Horse Attacked By Wild Animal

Sounds like a bear attack. With all the scratches, it could be a large Bobcat.

Uh oh!! I guess the "mountain lion" that was attacking miniature horses close to my house that I posted on here the other week has went back to the western part of the state.

sounds like a bear to me, I doubt a big bob cat could get one inch spacing between the scratches. I think I remember reading something about where bear run down something they throw their claws into the side of whatever they are chasing. I maybe wrong tho, please correct me if I am

The little Horse must have fought tooth and nail for its life I hope it recovers quickly.

I highly doubt it was a bear. There is plenty of forage this year and most bears who attack, do so because they are hungry, and it's usually reoccurring. Bears are lazy and they are scavengers meaning they would much rather meddle through trash, than use their energy to kill a horse.

alt1001 said:

I highly doubt it was a bear. There is plenty of forage this year and most bears who attack, do so because they are hungry, and it's usually reoccurring. Bears are lazy and they are scavengers meaning they would much rather meddle through trash, than use their energy to kill a horse.

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If it were a Bear I would imagine it would rather attack a miniature Horse than a full grown one, some miniature Horses are not much bigger than a big Dog I have a friend who raises them..

alt1001 said:

I highly doubt it was a bear. There is plenty of forage this year and most bears who attack, do so because they are hungry, and it's usually reoccurring. Bears are lazy and they are scavengers meaning they would much rather meddle through trash, than use their energy to kill a horse.

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This is specific to black bears. Black bears are more vegetarian than carnivorous. They will eat meat if they are hungry enough. If you do a little research you will learn that the number of reported black bear attacks on livestock and other animals is very seldom.

Firefly said:

If it were a Bear I would imagine it would rather attack a miniature Horse than a full grown one, some miniature Horses are not much bigger than a big Dog I have a friend who raises them..

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We're also talking about Laurel Park here. There are plenty of homes thus plenty of trash bins and we just aren't in that time of year yet, where Bear are desperate for food. Especially not desperate enough to try it's luck with a miniature horse.

Banjo said:

This is specific to black bears. Black bears are more vegetarian than carnivorous. They will eat meat if they are hungry enough. If you do a little research you will learn that the number of reported black bear attacks on livestock and other animals is very seldom.

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Yep. I have them all over nearly every year. I even snapped this picture in my back yard last year while I was working outside! Just my from experience of being around them so much, this just doesn't sound like a bear. It's not the right time of year, the area has too much other food, and it just doesn't sound like ideal scenario for a bear attack. Just my opinion.

alt1001 said:

We're also talking about Laurel Park here. There are plenty of homes thus plenty of trash bins and we just aren't in that time of year yet, where Bear are desperate for food. Especially not desperate enough to try it's luck with a miniature horse.

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Yeah I know what you are saying . A few years ago a man's Hogs up 58 from us started disappearing. It was a Bear doing the damage, rare yes but it happened. About a week later it ended badly for the Bear...I don't have any idea what attacked the Horse but I don't think it was a Bobcat. BTW I happen to like Bear's , that's a great picture you posted of that animal...

Firefly said:

Yeah I know what you are saying . A few years ago a man's Hogs up 58 from us started disappearing. It was a Bear doing the damage, rare yes but it happened. About a week later it ended badly for the Bear...I don't have any idea what attacked the Horse but I don't think it was a Bobcat.

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I have heard of bears attacking animals that are in pens (i.e. Chickens and hogs) but very rarely do you see it attempt to run down something in a pasture. It's too much work for a bear, usually. If it was a bobcat, it would have to be a big dang bobcat.

Firefly said:

Yeah I know what you are saying . A few years ago a man's Hogs up 58 from us started disappearing. It was a Bear doing the damage, rare yes but it happened. About a week later it ended badly for the Bear...I don't have any idea what attacked the Horse but I don't think it was a Bobcat. BTW I happen to like Bear's , that's a great picture you posted of that animal...

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It does happen, but it is just not commonplace. A sheep farmer that I know in WV (here come the jokes, ) was losing lambs. They finally caught him in the act one night and killed it. It turned out to be a big old male.

Bear, definitely.

A few years ago, a friend and client of mine had a bear that would come out of the hills (Front Royal, VA) and attack his llama herd. It would jump on their backs, bite the back of the neck and then rip with the front paws. I worked on one of the animals that survived, and she had the absolute worst injuries that I have ever seen and animal live through, long gashes and deep punctures. My friend got a depred permit and took care of matters.

So, it really sounds like bear damage to me.

...Or it could be the big black cats...

jds said:

...Or it could be the big black cats...

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It's a very elusive creature. Could be

I think WLOS hurts for news sometimes and embellishes stories to keep interest. Laurel Park area has a tendency to over react to some things. Few years back was a rabid fox in the area. was talking to a local police officer and said he had to actually set up a command center to field calls because the department was getting phone calls for any animal they saw in their yard. Guy was out gardening and ended up taking it out with his shovel.

dpc said:

I think WLOS hurts for news sometimes and embellishes stories to keep interest. Laurel Park area has a tendency to over react to some things. Few years back was a rabid fox in the area. was talking to a local police officer and said he had to actually set up a command center to field calls because the department was getting phone calls for any animal they saw in their yard. Guy was out gardening and ended up taking it out with his shovel.

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That's because Laurel Park was quickly overan by retirees from the Urban north and from Florida. Those folks have never seen a wild animal other than the occasional squirrel.

In the book Mountain Fever by Tom Alexander, the founder of Cataloochee Ranch, he tells of stock killing bears. The ranch borders the Great Smoky Mountain National Park and the bears would come out of the park and kill his cattle. The park service prosecuted him once for killing one in the park but it was thrown out by a judge with a little common sense. (They don't make that kind of judge any more)

Here's a story passed down about my great grandfather and a stock killing bear. This was when mountain people free ranged their cattle and hogs, and this bear was really taking a toll. The bear would not tree but would lead the dogs into rough country and turn and fight the dogs off. After killing a large number of sheep one night, a hunt was organized with my great grandfather's bear dogs. He told the men to take any shot they could get, hoping to slow the bear down for the dogs. Some one got a shot hitting the bear in the guts then the dogs were able to bay the bear in a laurel thicket. A terrible fight was raging with the bear killing his dogs. He first threatened to shoot his brother for not crawling in among the fight and then he crawled in the thicket, sticking the barrel of his muzzleloader to the bear's head and killing it.

alt1001 said:

That's because Laurel Park was quickly overan by retirees from and from Florida. Those folks have never seen a wild animal other than the occasional squirrel.

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HEY!!!

Florida has documented manatees, boars, deer AND Panthers!!! NC doesn't!! Green Bay killed them all!

Bears are opportunist. If they come around for the easy trash pickup and no trash is available, they will go for the next easiest meal available. In this case it appears that the miniature horse appeared to be next on the bears meal availability list.
A hungry bear will eat anything it can get to hold still long enough for them to eat.

NCST8GUY said:

HEY!!!

Florida has documented manatees, boars, deer AND Panthers!!! NC doesn't!! Green Bay killed them all!

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and bears, coati mundi's, anaconda's, boas, rattlesnakes as big as your leg, moccasins that will eat the rattlers, alligators, croc's, and all kinds of monkeys that folks have turned loose....the woods are full of stuff in parts of Florida that should have never called that place home. It was always an adventure to go tracking after a rain in the National Forest, just to try and identify what the heck kinda track is that ???