Circles of hair

[deserthntr]

maybe its still just dropping some of its winter coat real late?

[CouesBuckhunter]

Ive seen deer shed their winter coat in clumps[circles] before maybe that might be it but Id have to see a picture

[AntlerObsession]

I saw the same thing last week!! Here's what I saw:

Hiking with my 4 and 2 yr old boys in the willows near our cabin. Being in the vicinity of a 'fort' I made as a kid, I take my boys into the open area under an ancient willow tree, which is all surrounded by overgrown willows. So, well protected area free of growth, shaded, 100 yds from the Greer Highway. I lead my boys into the area, and immediately notice tons of hair in the grass on the off to the side of the opening. 4 or 5 ft square, Brownish hair, some in clumps. Immediately, I get concerned about my kids and pull them close while I survey the area. I notice another group of hair 4 feet from the first.

A bush separating the 2 so definitely 2 different animals. Then, towards the opposite side of the clearing I se a third bunch of hair, with the remains of a young cow elk in the middle of it, maybe 15' from the others. Some may hypothesize that it was all from the same animal, but there was no 'trail' of hair as though the corpse had been dragged. Just 3 very separate circles of hair, with an young elk carcass in the middle of one of them.

 

Theory 1- Mt. Lion

Could a lion take down a 300-400 lb elk? Could it drag the carcass into this 'lair', assuming the elk wasn't killed in the immediate vicinity(50yds)? Would the lion bury the carcass even though it was hidden in this glade (nothing was buried)?

 

Theory 2- Wolves

Would wolves drag 3 different kills to the same spot? I would say that wolves don't generally drag their prey but the kills were close to the highway. Idk

 

Theory 3- Poacher

I doubt it but ...

 

Do these circles of hair sound similar to what you found? The circumstances are a little different but let me know if you have ?s. Ill see if I can get some pictures.