Bevis, the smiley cat has died
Bevis, our cat with smile on his side was killed. Some sort of predator got him only hours after my husband saw him. He was also the one to find his body about 4-5 hours later. The vultures were having him for a meal. I have no clue what killed him but I found short white feathers next to his body. The only bird around here that has those types of feathers is a bald eagle. If a bald eagle attacked Bevis and Bevis fought back, that might be the reason why the eagle left him. My husband did see a bald eagle sitting in one of our neighbors trees a few days before hand.
Bevis was about 14 years old and had become a very large cat. I will miss his rubbing against my back when I use to sit on the front porch at the end of the day to just unwind.
I love living in rural Oregon but I have learned that I need to count our pets and livestock at least 2-3 times a day to make sure they are uninjured and safe. Bevis was not the only one to be killed by the local wildlife. Sparky, our min-pin was killed by a deer, Duke our little Italian Greyhound mix disappeared the same night a bobcat was seen in the area. A neighbors cat went missing at the same time.
Edited to add: about 6 weeks after Bevis was killed, ButtHead (yes we had a Bevis and ButtHead – daughter named them when she was 12) disappeared and has not returned. I searched everywhere for his body and did not find anything. I assume he is gone to join Bevis.