I was probably an owl or a raptor, most likely an owl. Could have been a fox. Unless you read animal sign you will never know. They and the other wild animals who live by your farm have a place in the world, and even tho are opportunistic feeders and have chosen to take such a small life, I dont think you should go off and trap - you might be catching an innocnet animal - it is human nature to try and exact revenge in order to feel safer especially in witnessing such a cruel fate for such an innocent creature. For myself I would be angerier at the person who did not fix the adult cat.

when i read your description, my first thought was that a tomcat probably killed the kittens. :(

Tomcats kill kittens that are not their own, but I don't know if they eat them. Could have been one, could have been a raccoon, fox, owl, etc. It's what Mazer said.

exactly, gina. they kill them and then they usually tear them to pieces.

My first thought was an owl, which mazer also mentioned. They do tear them apart when they eat them and this happened to more than one kitten in our friend's yard.

I'm very sorry you had to experience this.

Baby rabbits and squirrels are killed regularly by cats, so maybe this mommy just got back what she deserved. Yes, I know it is sad, but dead baby animals always make us sad.

She learned a lesson and next time around will hide them better. Yes, there will probably be a next time.

I'm curious..........how is the cat getting inside the fenced in area?

I agree it could have been any kind of critter, such as a raccoon, an owl, etc.. but its possible (ughh, I know you'd hate to think this) that it could even have been the mother.

Once when I was little (like 40 yrs ago), I had a cat with kittens. She actually did kill 2 of them herself in a rather horrific manner. If I recall correctly, my mamma said this was because there was something probably wrong with them, and she knew it. Thus, she was culling the litter herself. I still remember how horrified I was when I caught her doing it (egads traumatic to walk in on something like that in the garage).

Hey, I reread this post tonight, and I hated how I left it. Ssuch an ugly picture to leave, and frankly, it must still bother me if I remember it even today 40 years later (I'm 45).

I googled the subject, "mother cat culling litter" and found an interesting article (after reading many). The study indicated that a homeless cat might sometimes cull it's litter if it feels it cannot sufficiently feed the litter it has produced due to a lack of food. I sorta stopped reading after that. However, apparently, its a protective mechanism.