Cat carcass - what would do this?

[Loper]

This morning my sister texted me a picture of her neighbor’s cat that was found dead in her back yard. Whatever killed it made a big clean hole in the cat’s side and ate all the guts but nothing else.

My sister lives in a big residential neighborhood in Central Florida that isn’t very rural. However, a few months ago she sent me a video of a big black bear in her driveway.

She asked me what i thought killed the cat and I told her don’t think a black bear did it, but thought it was the work of a coyote, i figured I’d ask those here if you agree.

 

[The Ri Guy]

I've seen Raptors and Crows do this to various small mammals around our property over the years.

 

[mtnbiker208]

looks like birds

 

[NRA4LIFE]

My vote would be birds. A bear would have swallowed that thing whole or drug it off. Coyotes would have done similar.

 

[go_deep]

Coyote probably killed it, then the birds had at it likely.

 

[TxxAgg]

Owl

 

[KenLee]

A racoon will eat a cat's innards like that, and also an owl.

 

[mxgsfmdpx]

An ELDX bounced off.

 

[Benet30]

My bet is owl. Did she say if it was killed at night?

 

[Loper]

My bet is owl. Did she say if it was killed at night?

She didn’t specify if the cat was killed at night, but I can ask.

 

[Agross]

I had something very similar happen to a fox behind my house. Coyote tracks were the only thing around it in the snow.

 

[roadrunner]

Suppressed .223 shooting a 77 gr tmk with a very high impact velocity.

 

[Turkeytider]

Owl

That’s not a bad guess. Great Horned is something of a picky eater as to parts of the kill’s anatomy that they consume. They will knock an adult turkey off the roost and ride it to the ground. If you ever find a turkey carcass in which only the head and neck area are eaten, almost 100% that it’s owl predation.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

crows or ravens eat what they want and won't try to fly with that big a carcass, Owls either. don't know what killed it but guessing birds did the deed afterward.

 

[D S 319]

Darn near a perfect circle thats some precise gnawing.

 

[Crowmangler]

Any Hatian immigrants moved into town recently?

 

[JasonT]

Darn near a perfect circle thats some precise gnawing.

On both sides

 

[flathead#2]

Yeah, thats weird looking.

 

[Stubborn_bowhunter]

Owl

I remember hearing that most of the time when cats disappear it's from owls. Probably from Rogan podcast or some random sources though.

 

[Loper]

My sister did say it was killed at night or in the early morning. However, would an owl not only just rip open the side of the cat, but also break the ribs and eat them? She said there wasn’t any blood around it or any other body parts next to it. She said it was very clean.