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.png "Mike Kimmel, known as the Python Cowboy on social media, reports one of his hunting dogs returned from thick vegetation with a strange wound. What attacked it?")
Mike Kimmel, known as the Python Cowboy on social media, reports one of his hunting dogs returned from thick vegetation with a strange wound. What attacked it?
Python Cowboy Hunts video screengrab
A hunting dog tracking wild hogs returned to its owner with a strange set of wounds, igniting an ongoing debate over what attacked it in the Florida wilderness.
It happened in the Port Mayaca area near Lake Okeechobee, and video shared by professional tracker Mike “Python Cowboy” Kimmel shows the dog had four gashes on its hindquarter.
“While working to remove hogs from a sugar cane farm, one of my lead dogs Mouse came back to me with an odd looking injury that I could tell wasn’t from a hog,” Kimmel wrote in a Nov. 7 Facebook post.
“There have been Panther sightings out here and no shortage of gators… which one do y’all think it was? Looks like a big cat to me… either way, I’m just glad she was alright!”
.png "dog wound 3_fitted (1).png")
Mouse was about 500 yards deep in thick vegetation at the time, preventing Kimmel from seeing the predator.
Adding to the mystery: Mouse “never barked or yelped,” which is something hunting dogs do instinctively when they see a predator, he said.
“Me and my crew have combined 100+ years of hog hunting experience, plenty of experience with wounds from hogs and how they behave/cause injuries,” Kimmel said.
“A hog wouldn’t cause the 4 quick slices perfectly spaced apart. From the events of the night alone and my dog’s behavior, I can even 100% say it wasn’t from a boar hog.”
So what was it?
The Facebook video had been viewed more than 173,000 times as of Nov. 14, and amassed 2,300 reactions and comments, including guesses that strayed into creatures of folklore. And, yes, Bigfoot came up.
“Cougar claw swipe,” James Hannah wrote.
“A bear is the most likely culprit. A 2-year-old black bear looks almost like a big cat,” Louis Walker posted.
“It’s obviously a chupacabra wound,” Jason Klepko said.
“Looks like a gator. He was just out of range to get a full bite,” Pauletta Bowers posted.
“Could it be barbwire,” Deborah Michelle McClelland said.
Mouse was treated in the field for the wound and continued the night of hunting, Kimmel said. She has since recovered.
“Luckily it was just a flesh wound and didn’t dig into the muscle. She got very lucky it just grazed her,” Kimmel said. “I hunt with dogs for a living, so I’ve learned to be able to fix almost any injury in the field. … These dogs put food on our table, help pay bills and bring us so much joy. … They are even more than family to us.”
Port Mayaca is about a 130-mile drive southeast from Orlando.
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Mark Price
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