# This is going to be the grossest thing you ever read....



## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

**Warning** not for faint hearted. 

I was sitting here reading posts and for some reason I thought back to a problem I had for a while many years ago. I was wondering if someone might be able to answer it for me.

I used to keep all my young rabbits loose on the floor in a grainry keep the bucks and does in cages hanging from the sides. There was a large open window at the top of the grainry and a big door that was fairly well sealed when shut. There were small cracks in the boards that let in more than enough sunlight, but wouldn't have let any animals in.

Over the course of a summer I found 3 dead rabbits on the floor inside out and all the parts removed. Like literally inside out. All you could see what what looked like a rabbit skin with little broken off bones where the feet were and sometimes a skull in the mess. Guts,bones and meat were gone. All the hair on the inside. No other rabbits harmed. Nothing. What ever ate them had to...fly? I don't know. It was SO weird. Then a few weeks would go by and I would find another one. I actually thought that maybe the rabbits were doing it to each other?? I really don't think an animal could get in. If one died..would the other rabbits eat it if they were lacking something?

No rabbits were ever missing from the grainry. I just can't see an animal going in there...killing one...eating it and leaving the mess and not touching another rabbit. Aliens?? lol! 

Has ANYONE ever found an inside out rabbit?


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## Honorine (Feb 27, 2006)

I'm thinking owls. They stand on their prey and start at one end and keep pulling on the good parts, I think that they could turn a rabbit inside out.


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

Honorine said:


> I'm thinking owls. They stand on their prey and start at one end and keep pulling on the good parts, I think that they could turn a rabbit inside out.


That would make sense I think. An owl would maybe just eat and go? I guess one could have flown in the window....it was about 2 feet across?


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

We had an old tomcat. He was the ugliest most scarred up cat you have ever seen.

When I picked him up he felt way heavier than he looked. He was just bone, gristle and muscles.

When the water receded he would go down the muskrat holes and kill muskrats practically as large as himself. I can't imagine the scene down there cause a muskrat will put up a fight when cornered.

Long story short, When he was done eating, the remains looked just as you described except he left a neat pile of guts with the inside out hide right beside.


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

postroad said:


> We had an old tomcat. He was the ugliest most scarred up cat you have ever seen.
> 
> When I picked him up he felt way heavier than he looked. He was just bone, gristle and muscles.
> 
> ...


AH! A cat could have climbed in the window I bet. There were a few mangy wild cats hanging around. I honestly had no idea any animal turned another inside out while eating.


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## SunsetSonata (Nov 23, 2006)

Hmm. When I was young we had a nest of squirrels in a tree, almost grown, and three times I found squirrel pelts turned inside out just like your rabbits. Weirdest thing. I always thought it was the raccoon I had been seeing around at the time. Whatever it was hunted at night in the trees - I went out with a flashlight once when one of the squirrels started screaming, but I couldn't see anything past the leaves. I found one of the pelts caught on a tree branch, the rest on the ground. Don't remember ever hearing any owls back in those days. I'll be watching this thread to see what others say.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

They eat a mouse whole. But with the muskrats the hide and fur was to much fibre (I guess). He would peel the skin back a way, then eat cruching the rib and back bones with the meat. He would continue the process being carfull not to puncture the guts, untill the hide was turned completly inside out. The little paws, tail and I think the skull, all still attached to the hide was left over on one side, with the guts a few inches over.


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

postroad said:


> They eat a mouse whole. But with the muskrats the hide and fur was to much fibre (I guess). He would peel the skin back a way, then eat cruching the rib and back bones with the meat. He would continue the process being carfull not to puncture the guts, untill the hide was turned completly inside out. The little paws, tail and I think the skull, all still attached to the hide was left over on one side, with the guts a few inches over.


THat's just what it was like...except no guts. Paws and stuff stuck in the hide and I think the skull was there 2 out of 3 times if I remember correctly. 

Phew!!! I am glad this post is turing out well. After I posted it I was thinking....oh man! I am new and these nice people are going to think I am a troll just coming on here to start trouble! lol! Glad I am not the only one who found inside out animals. Even though that's really nasty.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Its all good. I have read much grosser things!


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## denaliguide (Aug 30, 2008)

IF you have an open window, you can just do like the Athabascans do when trapping beaver, and this is make a Tic Tac Toe Grid, put it in the window, and hang a snare in each square. Picture Wire is just the ticket, and will do the job.

Camped at the Quill Lake Campground, run by the Local Chamber, had the darnest cold water out of the pump, gave me a headache to wash my hair. I still shiver when I think of it !! ! 

DG



Jackie said:


> THat's just what it was like...except no guts. Paws and stuff stuck in the hide and I think the skull was there 2 out of 3 times if I remember correctly.
> 
> Phew!!! I am glad this post is turing out well. After I posted it I was thinking....oh man! I am new and these nice people are going to think I am a troll just coming on here to start trouble! lol! Glad I am not the only one who found inside out animals. Even though that's really nasty.


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## KSALguy (Feb 14, 2006)

feral cats are a bigger threat than most people think, when a cat kills a chicken or duck it will start eating at the head and eat down into the body usually avoiding the guts to a point and leaveing alot of the outside skin and feathers depending on what kind of bird, a raccoon would kill everything it could reach only eating parts here and there, a possum likes to eat the soft underbelly of what ever it kills but would rather eat the rabbit or chicken feed if given a chance and would probably hang out in the building the whole time, 

a weasil or ferret type animal will eat a whole into the body if the rabbit was big enough and eat the insides out leaveing most of the skin but not turning it inside out, 

my vote is a large cat,


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## Jesse L (Nov 6, 2008)

Racoon? I know racoons will eat anything, and will leave the stuff they dont want behind.


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## MaggieJ (Feb 6, 2006)

Don't overlook rats. Last year we had a nasty infestation and finally resorted to poison. When I went down to close up the goose house one evening, there was a rat dying of the poison. I tried to dispatch it, but it crawled out of reach so I gave up. Had to go back down for something a couple hours later. Dead rat, turned inside out, already half eaten by its buddies. Yuck! They work fast. One time when secondary poisoning is beneficial.


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

MaggieJ said:


> Don't overlook rats. Last year we had a nasty infestation and finally resorted to poison. When I went down to close up the goose house one evening, there was a rat dying of the poison. I tried to dispatch it, but it crawled out of reach so I gave up. Had to go back down for something a couple hours later. Dead rat, turned inside out, already half eaten by its buddies. Yuck! They work fast. One time when secondary poisoning is beneficial.


Wouldn't a rat harm the other rabbits? Would they only kill 3 in one summer? I COULD have been a rat...but it would have to climb up the building. How well can they climb? I don't know much about them other than my dog has killed 3 of them here. Without her killing them I wouldn't even know they were around. 

The rabbit problem was in a place 5 hours north of here though. There might have been rats up there, but I never saw one.


That's SO gross that rats will turn animals inside out too.


On the subject at hand....would a skunk eat a rabbit? When I was a kid living in town we had skunks living under our shed in a hole that was originally dug by a rabbit.. (the skunks just enlarged it). A rabbit got away once and I found it dead, half eaten, behind some plywood at the entrance to the skunk hole. I am guessing the skunk did that, but aren't they vegetarians?


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

Jesse L said:


> Racoon? I know racoons will eat anything, and will leave the stuff they dont want behind.


Could be...but I have never seen or heard of raccoons up there in that area. I lived up there (Northern Saskatchewan) for years and never saw any sign or heard anyone mention raccoons.


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## pookshollow (Aug 22, 2005)

Skunks are carnivores, part of the weasel family (Mustelidae). They are omnivorous, rather than obligate carnivores, and very opportunistic.

My vote would be for cats - when I worked at the racetrack, we had a huge population of rats, and every now and then I would find a pair of what I called "rat trousers" lying around - the skin from the lower half of the rat, with feet and tail still attached. I swear, it looked like the rat had taken its trousers off and left them lying around! :cute:


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## ONThorsegirl (Apr 2, 2005)

Thats not the gross, thats only scratching the surface!! 

but as for the predator that was killing your rabbits, I have had no experience with Cats killing anything bigger than a rat, or rats killing anything...bigger than an egg? but WE have had lots and lots of skunk and **** kill, ***** will go for the insides, leave all the bones, and skin, rip them open from the belly and pretty much gut them. I haven't had one kill a rabbit,but lots of chickens, they don't turn them inside out, it would proably be different with the feathers, but if these animals are still coming around, set out some livetraps, and yes we have caught all kinds of skunks, and *****, as well as the barn cat a few times, in the livetraps. (we then later kill them, other than the cat of course)

Melissa


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## ladysown (May 3, 2008)

hubby mentioned when I chatted with him about this... that regardless of what is getting in, you have to figure out WHERE it is getting in and close it up. Then set your live trap. Because if one thing can get in...guaranteed something else is going to get in and somethings will do a whole whack more damage.


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## jil101ca (Jul 2, 2007)

Sounds to me like someone cleaned themselves a rabbit. I can not think of any predator that would kill a rabbit and leave only the skin, feet and maybe the head except for a human.


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

ladysown said:


> hubby mentioned when I chatted with him about this... that regardless of what is getting in, you have to figure out WHERE it is getting in and close it up. Then set your live trap. Because if one thing can get in...guaranteed something else is going to get in and somethings will do a whole whack more damage.


THis was years ago. I don't have any rabbits right now. I had rabbits in that grainry for 3 years and only lost those three that one summer. The only way ANYTHING could have gotten in was the hole near the roof.


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## Jackie (Jun 20, 2008)

jil101ca said:


> Sounds to me like someone cleaned themselves a rabbit. I can not think of any predator that would kill a rabbit and leave only the skin, feet and maybe the head except for a human.


No real way for that to happen. We lived 2 miles down a dirt trail. No one even really knew there was a yard there. In order to get to the grainry with the rabbits you had to climb a 6 foot rail fence (unless you walked ALL the way around to the front gate) into the bull corral, climb the other fence into the heifer corral and the the rabbits were in one grainry in a row. We didn't have much company and I don't think anyone even knew one of those buildings contained rabbits. It happened at night while we were home. Our pack of dogs (yes PACK) would have had lunch! lol! We had two guardian dogs, a cattle dog and 2 pet dogs. They used to chase _us_ if we walked into the yard at night unexpectedly....(broke down coming in, got stuck, etc). lol! 


When a human skins a rabbit does it really go inside out??? I never ate any of my rabbits or sold them to anyone that would eat them. I have nothing against other people doing it, it's just not something I did, or ever looked into.


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## nancy237 (May 29, 2008)

I just found an article about how kestrels will turn a small mammal inside out like you were describing leaving the head and feet.

This is the link and it is on page 39 of the article/book??

http://books.google.com/books?id=GZ...=X&oi=book_result&resnum=7&ct=result#PPA39,M1


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