Livestock mauled in viscious attacks in Waddy, KY

reply to post by DAVID64


I'm pretty sure the closest zoo is in Louisville, and I live near here and haven't heard of any escapes, and can't find any reports of one on Google.

If it's a domesticated canine, then Waddy has a "Cujo" on their hands. Maybe it's rabid!

reply to post by Havox


Bears have 5 toes...wolfs have 4. ....the mystery animal has 4

reply to post by Meldionne1


The toes on a bear track resemble those of a human foot whereas the dog track shows the outer toes far back from the 2nd and 3rd toes. Dogs do have a 5th toe that is high up on the leg that never touches the ground and is vestigial.
Even if you use comparison with other track pictures there is so much variation in how they register the only way to really know if from real experience seeing tracks in different gaits and substrates.

Over 100 town people went to meeting about the attacks. The experts came in and said that they all figure its a domestic dog (most likely) because it hasn't killed any of the animals, just maims them. Pretty surprised that a dog could attack three bulls and chew off their ears. Also, the dog (big hairy black thing, as the family described it) chased a mother and daughter into a barn where they were stuck for over an hour until husband came home. They didn't think it was a dog, nor the sound it made didn't sound anything familiar to them, or other witnesses.

Here is latest link to story about meeting.

Waddy attacks on livestock

The pic of a track looks like a cougar track.
cougar track from wiki
Most people don't know this, but cougars make a very freakish sound that one would not expect. Cougars are also really smart and can get in and out of may places. All of this screams cougar to me.

reply to post by halfmask


That makes more sense to me than a domesticated dog.

reply to post by Rezlooper

Cougars like other cats, will kill things by playing with them. Sure most cases they kill for food, but as far as I know they will kill for fun on occasion, which fits this scenario, and when they play kill it can be pretty messy. Perhaps cougars are not local to the area, so that is why they are not use to cougar attacks. Cougars have been showing up in weird places over the last few years.

reply to post by halfmask


Concur with that...cougars have been sighted up here in northern WI in recent years

Originally posted by halfmask
reply to post by Rezlooper

 

Cougars like other cats, will kill things by playing with them. Sure most cases they kill for food, but as far as I know they will kill for fun on occasion, which fits this scenario, and when they play kill it can be pretty messy. Perhaps cougars are not local to the area, so that is why they are not use to cougar attacks. Cougars have been showing up in weird places over the last few years.

I have lived an hour away from Waddy all my life (52 years) and Cougars are not local to the area. I remember back in the 70's though that there was one spotted here a couple of times but never was caught.
it was a hot topic back then for a couple of years. There were no other sightings and the Cougar talk finally died out. Now we have this...

reply to post by kennylee


You live not too far from there, what's your take on it?

reply to post by kennylee


Bobcats are pretty common, right? That could be it.
www.bear-tracker.com...
Link has some different prints of different animals, this looks like cougar or bobcat to me.

Originally posted by Havox
reply to post by kennylee

 

Bobcats are pretty common, right? That could be it.
www.bear-tracker.com...
Link has some different prints of different animals, this looks like cougar or bobcat to me.

Doubtful that it's a bobcat, they are much smaller, only being about twice the size of a house cat. Cougar's are much bigger. Here is some differences between the two compliments of Wikipedia.

An excellent stalk-and-ambush predator, the cougar pursues a wide variety of prey. Primary food sources include ungulates such as deer, elk, moose, and bighorn sheep, as well as domestic cattle, horses and sheep, particularly in the northern part of its range. It will also hunt species as small as insects and rodents. This cat prefers habitats with dense underbrush and rocky areas for stalking, but can also live in open areas. The cougar is territorial and survives at low population densities. Individual territory sizes depend on terrain, vegetation, and abundance of prey. While large, it is not always the apex predator in its range, yielding to the jaguar, grey wolf, American Black Bear, and grizzly bear. It is reclusive and usually avoids people. Fatal attacks on humans are rare, but have been trending upward in recent years.[5]

And the bobcat

With a gray to brown coat, whiskered face, and black-tufted ears, the bobcat resembles the other species of the mid-sized Lynx genus. It is smaller on average than the Canada lynx, with which it shares parts of its range, but is about twice as large as the domestic cat. It has distinctive black bars on its forelegs and a black-tipped, stubby tail, from which it derives its name. Though the bobcat prefers rabbits and hares, it will hunt anything from insects, chickens, and small rodents to deer. Prey selection depends on location and habitat, season, and abundance.

Maybe it is the Chupacabra. Check out this from a news story about the waddy attacks.

This is not the first mystery animal found in Kentucky, either. Two years ago, at around this time, WHAS and WLKY both reported that a man in Nelson County shot and killed a hairless animal on his property. Some residents claimed it might have been the mythical chupacabra, but animal experts deemed it to be an animal suffering from mange. Is Kentucky the land of mythical creatures? Maybe not, but until this creature is found the mystery continues.

I remember this story and seeing a picture but I didn't do a search to find it though.

Not a dog, their prints are more rounded. Could be a wolf, theirs are a bit different from the domesticated dog.

A large cat is possible, but not as likely. Not a bear print either, only four pads are showing, a bear shows five. I'm choosing a wolf as opposed to a large cat due to the heaviness of the nails. A large cat would be less "pointed" due to the claws being somewhat retracted, but not entirely.

A wolf is definitely the way to go.

reply to post by Rezlooper

Apparently that was found to be a raccoon?


www.theepochtimes.com...

But, could have just been played off as to not frighten anyone.

Although, this doesn't really look like the supposed chupacabra footprint.
www.cuerochupacabra.com...

reply to post by Havox


A coon with mange? Yeah, I was kidding about this attack being that one. This is probably a wolf or cougar gone crazy!

I just wanted to add an update to this story. Earthfiles did an interview with the lady who owned the five goats that had to be put down after the attacks. She said the goats faces were torn apart very visciously. She said that the pen the goats were in was secure and that she, the veterinarian who put the goats down, and some others had searched around the pen and couldn't find tracks. She said the only way in would have been through the gate, which was about 4' high, but that it was also secure. Inside the pen, they still never found any tracks and she said the ground and dirt was dry so there should have been tracks.

The locals are claiming that it may have been a hybrid of a wolf and dog. They have coyotes in the area but a coyote kills to eat, this attack looked more like it was done for sport, she said.

All the attacks were on the same road, Ditto Road, and were all within a week of each other. A good question asked in the story is wouldn't a hybrid dog keep attacking animals in the area until it was caught or killed, because, "Once it got the taste of blood..."

During that same week of attacks last month, Earthfiles also points out that there was a sheep mutilation that occurred in England. Check out the full story from Earthfiles below.

Earthfiles.com report on Waddy livestock attacks

reply to post by sheepslayer247


Sounds like a bear alright...a bear with cubs.

Originally posted by AFewGoodWomen
reply to post by sheepslayer247

 

Sounds like a bear alright...a bear with cubs.

How could a bear get into that pen without leaving some serious damage to the gate or fencing. A bear would leave some evidence behind that it was a bear.