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Cat or fox?? Carnage in our front garden ??

(63 Posts)
dragonfly46 Sun 04-Jul-21 14:56:17

I once saw a sparrow hawk or red kite - not sure which as there are both around - demolish a pigeon on the pavement opposite the house.

ninathenana Sun 04-Jul-21 14:48:16

My cat is sadly an accomplished hunter. He will eat his kills unless we manage to save them

PinkCakes Sun 04-Jul-21 14:28:29

I've had the same in my garden, a few days running - then I saw a sparrowhawk hunched over a pigeon on the 3rd day.

I've always had cats, over the years, but not one of them ever plucked a bird.

Aldom Sun 04-Jul-21 13:25:18

I think young starlings too. I have several families of starlings in my garden every year.

Callistemon Sun 04-Jul-21 13:23:15

Just listened to bird sounds and yes, I think they are juvenile starlings which is interesting as they hadn't been seen here for a few years.

Callistemon Sun 04-Jul-21 13:18:56

I have a flock of birds in the garden which I can't identify - brown, smaller than a blackbird, larger than a sparrow, pecking away at ants.
They don't look like starlings as they're not shiny. I've never seen them before.
Does anyone have any ideas? I tried the RSPB identification site without luck.

Kalu Sun 04-Jul-21 12:59:53

Birds are prey which cats eat for food supply.

Missedout Sun 04-Jul-21 12:50:23

I watched in horror this morning as next door's ginger cat suddenly pounced from under a shrub and took a juvenile blackbird that was pecking for worms nearby on our lawn. I didn't have time to do anything about it.

We have sparrowhawks here and they also prey on birds but they have young to feed too. The cat just kills for pleasure.

I'm just about to order a soaker gun!

Redhead56 Sun 04-Jul-21 12:45:17

Sounds like a cat a fox would have taken the carcass away.

JaneJudge Sun 04-Jul-21 12:41:10

we have had quite a few casualties, I throw the carcasses under the hedges. I thought it might be rats or weasels

Callistemon Sun 04-Jul-21 12:39:06

I don't know but I saw a sparrow hawk chase a pigeon then demolish it on the lawn apart from a few feathers. It didn't leave any mess to clear up, thank goodness.
Another time a dead pigeon was left whole on the front doorstep, apart from its crop being open and a pile of corn spilled out.

tanith Sun 04-Jul-21 12:34:46

Either of the above they both hunt and eat birds or possibly a sparrow hawk we had one bring a dove down on our lawn and then proceeded to eat the poor thing.

Witzend Sun 04-Jul-21 12:01:31

For the second time in just over a week, one or the other has shredded a pigeon on our front lawn. Most has been eaten, but there’s a huge, horrible mess to clean up, inc. bloody bits with bluebottles already getting stuck in. And so many feathers - I used the leaf vacuum last time.
Dh is clearing this lot up, thank goodness - he was away last week.
The fact that it mostly seems to have been eaten makes me think Brer Fox is the guilty party, but we do have a couple of neighbourhood cats.