Calypso
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PONCA - An autopsy of a deer killed by a big cat indicates the predator was a bobcat, not a mountain lion.
A landowner found the deer carcass partially covered with leaves, grass and sticks June 7 on his property. It appeared the deer had been dragged for about 45 yards into a wooded area where it was found.
There had been some speculation that the deer was killed by a mountain lion, but Richard Bischof, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's furbearer program manager, said his forensic analysis of the carcass and the area led him to believe a bobcat was responsible.
Bischof said the bite marks were too narrow to be those of a mountain lion and inconsistent with those of a dog. He also said the deer was killed by a crushing, suffocating bite through the throat, which is common in bobcat kills. Mountain lions typically kill a deer by breaking its neck.
"Not very many people know bobcats can and will take a deer. Most people assume if a deer is killed by a big cat it's got to be a mountain lion," said Skip Sterner with the University of Nebraska State Museum, who has studied mountain lion kills in Montana for 17 years.
Based on the evidence, Sterner agreed that the deer found dead near Ponca was killed by a bobcat.
Bobcats are found in northeast Nebraska, while mountain lions are extremely rare in the area. The closest established population of mountain lions is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, more than 300 miles away.
The Game and Parks Commission has received hundreds of mountain lion reports since a hunter killed a lion near Crawford in 1991, the first confirmed report of a lion in the state in more than 100 years. Seven reports have been confirmed since, the latest when a lion was shot by a police officer in St. Paul last November. Four sightings were confirmed through the examination of tracks.
Mountain lions have been listed as protected animals since 1995 and cannot be hunted in Nebraska. However, state law allows them to be shot when they threaten humans or livestock.
A landowner found the deer carcass partially covered with leaves, grass and sticks June 7 on his property. It appeared the deer had been dragged for about 45 yards into a wooded area where it was found.
There had been some speculation that the deer was killed by a mountain lion, but Richard Bischof, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's furbearer program manager, said his forensic analysis of the carcass and the area led him to believe a bobcat was responsible.
Bischof said the bite marks were too narrow to be those of a mountain lion and inconsistent with those of a dog. He also said the deer was killed by a crushing, suffocating bite through the throat, which is common in bobcat kills. Mountain lions typically kill a deer by breaking its neck.
"Not very many people know bobcats can and will take a deer. Most people assume if a deer is killed by a big cat it's got to be a mountain lion," said Skip Sterner with the University of Nebraska State Museum, who has studied mountain lion kills in Montana for 17 years.
Based on the evidence, Sterner agreed that the deer found dead near Ponca was killed by a bobcat.
Bobcats are found in northeast Nebraska, while mountain lions are extremely rare in the area. The closest established population of mountain lions is in the Black Hills of South Dakota, more than 300 miles away.
The Game and Parks Commission has received hundreds of mountain lion reports since a hunter killed a lion near Crawford in 1991, the first confirmed report of a lion in the state in more than 100 years. Seven reports have been confirmed since, the latest when a lion was shot by a police officer in St. Paul last November. Four sightings were confirmed through the examination of tracks.
Mountain lions have been listed as protected animals since 1995 and cannot be hunted in Nebraska. However, state law allows them to be shot when they threaten humans or livestock.