# What small predator would do this? (warning: kinda gross) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 20, 2014, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127 "2014-03-20T01:27:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/21 "2014-03-20T19:00:56Z")
My guess would be a 5 year old sociopath. šŸ˜‰ ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/22 "2014-03-20T19:04:31Z")
I thought the internal organs were the tastiest parts? Not speaking personally here. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/23 "2014-03-20T19:13:43Z")
> [@Emiliana](#): > > I thought the internal organs were the tastiest parts? Not speaking personally here. The liver and heart might be. However, if itā€™s a small herbivore the predator might not want to eat the stomach and intestines if they are filled with plant material. ---
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/24 "2014-03-20T19:40:50Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The liver and heart might be. However, if itā€™s a small herbivore the predator might not want to eat the stomach and intestines if they are filled with plant material. But a side salad goes so well with liver! ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/25 "2014-03-20T21:47:10Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > The liver and heart might be. However, if itā€™s a small herbivore the predator might not want to eat the stomach and intestines if they are filled with plant material. Or the bile duct, which can be incredibly nasty-tasting even to a dedicated predator. Same with the bladder. I had a hunter-cat years ago who would do exactly this - eat almost the entire north end of his prey, but leave parts of the south end intact. On my kitchen floor, quite often, so Iā€™d step on the entrails on the way to the coffee pot. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/26 "2014-03-20T22:07:17Z")
> [@UncleFred](#): > > This sounds like the type of thing that results in those ā€œCow Mutilationā€ and similar urban legends. Ah, the old Cattle Mutes scenario!šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2014, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/27 "2014-03-20T22:15:39Z")
My cat used to leave this kind of present in the bath tub almost nightly. My corgi got in the habit of checking first thing in the morning. By the time I got up, if lucky, there would just be a stain left. Or a set of rodent teeth. ---
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/28 "2014-03-22T15:28:05Z")
I also vote for cat. My cats have all done this. We used to have a cat who would catch bats and eat everything except the guts and the wings. He would also eat all of a rabbit except for the guts and the feet. We now have a cat who will eat the rabbit from the waist forward. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/29 "2014-03-22T16:00:23Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > I had a hunter-cat years ago who would do exactly this - eat almost the entire north end of his prey, but leave parts of the south end intact. > [@Zulema](#): > > We now have a cat who will eat the rabbit from the waist forward. They are following some of the rules, but you should tell them that rabbits arenā€™t remotely kosher. Not eating the gall bladder makes sense since bile is nasty,\* and the large intestine is gross, but most dogs would be like **Ulfreida** ā€™s and scarf it up. Little stays in a dogā€™s mouth long enough for them to taste it. - - You know itā€™s time to get your gall bladder out when the dry heaves turn into the green heaves because you are puking so hard youā€™re squeezing bile past the obstruction, through your small intestine and stomach, and out your mouth. And you donā€™t care because the pain goes away. ---
**Author:** ![tommy\_toto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tommy\_toto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tommy_toto)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/30 "2016-09-06T16:35:38Z")
I know this is an old thread, but there arenā€™t exactly a whole bunch of recent, appropriate threads to choose from. Thank God. John Mace, you donā€™t know how happy I was to find this thread. (And finding it just goes to show that you really can find ANYTHING on the Internet.) With the exception of location ā€“ Iā€™m in New England ā€“ your post describes exactly the lovely little package I found on my walkway as I went to the car this morning. No other critter parts to be found, just the entire internal organ set. No overhanging tree branches: if this was dropped by an owl or raptor, it would have had to have flung it at least 15 feet horizontally from the closest tree branch. I guess I will convince myself that this was indeed the handiwork of a domesticated cat that happened upon an unlucky bunny. I certainly prefer that theory to being targetted by an obscure, suburban voodoo cult. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/31 "2016-09-06T16:59:54Z")
> [@tommy\_toto](#): > > I know this is an old thread, but there arenā€™t exactly a whole bunch of recent, appropriate threads to choose from. Thank God. > > John Mace, you donā€™t know how happy I was to find this thread. (And finding it just goes to show that you really can find ANYTHING on the Internet.) > > With the exception of location ā€“ Iā€™m in New England ā€“ your post describes exactly the lovely little package I found on my walkway as I went to the car this morning. > > No other critter parts to be found, just the entire internal organ set. No overhanging tree branches: if this was dropped by an owl or raptor, it would have had to have flung it at least 15 feet horizontally from the closest tree branch. > > I guess I will convince myself that this was indeed the handiwork of a domesticated cat that happened upon an unlucky bunny. I certainly prefer that theory to being targetted by an obscure, suburban voodoo cult. :eek: Youā€™re going to fit in quite nicely around hereā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/32 "2016-09-06T17:13:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **dropzone** : > > Not eating the gall bladder makes sense since bile is nasty,ā€¦ So thatā€™s what the green wobbly bit is! ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/33 "2016-09-06T17:44:19Z")
Another vote for cat. Ours deposits little gut packages on our walkway. It is astonishing her ability to carefully separate the meat from the guts. ---
**Author:** ![duncs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@duncs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duncs)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/34 "2016-09-07T12:14:38Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > So thatā€™s what the green wobbly bit is! Youā€™ll have to taste it to be sure šŸ˜› ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Vaughan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/francis_vaughan/32/3093_2.png) [@Francis\_Vaughan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Francis_Vaughan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/35 "2016-09-07T12:55:40Z")
My cats catch rabbits - and for reasons that seem to defy explanation, they start with the head. Then they work their way down. Usually, but not always leaving the gut. Sometimes they even eat the green wobbly bit. But they seem to dislike the ears and feet. At least sometimes all I will find is a pair of ears and a foot. This morning I was presented with a headless rabbit on the dining room carpet. What I find astounding is that a cat will sit down and methodically grind up a rabbit skull, and keep going all the way down. One would imagine that more efficient order would be to go for the soft bits first. It is probably this ability to eat the entire animal, bones, fur and all, but draw the line at the gut that accounts for such neat packages. Of course there may be a truly disgusting hairball thing to be deposited on the kitchen floor sometime in the future that accounts for some of the remains. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2016, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/36 "2016-09-09T04:11:03Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > Or the bile duct, which can be incredibly nasty-tasting even to a dedicated predator. Same with the bladder. > I had a hunter-cat years ago who would do exactly this - eat almost the entire north end of his prey, but leave parts of the south end intact. On my kitchen floor, quite often, so Iā€™d step on the entrails on the way to the coffee pot. [Banzai](http://i789.photobucket.com/albums/yy176/aruvqan/Miscellaneous/bonzer_zpsabcaf8d2.jpg) was trained to eat his kill in the bath tub [I got tired of that wet squelchcrunch of stepping on a gift mouse and would grab him and his kill and drop them into the tub and slide the door closed until he was finished eating so he learned to just take them in there without gifting me =)] He usually left the skull, feet and tail, and whatever organ is greenish purple swirlies and about the size of a kidney bean from mice. ---
**Author:** ![appleaday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@appleaday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleaday)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/37 "2016-09-12T09:35:52Z")
I once encountered the opposite situation: two slabs of flesh, no fur, no bones, no guts. Found it in my backyard, by a cement pathway. One of my cats could have dragged it there, but they donā€™t leave behind such tidy kills. Extremely weird, especially as I had walked down that path about a half hour previous, and there was nothing there. ---
**Author:** ![Disgscen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f05b48/32.png) [@Disgscen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Disgscen)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/38 "2016-09-12T15:48:03Z")
Iā€™ve seen a hawk do this on numerous occasions, outside my place in Chicago. It tears apart the meal wherever it catches it. If itā€™s in a tree, there will be a mess below. If itā€™s on the ground, itā€™ll be a neat little packet. Usually pigeons, but squirrels too. Itā€™s fascinating to watch. Nasty, too. ---
**Author:** ![mjg311](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecb155/32.png) [@mjg311](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mjg311)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/39 "2016-10-24T18:57:32Z")
I hope this thread is still active(!). We found a rabbit, apparently skinned and elongated by some creature, in our back yard last night, when taking the dog out one last time for the day. The head and all feet were intact, but there was no evidence of any loose fur or skin anywhere to be found, on or around the poor bunny. When we first identified that it actually was a rabbit, which took a while by the way based on its condition and the way it was lying, it appeared that the flesh was completely intact. Upon trying to lift it to remove it from the yard so that the dog wouldnā€™t get into it today, we saw that itā€™s other side had some chunks removed from the flesh and that organs were exposed. It seemed to be a fresh kill yet, as there was no odor but the bunny was quite rigid, and weā€™re sure it wasnā€™t there earlier in the evening. So my question to you folks in this forum: does that sound like a owl or possibly fox-type kill description? I know Iā€™ve heard an owl hooting in the backwoods behind the house on some or most evenings, and in about the last couple months, weā€™ve seen a fox crossing the street several houses away. Our dog surely wasnā€™t involvedā€¦ Thanks in advance for your feedback. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127/40 "2016-10-26T04:51:04Z")
> [@Red\_Stilettos](#): > > One of our cats would do this. I donā€™t think they were regurgitated. I think they were carefully eaten around. He would also leave the feet. Heā€™d catch a chipmunk and eat the head, the fur, the tail, everything except the organs and the feet. He was a strange cat. Very sickly too, which made his hunting prowess even more impressive. Any time you see the words ā€œentrailsā€ and the phrase ā€œkinda grossā€, a cat is likely to be involved. We had an oudoor-indoor cat when I was growing up and he would do this too. Back when organ meat used to be more popular among humans they were said to be rich in nutrients; livers are supposed to be a good source of B vitamins for example. Iā€™m surprised that the natural instinct of the cat wouldnā€™t be to gobble the innards down as well. For smaller animals like mice they will often eat them whole, starting at the head biting bits off, chewing, and swallowing much as you or I would eat a Danish. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-small-predator-would-do-this-warning-kinda-gross/684127.md?page=3)