Sounds like you have some cool mysteries to solve.....I can't wait to see the replies.

Sounds like a possum to me.
i dont think a possum would kill a bird
but i do know they eat anything they can find.

Just thought of something else.. it could be an iguana,
that could explain the burrow and the bamboo.

Raccoons would eat tender bamboo shoots as well. They eat everything. Rabbits too.

I can't imagine what would have or could have buried the bird! Would an iguana have done that?

I've seen ants bury small animals. Your description of just the wing feathers sticking up is exactly what I've seen in the past. Was the soil around/over the bird very soft? The ants move it grain by grain, so the texture is very different than the surrounding soil.

Was the bird just feathers, skin and bones? Were the eyes gone? Did it look all dried up-like, or was it opened up like it was being eaten by a larger creature?

Iguanas eat vegetation, flowers and fruit, as far as I know.

Lisa

We don't have any iguanas around here but there are a lot of racoons as well as rabbits. I didn't know that racoons would eat bamboo like that.

The soil over the bird reminded me more of mole hills then ant hills. I only saw a few very tiny ants when I moved the bird and it didn't look like anything had tried eating it. It didn't look all dried up either though. I put the body out in the woods out back well away from the house.

Both cats and dogs have been known bury their "kills," planning to get back to it later, so that's one possiblity. (Remember dogs bury bones for later? Same thing.) But they aren't really neat about it, especially dogs. Cats will bury anything they think smells bad, too. Does it have a look of dirt being scratched OVER it?

The bamboo shoots could have been eaten by a number of things. They are tender and tasty. Squirrels will eat them, I know, though they often carry them up a tree, like they do bromeliads, small pineapples, and fungi.

Just a few more to consider.

Marcia

{{gwi:833454}}

Don't know about the babmoo but have a theory about the dead bird. We have some kind of beetle in our yard that comes up and drags all the dog doo into the ground. It is strange, one of the dogs will go poo and when I go back to pick it up, it is underground and pile of fresh dirt on top of the ground. So I have watched to see what happens, and there are large beetles that seem to drag it underground.

Is this a dung beetle, I don't know, but have seen this happen many times. I know, it's disgusting, but less for me to clean up!

I love the dung beetles....we dont seem to have as many in our yard this year though....very disappointing...it was great though...never had to worry about doggy poop :-)

Ohhhhhhh, I want some dung beetles! We have three doggies, and sure could use some help! Maybe they don't live this far north in FL? I didn't even know we had them in FL!! My pooper-scooper is about to wear out. Help!!! Calling all DUNG BEETLES, you are invited to my yard! Come one! Come all!!!

tony k, now I know why they love you! Wicked sense of humor! Look forward to more of that, for sure!

No, no, nooooo!!!

*pushing WWW out of the way*

I want the dung beetles!! Come to MYYYYY houses, buggies! I need you desperately so Potter doesn't feel compelled to clean up his OWN poop!! (Cats are so much smarter than that!)

Marcia

Where can I get these DUNG BEETLES? I want some too! With my pool now buried out back, I have no where to easily rinse my toes.

STOP! I'm laughing so hard, I'm going to pee my pants!

O.K., about the bird. Snakes will climb trees, kill birds, then drop them on the ground, dig under them, and drag them down there if they don't want to or can't eat them right away. Don't freak out, but you may have a large rattlesnake in your yard. Sometimes snakes don't eat prey right away. How do I know this? My friend in SC owns a serpentarium, and I asked him why the little mice were just lying dead all around the rattler pit. He said sometimes they will sit there overnight, but eventually, the snakes will eat them, or they'll take them into the den to feed the babies, or eat later. These were canebrake rattlers, and you did mention bamboo.

Dung beetles are cool! You "cain't" have any of mine, since they are gourmet beetles who only dine on delectable raw-fed dog poo! It gives the beetles an extra glossy glow to their rich green/black carapaces.

I've never seen them eat dead birds though. I still think ants were the culprits.

Tony, I LOVE the Tremors Movies!!! Especially Reba saying "You picked the wrong Damn Rec room to break into!!!"" Bambambamnbam!!!

Lisa

Another great line from the movie:

"Is this a job for an intelligent man?
Well, show me one and I'll ask him. "

I laugh every time.

Are you ready?????

Here is a link that might be useful: click HERE

That is too funnY!!!

And I have to tell you the dang beetles once pulled an entire dead snake into the ground in our yard, we watched them do it or I would not have believed it!

And Lisa, you are right, that is exactly what they look like. So, I guess you have them too!

Cherie

Please don't be worried about having a big rattlesnake in your yard...at least not because of this partially buried bird. Rattlesnakes do not climb trees. They are very poor climbers, period. They also don't drag prey underground. They WILL let it die and eat it somewhat later, but there is no way a snake did this strange thing to your birds, honest. And caged snakes do not necessarily behave the same way as a snake in the wild would. They also don't feed their babies. They have no maternal instinct at all. They might strike a mouse or rat that was running around the "pit" when they really weren't hungry, just out of annoyance or as a defense. (Many captive snakes are bitten and injured by rats and mice that are supposed to be food.)

Personally, I still think the most likely culprit was a cat or dog, both of which are known to bury their food or other smelly things, but even if not, I cannot imagine any snake covering up a dead bird with dirt, so please don' worry about that possibility.

And I still want some DUNG beetles at MY house! ASAP. We are getting a new puppy next weekend, and I'll need all the help I can get!

Marcia

There were no signs of an animal scrapping dirt over the bird to that pretty much rules out cats and dogs. I hadn't considered beetles but that is a possibility. It probably was some type of insect now that I think about it more.

Tony, seeing that bird dragged halfway into the ground did remind me of that movie! It's been years since I last saw it on TV but I've seen it more times then I can remember.

Marcia, thanks for the reassurance. I didn't really think it was a rattler since I've eliminated from my yard most of the type of areas that rattlers prefer to live in like brush/wood piles and the such. Plus the area I found the bird in is really open with nothing but short grass growing there. Not the kind of place most snakes like to hang around. Some people a couple blocks over found some pygmy rattlers in their horse barn once, and my cat brought home a live coral snake once but that was years ago. No one has encountered a venomous snake around here for years. Plenty of non-venomous snakes though!

I did wonder if the culprit might be some type of blind snake that lives it's entire life underground. In the past, we have found some of the pink snakes that look kind of look like fishing lures when we've been digging in the yard. I didn't think they got big enough the consider going after a bird though, even a small bird.

You may never figure out the mystery, Karalynn. Some mysteries are like that, I guess. The little snakes that live underground mostly eat grubs and other insects, and wouldn't try to eat a bird, so I don't think they are likely suspects. If you don't think it looks like cat or dog work, I'm outta ideas. It IS strange, that's for sure, and something we may never figure out. Ants, dung beetles, who knows. You sure gave us something to think about, though.

Marcia

I hope its a wild panda!