I came across the remains of this deer while exploring the Grettum Pines area. As I was following a trail there suddenly was a profusion of tracks. Looking ahead the deer ribs immediately caught my attention. The recent snow had obscured the details of the myriad of tracks leading to it making species identification impossible. Once at the site the overlap from multiple species further complicated track identification. A fox or coyote had bedded down to keep watch on the carcass. The absence of the skull and distance of the skeleton from the entrails may be meaningful to a trained biologist, however, to me these details raise intriguing questions but no answers. Square patches of fur are pulled off to the side in multiple directions where something has been chewing. It is tempting to assume this is a wolf kill but other predators also kill deer or perhaps this is a winter kill. Clearly the deer is feeding many hungry customers.
Dale
I checked the bone marrow with Steve Hoffman and this animal was malnourished but not starving at the time of death therefore it was a predator kill. Since the skeleton is relatively intact it was not killed by wolves. The remaining possible predators are a bobcat, bear, or coyotes. It seems to remote for a dog kill.
Dale
