rlrich3's Favorites

No bed, latrine, or scat found in the nearby vicinity.
Sheared fur, entered cavity through ribcage behind front shoulder.
Fed on organs and hind leg first.

Timeline:
0730: attacks coyote
0900: coyote hauled to densely forested area, hair is sheared, no entry or disarticulation yet
1700: at least one hind leg gone and some internal organs consumed
2018: returns to feeding site
1700 the following day: Consumed (or at least removed) everything but front forelegs, skin, tail, intestines, and head.

Cutting the base of the flower from the petiole. Presumably feeding on nectar or embryo at the base of the flower. Thousands of cut flower beneath the tree. Seem to focus on many flowers in single clusters.

Almost certainly porcupine tracks but I can’t figure out what in the world the orange is or where it came from. It continued along the tracks for more than 50 yards. Such an unnatural color and it was found in an area pretty far from any human interference

A large pool of blood with opossum tracks, opossum scat, and a dead infant opossum, measuring about 1/2 inch across its curled body, dislodged from its mother's teat and pouch. It may have been from violent shaking by prey, typical of canine species, like a dog, fox, eastern coyote, or, less likely, a large raccoon seen in this immediate area. After inspecting the deck, yard, and adjacent garden, there are no signs of bloody drag marks. The predator must have been large enough to carry the opossum elsewhere for consumption.

Scratch marks across the deck look like they put up a fight.

Mostly straddle trot. When in a straddle trot, the front legs were crossing over the animal's line of travel. That is, the left front tracks appeared slightly toward the right side of the trail and the front right tracks slightly to the left.

2/8 update, revisited and took better pictures
https://www.inaturalist.org/journal/lizardking/89558-turkey-vulture-cathartes-aura-post-cranial-skeleton

Almost positive, but tentative ID. I assume all bones are associated although scattered throughout fenced off maintenance area.
The size all seems consistent. Impressive deltoid crest on humerus largely supports my ID, but small and circle ischaic formen on the pelvis supports this as well. Tarsometarus and sternum fragment also look correct but I can not access them and do not have comparative references currently at hand.
Very tempted to jump fence, largely fought off temptation due to accessible bones I could grab through the edges of the fence and measure. All measures bones were pushed back through the fence and returned.

Update i was wrong i found the jaw bone (added pics) this is a vulture probably black I am insanely excited and will confirm ID when I have reference access again

Muskrat trail showing less common, fast gaits. Begins in a trot (stride 17 1'4"; trial width 3 1/4"), then shifted into an extended suspension lope (stride 16 1/4", trial width 4 1/4", group length 6 3/4").