The Mysterious Wildlife Killings on Campus
Who or What Is Killing the Wildlife?
CW: Wildlife death.
My husband and I live near a college with a small but beautiful campus where we walk our dogs daily. It’s gorgeous, especially in the spring and fall. Even though we’re in an urban area, there’s a lot of wildlife. I especially like going between eight and nine a.m. when the students are in class and campus is almost empty. We do a few loops along the walkways and we go on the grass, which is where the dogs prefer to poop. Of course, we always pick it up, but not everyone does this, which is annoying. We have to watch our steps.
Lately, we’ve had to watch our steps even more because we’ve been coming across something else on campus: body parts lying in the grass. Sometimes on the sidewalks. Squirrels. Birds. Rabbits. It’s alarming. The dogs are so drawn to these things, and we don’t realize what they want to sniff until we’re practically on top of it. Then it’s hard to pull them away because they’re just so interested. At least they don’t roll around in it and haven’t picked them up.
Speaking of picking them up, a few months after we adopted Rudy, our first dog, I was walking him around the neighborhood when he found an intact, frozen squirrel carcass. He saw it before I did, so of course he picked it up and clenched his jaws around it. Each end of the body protruded from both sides of his mouth, and he would not let go.
He didn’t know the “drop it” command, and I didn’t want to touch the squirrel. I figured I could hold onto the dog, place my foot on one end of the corpse, and push, using it as a fulcrum to pry Rudy’s mouth open. He isn’t a large dog, but his grip was tight. It didn’t work. He carried the thing all the way home where he finally dropped it outside the door and I had to smack it away with a hockey stick. I didn’t know what else to do with it. 🤷🏻♀️ I have a picture of Rudy with his “prize,” but I won’t post it here.
Fortunately, Maeve and Rudy have only sniffed the parts we’ve come across and haven’t picked them up. These deaths, by the way, are not their doing. Sure, they like to chase after the squirrels and rabbits, but they’re always on leash so they don’t get far.
I think the neighborhood cat (see above) who hangs out on campus does the killing. And this cat is obstinate. When we approach, she (or maybe he) doesn’t budge. Fearless. The dogs don’t bark at her and exercise caution when we walk past. We’ve been on the receiving end of some hissing but nothing more than that. I don’t have evidence that the cat committed these crimes, but I’m convinced she did because of the smug look on her face whenever we see her.
My husband, on the other hand, thinks it’s the work of a coyote, and we do have some in the city. Now that I think about it, he could be right because we’d seen the cat many times this past summer but the killings have been happening in the last couple of weeks. As of now, these murders remain unsolved.
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How intriguing!
Barb- I suspect the same as you, that it’s the neighborhood cat. Although coyote killings are also quite possible. Thanks for sharing this story.