I found the remains of a digested gopher and it was still completely intact what animal ate this gopher?

Question

I live on an old orchird and I'm trying to find out what kind of night or day preditors I have here.

Answer 1

Well, I guess what the shape the remains were in when you find them. If it was just a skeleton lying on the ground then more than likely it was not the victem of a predator. Most predators would have torn it up. A snake would swallow it and reguritate the bones and hair, but the skeleton would not come out complete.

Now if it were in a compacted form of hair and bones then a snake is a possible idea. Another is an owl. Owls can eat their prey whole and later reguritate the undigestables. There are science kits where you can dissect these "owl pellets". Here is some info:

http://www.scienceman.com/pgs/archive21_owlpellet.html

http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/owls.htm

Answer 2

If it was really completely intact then it was not digested. If only the skin and bones remained in their origional orientations, and the rest was digested, then the predator was possibly a snake.

Answer 3

How do you know it was digested, and not simply decomposed? If it was in fact partially digested and then regurgitated, a snake would be the most likely predator.

Answer 4

sounds like a snake..