Our next door neighbor found this mess in her driveway early one morning. What happened here? Notice how the chest cavity was opened. Notice the removal of the viscera and the placement of the gut pile to the side. What predators follow this behavior pattern? How might other predators handle their kill? So who did this? There are additional, fairly definitive clues if you look closely! Look at the center of the right edge of the photo.
This is a close-up of the detail mentioned above. The bloody paw prints of a domestic cat were clearly visible on the concrete. Where but on light colored cement would bloody paw prints stand out so distinctly? What a gift.
A close-up of a perfect domestic cat track (bloody paw track on concrete). A good tracker does not remain too focused on any one track or sign, but rather looks around. So what was the bigger picture here?
The cat dragged the rabbit out of the road leaving a streak of blood on the curb (lower right corner). The cat dragged the rabbit along the edge of the curb to the driveway that radiates from behind the top of the car bumper. The rabbit carcass was deposited on the driveway where the sidewalk joins. Bonus question: what are the characteristics and the uses of the tree that is nearby (but not in the picture)?
The blood trail led to the middle of the street. We searched the surrounding curbs, sidewalks, driveways, and yards for any additional sign and found nothing. This led us to the conclusion that the rabbit met its demise in the middle of the street and was dragged from the street to the neighbor's driveway where it was fed upon. Was the rabbit struck by a car and later found by the domestic cat? Did the cat witness the rabbit getting struck by a vehicle? Did the cat chase the rabbit into the path of a vehicle? Did the cat simply catch the rabbit and no vehicle was involved? How might we have investigated this further to attempt to answer these questions? Think of at least five more questions that you could ask about this scenario.