with "not very nice table manners"
ellen

[mbaldw]

In conjunction to the testimonies that foxes, stoats and weasels will take rabbits, I have seen domestic cats do it too. Where my parents live in Cornwall backs on to a field (usually full of cows or sheep - and rabbits!). One of the local cats hunts rabbits in this field and leaves them on the lawn of my parent's neighbours (even though they don't actually own the cat!). Having said that, I've never seen (or heard that) the cat decapitates the rabbits beforehand.

Cheers,
Marc.

[Words]

Sounds like a fox to me. It may have been disturbed if it left the innards on site. In my experience they are fairly efficient at removing all edible parts.

[Dogghound]

Its highly unlikely to be a stoat or weasel its not a trait associated with either of them. Also it would take a weasel a wile to chew through a rabbits neck. It is in fact a common occurance with foxes to remove heads this is most often seen with birds but sometimes they will do it with mammals, they ofter hide the body and head in different places, so from my experience I would say its the work of a fox.

[Vectisbirder]

Interesting. Thanks everyone.

[Paul mabbott]

This sounds more like the behaviour of a cat to me: playing with prey, killing when they're not really hungry and so forth. I think that a fox would have hidden the rabbit away somewhere or at least taken it under cover.

[Kayleigh]

Originally Posted by Paul mabbott

This sounds more like the behaviour of a cat to me: playing with prey, killing when they're not really hungry and so forth. I think that a fox would have hidden the rabbit away somewhere or at least taken it under cover.

The cats at the yard where I used to keep my horse always took rabbits but they ate them as they were ferrel..we fed them dried cat food but the still ate the rabbits.

[Paul mabbott]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

The cats at the yard where I used to keep my horse always took rabbits but they ate them as they were ferrel..we fed them dried cat food but the still ate the rabbits.

Depends on your cats, of course! Some of our loca cats are very good - catch squirrels and eat them but others just kill and leave. Depends on how much they get fed, I suppose?