Mystery Beast Devours Upper NY State Cow
Champlain — Wild rumors about wild animals ran rampant in Champlain Thursday, fueled by the mysterious mauling of a cow on a Meridian Road farm.[Original headline: Beast attacks cow, worries area]
Siberian tigers were likely not at fault, though. Nor could a pair of lynx be linked to the cow’s violent death.
"All our lions and tigers are here — none of them escaped," said Serge Lussier, zoological director of Parc Safari in nearby Hemmingford, Quebec.
The black and white Holstein was killed as it gave birth to a calf, then feasted upon, just feet from the barn at Racine Brothers Farm sometime Sunday night or early Monday.
By Thursday, after waiting in vain for investigation by the State Department of Environmental Conservation, farmer Allen Racine had buried the animals.
"We couldn’t take the smell," he said.
But graphic photographs show the damage — the cow’s neck had been savaged, its shoulder devoured, the bones picked clean.
"Whatever ate it ate the hide, too," said Bob Kneussle, a U.S. government employee from the border crossing just up the road.
He’d seen a paw print by the cow’s body "as big as my fist, with three claws."
That description could implicate a bear, said Ed Reed, wildlife biologist for DEC.
"When cats walk, their claws are retracted," the biologist said.
"And there are definitely bear up there.
"Bears are opportunists," he said. "This time of year, they’re more vegetarian, but if they come upon a cow, down in the pasture, they’ll certainly help themselves."
Thursday, Racine was told that two lynx had escaped from Parc Safari.
Other reports had two cougars walking down the North Star Road in Champlain.
"I’ve heard more baloney about (those rumors)," Racine said. "The only thing I can tell you is that a domestic dog didn’t do this."
According to Lussier, Parc Safari doesn’t even have lynx.
And Reed said the species travel alone, as do bobcats, and wouldn’t — in one sitting — consume the amount of meat taken from Racine’s cow.
His first guess, from the description of the animal’s condition, would be coyote.
"It’s fairly common for coyotes to attack calving cows," he said.
Racine said three of his cows gave birth this summer, but their calves were nowhere to be found.
"That’s classic coyote," Reed said.
But Rejean Rioux, wildlife conservation officer for Quebec’s Society of Wildlife and Parks, said coyote are more likely to "pierce the belly and eat the gut" than to dine on a cow’s shoulder.
"There are chances it was a big cat," he said.
In fact, no cougars are known for sure to exist in either Quebec or New York state, though there are reported sightings every year.
Cat, bear or coyote, it killed the cow, ate it and didn’t come back.
Racine said neighbor Arnold Reynolds waited for the predator Monday night, perched on a nearby roof with a rifle.
Some coyotes approached the carcass, he said, but after sniffing around a bit, they left.
"We kept the cow out there (more than two days)," Racine said. "Nothing touched it."
Rose Dutil, who lives on a farm near Racine’s, found herself looking more over her shoulder than working in her garden Wednesday night, so she went inside.
"It’s scary," the elderly woman said. "If (the animal) came after me, I’m a dead duck — I can’t walk fast."
Reed, who said DEC phoned Racine numerous times to arrange a visit there without luck, said a bear in the neighborhood wouldn’t be much cause for alarm.
In fact, DEC doesn’t get involved with isolated incidents involving bear or coyotes.
"If someone’s losing a cow every night, it’s something we’d look at."
DEC’s interest in a cougar would be to document its presence, not necessarily relocate it.
If it were a cougar, said Parc Safari’s Lussier, "I’d be very careful with my children and pets."
Racine’s worried about his cows.
"I’ve still got 70 animals outside," he said. "I want to know what this is."
Quebec officials look into sightings of wild cat CHAMPLAIN — While farmer Allen Racine wonders what large predator killed one of his cows, officials in Quebec are awaiting DNA test results that may prove cougars do exist in that Canadian province.
In July, several sightings of a large wild cat in Parc St. Bruno, just 20 miles from Montreal on the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, prompted the Society of Wildlife and Parks to launch an investigation.
There are no known cougars — also known as mountain lions — in Quebec or New York state.
"Every year, 10 or 20 people say they saw one in many places, but there has been no physical evidence," said Rejean Rioux, wildlife conservation officer in St. Jean sur Richelieu.
But in mid July, castings were made of some large paw prints in Parc St. Bruno, and one hair from some kind of wild cat was found.
The animal could also be a Canadian lynx, Rioux said, which, while not common either, has been spotted in that region.
"The last time we saw some, New York state had reintroduced them (in the Adirondack Mountains)," he said, chuckling.
That experiment failed when some of the 50 lynx were hit by cars and others departed for other areas.
But lynx or cougar, Parc St. Bruno’s wooded bike and hiking paths are well-traveled by humans.
"Many people are afraid," Rioux said. "That’s why we took measures to find if it’s really a cougar."
As well, he said, "for many years, biologists have liked to prove the presence of the animals in Quebec."
One hair, though, may not be enough to provide conclusive proof.
Rioux was interested to hear of possible cougar sightings in New York state.
He said the species does roam, but doubts the St. Bruno cougar — if there is one — crossed the border.
The most recent sighting in Quebec was about 40 miles north of St. Bruno.
"It was not going south," he said.
• Story originally published by •
Platsburgh Press-Republican / NY | By Suzanne Moore - August 29 2000
