Posted by Denise Snyder on May 3, 2006

Q: Today my husband and I found one of our cats in the pasture. He had been eaten by some type of bird. We have heard owls and have seen large raptors around. Harris? Hawks or Golden Eagles, we are not sure. Could one of these birds have killed and eaten our cat. The cat's head was missing and the body was picked fairly clean and the bones were almost entirely in tact. We also have vultures in the area. This was not predation by a coyote. They tend to snatch, crunch and munch, and leave nothing behind. I have heard of the Great Horned Owl taking cats, are they the only ones to do so? We live near Austin Texas. Thanks for any help you can give on this matter.

State: Texas

Habitat: field/meadow

A: Sorry to hear about your cat. I especially like cats so can understand your concern. I don't think it was an owl or hawk/eagle though. These animals would have flown to a perch somewhere to eat their kill and it's unlikely it would have been left in the open in the field (no Harris Hawk would kill a cat as they're too small). I agree with your assessment that the Coyotes would have crunched up your cat and it wouldn't be whole so this leads me to wonder if the cat simply died in the field and was scavenged. Great Horned Owls do ocassionally kill cats but this is unusual and again, I think the carcass would have been more disarticulated. Sorry I can't put my finger right on the culprit. Thanks for asking.

John Wiessinger ( May 3, 2006)