What predator killed my duck?

[BethW]

I found one of my Pekins dead in the pond last night, lying near the waters' edge in about a foot of water. One leg was completely gone, and the body cavity was cleanly hollowed out from the back end on up. The rest of the body was intact.

What predator does this sound like? We had snapping turtle issues a few weeks ago. Caught and killed 2 in the first 48 hrs. we had the trap in, then caught nothing for a week or so, so pulled the trap up, thinking we got them all.

Turtle? Or something else?

[homesteadingman]

Could be turtle, but do you happen to know if you have eels in the water source. A guy I work for occasionally told me about a fella who had eels in his pond that would snatch ducklings from underneath. He corrected this by putting a supermarket roaster on the other end of the pond and they would devour it and leave the ducks alone. He would hang it just slightly in the water and tear at it and roll, like an alligator, then he would lower it in fully. Easy meal for the eel. only down fall is paying for it. Hope you catch whatever is getting to them.

[BethW]

Interesting. I've never seen an eel, but it doesn't mean they're not in there. Could an eel overtake a full-size duck?

[KSALguy]

a possum would eat a bird from the back end up, coons kill and eat a bit here and there, cats normally start at the top and work down, weasils eat the head only, anything bigger would have taken the body away,

sence the duck was in the water it could have fallen or been dragged or what ever, a turtle woult not hollow out the inside of a duck, eel could and some get big enough to do the job, not sure what you have up that way, i am not as familiar with water based preditor habbits as land base,

[Danaus29]

An owl will hollow out poultry from the back forward. Are there any large trees around the pond?

[BethW]

Yes, the pond is surrounded by large trees. We've seen bald eagles on rare occasions, vultures frequently, and hawks regularly. No owls, but I'm sure they're out there.

This happened in broad daylight, which is why I thought it was less likely to be a raccoon or possum. Not to mention the outer body was completely intact. Just the body cavity empty and the leg missing.

Would an owl have taken a leg off?

[Danaus29]

No an owl wouldn't have taken a leg off but that could have been done by something else after the duck was dead.

The duck was taken during the day? Not simply found during the day? If you have hawks and eagles you have owls. I doubt an owl would take a duck during the day.

[BethW]

Yep, definitely during the day. She was fine at 9 that morning and dead at least a few hours by 8 that evening.

[BethW]

Went out to the pond this morning to find a wild Canada Goose gosling dead at the water's edge with a mangled leg.

We're not catching anything in our turtle trap. Frustrated