Strangeness

Today I walked out to the pasture and went picking blackberries. Most of them were gone, either dried up due to the drought-like conditions or picked over by the wild animals. There were a few, however, so it was worth the short trip.

On my way back, I saw something white out of the corner of my eye. As I approached it, I realized I was staring at a pile of feathers. Long and beautiful white feathers- maybe six or seven inches long. There was nothing else left to testify that a bird had once been there- no bones, no blood, nothing but feathers. It was a large amount of feathers, too- the pile was maybe two feet square, but matted down pretty well. Thus they were hard to count. I brought the four prettiest ones back home to show to my wife. I believe the bird was a type of crane that I see flying over the house every now and then, but I've never been too good at identifying birds.

Here's what's strange- I can't think of an animal that would be smart enough to kill a bird of that size without cutting it (there was not one drop of blood on the snow white feathers) then field dress it, and carry it off (I presume) to eat.

Has anyone out there ever seen such a thing? My best guess is some type of raptor, or perhaps a small bear.

My crazy theory (I always have one) is that is was a Bigfoot who had rambled by to pick the berries. He strangled the bird (hence no blood) then proceeded to sit down and meticulously pluck it until it was clean. Then he carried it off- either because he feared being disturbed, or because he was saving it for later/carrying it to his family.

Whatever it was had to have carried it off- there were no bones whatsoever- no skull, no beak, no nothing. And I had been out there only about a week prior- so it hadn't been there long.

Any ideas welcome- because frankly, I'm at a loss.