I hope some of you that have seen big Cat attacks on a Cow can tell me if that is what this looks like?

Warning Pics are graphic.

This picture is of a Cow had just died when photo was taken. Attack occurred in Neck and only head was damaged.

Warning Pics are graphic.

Any prints, besides those I see that were made by hooves? I would think that a big cat attack might involve a throat wound, but I'm not very familiar with them.

Are you thinking that the injury in the photo was the cause of death, or that the animal was scavenged after its demise? It is curious to me that the ear is still intact, as I would imagine they would likely be easier to chew/gnaw on.

Aliens or Zombies!!!

Early Am rain wiped out all but the little bit of some kind of print that can be made out in this photo that game warden took.

I also added pic that was missing from second post.

That second pic shows some throat trauma....how big was the cow? Were the injuries confined to the head/throat area, with nothing else touched? How long has the animal been down? If it was a cat, perhaps it will return for another meal, although it looks like it didn't eat much to begin with.

I always go for the ear first...just sayin.

Tums, What was the GW opinion?

TJ, which one of us is going to be the first to ask if the animal still retained its tongue?

Nah......too much spilled blood for professionals.

That looks like small scavenger work to me. Large predators and scavengers will usually feed from the rear and belly where softer tissue allows for easier entry to the carcass cavity. That cow could have been killed or seriously injured in the head area and attracted small scavengers after death or even before death. Any predator large enough to bring down that cow would have done much more serious damage than your pictures show.

Chupacabra?

I don't think this is the work of a large cat ~ they suffocate their prey by clamping down on the neck, but I've never seen them eat the side of the head and neck off. Unless a cat took down the cow and was scared off... then something else came along and scavenged.
I'm with Shorty and Bob-O on that one....

I'm on your page - but it would have simply gone "whoosh"!

I've seen video of bobcats taking down full grown deer. On the opposite side from the eye looks to be a cat print. Too small to be a Mountain Lion but maybe a bobcat...or a ranchers animal.

Were there any claw marks on the animals back or side? Possible from where the cat jumped on while the cow was alive and used it's claws to hang on?

Re: Prints in the dirt. Cats don't leave claw prints, just from the pads on their feet. If those ARE claw imprints at the end of the footprint, then it's a canine.

I agree with Sue, if it was a big cat, there's not enough meat gone (unless it was scared off right after the kill and it was another small predator/scavenger that did the eating that you see) and I've never heard of one eating the head first. Any other areas on the cow where the skin is broken besides the head/neck area?

Mountain lions will bit like that if u leave it the lion will proubly cum back for it than u can get them call ur dnr about it I was watching the game warden show to day and a mountain lion did the same thing to this guys goats had to get a permit from dnr that night the guy shot it with his shotgun and the lion even had a tracking collar on it .

Look for canine hole somewhere on it. If it was coyote s it would of been on the hindend

I would look for other holes on the body, see if it's more a bite pattern or claw pattern. Like some said leave the body, setup a hunting camera and see what comes back.

Trying to answer a lot of questions here.

Cow is between 900 - 1100# on the hoof.

Happened in the early AM within 100 yd of my neighbors house. (Deep in rural area.) It is my neighbors cow by the way. Cow found just around Daylight near 8am and was fine when he was feeding her last night.

Game Warden
It appears from the looks off things the cow was grabbed by the throat and really did not go anywhere from there. The tracks could have been made from neighboring dogs since it did rain during the night. Possible some scavenging after initial kill by a dog. Warden believes being close to house what ever committed Kill could have spooked away. Search of land revealed Calf that had been killed to long ago to diagnose what happened. Owner Is an executive and does not keep accurate number of Cattle due to it being a hobby.



Let me make it clear there is not claw, puncture or any wounds found other than the head and neck.

My immediate reaction, when I saw the photos, was dogs. Maybe coyotes, but coyotes would probably have eaten a lot more. I also wonder how much the actual killer(s) ate. When that happens in this area the dogs basically run the cow to death, or near death, and then run off. Then the scavengers move in. That last case near us was a cow that was run to the point of breaking a leg. There were no marks on the cow. The owner had to put the cow down.

Looks like a Bush Hog took a head slice.

Scavenger after death is my guess.

Neck on cow is stretched out like it had been pulled from the lower part of the throat near the shoulder after she was already down. Blood above the nose is probably where the flap was on the ground before the dog/cat grabbed what he had and left. It doesn't look like it came from the nose itself.

Throat area is very vascular, and there's little blood below the throat. This leads me to believe that the cow had already died and the heart wasn't pumping.

Big enough to take down a fully grown, 1000lb cow, with no other marks on the body....so the animal wasn't dragged or moved, meaning it died right there. All within 100 yds of the house, and the occupants heard nothing from either the animal in distress, the killer(s), nor the panicked animals in the rest of the herd.

To me, that speaks of a couple possibilities....since I doubt the animal would've succumbed peacefully while being attacked, AND it was big enough to provide at least some measure of resistance, I would think that it either died from some other, natural cause, and was scavenged later, or the occupants of the home are nearly oblivious, and probably wouldn't know it if a full blown marching band paraded through the pasture.....which gives me cause to wonder how many other details are missing from this picture.

With fewer words; Looks like a Bush Hog took a head slice.

Guys I think those are good guesses, but I believe they're both wrong. Everybody is missing the obvious. A piece of the cheek has been surgically removed.

I believe this cow is the victim of the Barbacoa Bandit.

You must have stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night Bob.

looks like young black bear to me

No,no, I saw "Mountain Monsters" the other nite. Looks like the work of the Grassman - close cousin to the common Bigfoot!

I think the bush hog theory is as good as any. Looks like the jawbone is split in one pic. No less a mystery though.

Put up a game camera and see what comes to feed on it.

Update: State Biologist (Bill Gray) believes a Buzzard had picked over the head which is why it is so clean. In the Early AM while the animal was still alive.
Note this seemed odd to me that a buzzard did not go for the eyes!!!!

The ATTACKER is still unknown and it was determined the cow in question was lying down when attacked. What ever attacked went straight for the throat. (DOG, CAT, BEAR, COYOTE) ????? Also there is the possibility something had happening making the Cow ill before the kill was made. Understand the cow was still barely alive only minutes before the photos. Which would make me think the neck was broke instantly or either the cow was partially immobilized since not much kicking went on. Especially while the Buzzard the state biologist said was plucking away on a still partially live animal.

As far as some of you saying no one herd anything that is not correct. There are so many coyotes in our part of the world now that cause commotion that we ignore things a lot. I am often waken a couple of times at night by the dogs barking. The family in question just did not know which commotion during the night was related to the cow. Around my house we use sound machines to help block out some of the outside noises. I personally only get up when something sounds like it is right outside my door.

I noticed someone mentioned disturbing the herd. That particular pasture is a couple hundred acres and the cows are free to roam. This one just stayed near where she was fed the previous evening.

In the end there is something in my neighborhood that will eat red meat while it is alive and not able to get away.

End result UNKNOWN ATTACK on what may or may not have been a partially immobilized cow with some scavenging afterwards in early AM hours.

Anyway I was a little more cautious walking around outside at 4am this morning. LOL

Around here that is certainly not the way buzzards work.

I'm just taking a guess... A bobcat did the head skinning. Cats do that. Big cats like a cougar would have ate more and not the head, and then tried to cover the carcass with whatever was available.

If you have lots of coyotes like you mentioned, they would have started feeding at the other end. And they would have done alot more feeding than that. But I'll bet they will be coming now.

I would have put out my trail cam immediately and maybe get some good pics.

I would also just guess that whatever killed that cow, was not the same thing that ate the head. Unless that cow was very sick and easy pickin's.

I am thinking that the track photo looks allot like a bear track. Around here wolf and coyote will always for the the hind end. We have come across a moose still alive with 30% of the hind end eaten by wolves. Wolfs and coyotes will run the stock till it drops dead and some time leave it just playing.


Some type of a small animal like a cat, or martin worked over the head. The smaller animals like to gorge on the blood more then dig into the meat like the hind quarter. Even rats and mice will work over a fresh kill.

I am with MSC buzzards around here leave it dead for some time and here with the cold they head south. No buzzards to be found when its this cold.

Cheers Don.

Tums, ya created quite a questionable question. Don't matter what it ends up as (probably won't be figured out), scares the poop outta me!! Cecil, you and Cody are the only folks wealthy enough to stay at a Holiday Inn. Dwight, why do you have to be soooo reasonable all the time? From ALL of the National Goe films and other well respected documentaries I've watched an animal or group accomplish a kill by a surprise attack or a long and wearing down chase of the prey. Then they eat the best parts first. Heart, liver, tenders, etc After thinking this over I will disagree with the common sense Dwight and change my Sherlock Holms attitude to declare that this was done by a migrant farm worker after consuming a huge amount of Coke and bath salts. No joke, last yr in Tampa a homeless guy actually chewed the face off of his bridge shelter buddy, only reason-bath salts. Just last week in Palmeto, FL a young guy attacked his neighbor and bit his face and tried to gouge his eye out. When the cops came the freak jumped one of them and started to take bites out of his face. Ok, take a guess. He had consumed a large quanity of bath salts. It's amazing but just a simple little 22 Cal with a 3x9 scope could eliminate so much of this nonsense....I repeat, nonsense.

Space aliens

CJ, thank you, it's not often intelligent folks agree with me

Aliens don't leave blood behind.....the carcass is drained, with no sign of any spillage on the ground.....

We can tell with scientific certainty that it wasn't a zombie because then the cow would also be a zombie by now

OK already, a friggin vampire ! Good holly molly, quit makin me dumb geuseses . Hell I can't even spell!!!

Might of been mad cow tooo lol.

I think the cow simply knew too much.

" Word to the rest of you heifers....What happens in the pasture, stays in the pasture......Capisce?"

Yeah, cheek meat is prized in some parts.