Field Notes: Following the Sign (Viewer Discretion Advised)

Viewer Discretion Advised: This post contains video of a predation event involving one of my brother's domestic ducks. While predation is a natural ecological process, some viewers may find the content disturbing.

A few nights ago my brother called me after one of his ducks turned up dead. Naturally, the first question was what killed it.

As with most wildlife questions, I wasn't interested in guessing. I wanted to follow the evidence.

The condition of the carcass did not immediately suggest a raptor kill. From what I could observe, there were no obvious puncture wounds or injuries that appeared consistent with talons, so I started looking for additional evidence to narrow down the list of potential predators.

I told my brother to walk the fence line and look for sign.

Sure enough, he found exactly what I expected. Feathers were scattered along a section of fence, blood was present on the top rail, and one portion of the fence had been bent downward slightly from whatever climbed over. Whatever was responsible wasn't simply moving through the area.

At that point, raccoon moved to the top of my list of likely suspects.

That evening I headed over to my brother's house to set up a trail camera and look over the property myself. As I walked the fence line, I found several spots where whatever was entering the yard could either climb over or slip underneath the fence. Combined with the feathers, blood, and bent sections of fencing, the evidence continued to point toward a mammalian predator.

Not long after dark, we got our first clue. A large raccoon entered the area from the opposite side of the yard. We also observed another animal moving along the fence line that appeared to be either a second raccoon or a domestic cat.

Unfortunately, the raccoon approached from the house side of the property and detected our movement before we could get into position, leaving the area shortly afterward.

Before leaving, I got my brother set up with the trail camera and showed him how to use it. Regardless of whether the raccoon returns, the camera will continue documenting wildlife activity and help identify what species are regularly using the property.

One of the things I enjoy most about wildlife work is that the answer is usually there if you're willing to slow down and follow the sign. Tracks, feathers, blood, travel routes, feeding patterns, and behavior all help tell the story.

At this point, raccoon remains the leading hypothesis, but the investigation isn't over yet.

We'll see what the camera reveals.

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