A Vicious Predator Lurks Along the Naugatuck River in Torrington

I live by the Naugatuck River in Torrington, and our city's dog park is located on it, in the John Toro Sports Complex. I walk my dog everyday around that beautiful area. It wasn't nice today though, it was horrifying. I stumbled across the remnants of a poor bird/turkey/chicken that had been ripped to shreds.

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My 5 pound Chihuahua froze as we were walking along the river, and his tail went down. He started sniffing the air, like something startled him. I looked over into the brush, and right on top of a couple of piles of lawn clippings, I noticed what looked like the remnants of an old pillow that had been ripped open. There were hundreds of feathers scattered about in a 3 foot circle. As I got a little closer, I saw that there were quite a few red feathers among the snowy white poofs. That's when I realized that something had been ripped apart.

I tried to keep my dog away from it, he was very much on alert, but I stepped a couple of feet closer to take a couple of pics.

Whatever it was, it was a pretty big bird. There have been quite a few geese hanging out on the banks of the river lately. I saw mostly white feathers, but there were a few red and black ones scattered about. My neighbors have reported seeing a bear and it's two cubs digging through the Carvel's garbage bin on S. Main St. I've heard coyotes howling on my ride into work along 202, and I saw a big fox in the center of Litchfield the other morning run across the green.

It was a stark reminder that there are vicious predators lurking in the trees and shrubs steps away from our homes. If this animal could catch and rip apart a 10 pound bird, my 5 pound chihuahua has no chance.