Found a Buried deer Carcass?

littletoes

littletoes

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Didn't give it much thought, but while bear hunting, I hit one of my "secret" spots, and ran into a dead deer that had been fed on, and then buried with debri. Around this animal were a few trees that have been clawed on.

Didn't think to take any pics of the deer, but the torn up trees did interest me (I was thinking "bear", not biology!).

bearscratch1.jpg


The pic looks to me like "bear", but a friend suggested it was a cat carcass, not a bear, but there was quite a bit of "crap, poop, scat, droppings!" (I don't know what folks like to call bear crap), and that the bear had just taken it over.

Now, I've heard/read that grizz will bury their food supplies so they can come back later to feed. Perhaps to keep the smell down from other major predators...hadn't given much thought about black bears doing the same thing, but it makes sense to me....Guess I should have taken more pics with the 'ol cell???
 
One of my Bro's use to be an OR tech for many yrs. They had a female patient that was jogging along a mountain trail. Grizzley attacked her & fed on her some. Then buried her under some brush off the edge of the trail.

Husband searched the same trail later that day & found his wife still barely alive. Woman lived but required numerous follow-up surgeries.
 
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Not sure about the bears but I have heard that bobcats also will bury a kill. One time years ago I shot at deer at last light and wasn't sure about the shot so we left it and came back to look the next morning. We found the deer not to far from where I had shot it was completely buried with leaves accept its feet sticking out of the pile. Its back legs and hindquarters had been mostly eaten. We assumed it had been a bobcat since they are pretty numerous in the area but we couldn't find any tracks to confirm it.
 
Mountain lions will bury their kills and come back later. They don't wander too far either, chances are that cat was really near.
 
We have had bears cover gut piles less than a hundred feet from the house while the bear has bedded less than a hundred yards from the house.

Quote:After an animal is killed, black bears will typically open the body cavity and remove the internal organs. The liver and other vital organs are eaten first, followed by the hindquarters. Udders of lactating females are also preferred. When a bear makes a kill, it usually returns to the site at dusk. Bears prefer to feed alone. If an animal is killed in the open, the bear may drag it into the woods or brush and cover the remains with leaves, grass, soil, and forest debris. The bear will periodically return to this cache site to feed on the decomposing carcass.

http://icwdm.org/handbook/carnivor/black_bears.asp
 
AWSOME!

Thanks Tripod3, I just knew it had to be, there was just way too much bear sign around that kill.
Here's another bit of info, the deer was a buck and looked healthy. How it came to be in such a "rough" spot, I just don't know (tons of dead falls, and debri).

Here's another pic if anyone cares to see;

bearclawsII-1.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: littletoesWell, we know grizz will bury their uneaten food, but can we make the stretch that black bears will do the the same thing??


Absolutely... have seen numerous kills back in the days when range cows still roamed the woods. And, in virtually every case the bear would attempt to cover the carcass with Palmettos fronds, bushes, tree limbs, pine straw, dirt... you name it. They'd be gone a day or so until they got hungry again, then they'd return.

I saw one instance where the bear killed a cow on the hill, picked the cow up and walked with it, (we're talking probably 600 - 800 pounds, Florida range cows aren't big critters), before dropping it and dragging it in the swamp. Total distance covered, nearly 400 yards, before dragging it up on a tussock and covering it.

No stretch there at all dude! A black bear will most definitely cover a kill.
 
Another thought is the cougar killed the deer ate his fill buried it and the bear found it and took over it. The scratching on the tree looks more like cat scratching. I have seen many cedar trees the cats have done this to. Sometimes they spray also, ends up smelling like a litter box. I worked as a forester in western OR for 30 years and saw many cedar trees scratched like that. I was talking with the wildlife services guy, aka goverment trapper and he said in warm weather a cougar will rarely return to a kill after it starts to sour and it is usually bears and coyotes that clean it up. I have found some heathy looking bucks that were killed and buried like that. If it is recent look at the head and neck area. A bear kills by over powering and multiple bites, The ears maybe chewed and other signs like this. A cat kills by crushing the spine at the base of the neck. This is what I learned from the old trapper. He had tirty plus years of experience at dealing with problem cougars so I put alot of stock in what he had to say. Since i have looked at a few kills and could see the difference. I actually walked up on a fresh cougar kill in thick brush. I heard the cat move out but didn't realize what it was at the time. When i got to the spot found a dead forked horn. It was still warm and had just two little puncture wounds on the back of the neck. A few weeks later a person who lived close to this timber patch killed a large male cougar in his backyard.
 
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