Leg of Deer

http://lawrencehelm.smugmug.com/RiverPhotography/October-2011/19316386_F8MrkD#1508964994_tkdGx49

The last 11 photos in the October Gallery were from yesterday morning.  We had a tiny bit of rain but as soon as I put my camera away, it quit.  The highlight of the morning occurred when Sage found the remains of a deer.  You can see the deer’s leg compared to Sage’s in photo 43 and also her chewing on it in photo 48.  Since it didn’t smell bad I put it in a baggy and tried to give it to her in the back yard once we got home, but she no longer wanted it – perhaps because Duffy did (photo 48).

I assumed that coyotes killed the deer, but after thinking it over another possibility occurred to me. To begin with, I haven’t heard any coyotes down there in a couple of weeks. Coyotes do hunt at night so it is possible they hunted in this region, came upon the deer heading toward the water north of the river (there wasn’t any water in the river until today) and killed it. But another possibility is that a mountain lion followed the deer down to the river and killed it. Deer is the mountain lion’s main source of food. Rabbits have been the main source of food for coyotes at the river as evidenced by the rabbit fur and bones the girls regularly find.