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Mystery Predator: Animal That Killed Deer In Driveway Caught On Video By NY DEC Staffer

That darn cat.

A video from the town of Wilmington in Essex County, about 12 miles northeast of Lake Placid, captured a predator that killed a deer in somebody’s driveway.

A video from the town of Wilmington in Essex County, about 12 miles northeast of Lake Placid, captured a predator that killed a deer in somebody’s driveway.

Photo Credit: NY DEC

Or was it?

An incident that happened in upstate New York last week required a teamwide effort by members of the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation.

A video from the town of Wilmington in Essex County, about 12 miles northeast of Lake Placid, captured the predator that killed a deer in a local resident's driveway.

"The incident was reported to DEC wildlife, with an eyewitness description of the event and the mystery predator," the DEC said in a Facebook post. "A DEC wildlife biologist responded to the scene and set up a trail camera overlooking the carcass in hopes of getting some video of the predator if it returned." 

The DEC shared some clues at the scene that helped its investigators identify the animal:

  • The deer was a young female, approximately 80-100 lbs. – there aren’t many predators in the Adirondacks big enough to take down prey that size.
  • The right front shoulder and the rump were fed upon.
  • There was a spot on the lower part of the neck, right behind the jaw, that was damaged by the predator during the attack.
  • The predator attempted to cover or “cache” the carcass, leaving scrape marks from its paws in the dirt around the deer’s head.

"Spoiler alert, it's a bobcat,"  the NYS DEC wrote in the "Comments" section of the Facebook post.

To watch a video of the incident from the DEC, click here.

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