Wow. Apparently, on either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning, while I was taking care of Ooch, a 16-point buck met his death via a mountain lion in Ooch's back yard. Connie and I both saw the tracks of a big cat back in the still snowy area behind her Ponderosa pines, where the carcase is still in situ. Deer fur is scattered everywhere beneath the trees and along the Silver Lake Irrigation ditch. Her attention was caught by a coyote in her back yard yesterday afternoon, after her return from Mexio. She went out to see why the coyote was there, and found the buck's remains. She was pretty sure she saw puma prints in yesterday's shadows; I took photos of them today. The buck's head and antlers are still attached to the spine, as are the still- red ribs and cartilage. The hind legs have been pulled free of the spine, while both shoulder blades and fore legs are a good 5 feet from the rest of the body. There might be a few mouthfuls of flesh left on the lower legs, above the hooves, but that's kind of doubtful. The eyes are gone, as is the tongue. I almost felt as if I were desecrating the grave of a Native American, and not that of an animal. It was not Tripod, our neighborhood buck, who has a useless hind leg; this buck looked to be in good health, with good bones and joints in all his legs. It is a puzzle...
Lovey and Nedi have had an hour outside this morning, before I headed over to Connie's to look at the buck and taking care of Tessa and the Thore kits. We're expecting more snow tonight, tomorrow morning, and Tuesday afternoon. I'm letting the kits run as much as possible before they are cooped up again.
