Val, the faithful 14-year-old Haflinger horse that was reported missing in late July from a farm above Renfrew in Penn Township, has been found dead by its owner, Brian Gratzer.

Gratzer found Val Tuesday at the bottom of a 20-foot ravine about an eighth-mile away from the pasture where she was last seen with eight other horses.

Gratzer surmises that Val jumped the fence after being chased by a pack of coyotes, which then attacked her.

“She was eaten up,” Gratzer said of his brood mare's remains, which he said appeared to have been in the ravine for some time. “It's a part of life.”

Gratzer said he has heard coyotes yipping in the area of his farm, but has not had problems with them before.

But a neighbor told him a pack of the predators were captured on a trail camera not far from the Gratzer farm.

He also recalled that Val's pasture mates were behaving in an unusual, excited manner on the day she went missing.

“Something ran those horses ragged,” said the longtime equestrian. “I knew something wacky had happened.”

He said it was unusual for Val to be missing.

“She never got out before,” Gratzer said. “I knew it was something totally weird.”

The foal that was recently born to Val was adopted by another Haflinger mare and is doing fine, he said.

Gratzer said Val was the type of horse that would perform any task asked of her, including pulling carts in competitions.

“She would have been up here at the Farm Show,” said Gratzer, who has shown his horses at the Big Butler Fair, Farm Show and other venues for decades.

He said Val's colt took a best-of-show ribbon at the Farm Show on Tuesday.

He owns about 20 horses, with 90% of them being Haflingers.

“I like their disposition,” Gratzer said of the breed.

Gratzer said he appreciates everyone who helped try to find Val, including the Penn Township Police, who brought a drone to the farm to look for the mare.

“I just want to say thank you to everyone,” Gratzer said. “They were all very helpful.”

According to the state Game Commission's website, the Eastern coyote is a wily canine that is most likely the result of interbreeding between coyotes and gray wolves.

It is the largest wild canine in Pennsylvania.

“Some farmers lose livestock due to coyote predation,” the website states.

Male Eastern coyotes weigh from 45 to 55 pounds and females 35 to 40 pounds.

“Coyotes at times will 'pack' and at other times will hunt alone or in the company of another coyote or two,” the Game Commission site said. “They primarily are nocturnal, but often hunt during daylight hours.”

The site said Eastern coyotes have adapted to a wide variety of habitats in Pennsylvania, including dairy farm and cropland areas.

“They often live along edges between forest and agricultural areas where prey is abundant,” the site said.

Coyote hunting is permitted 24 hours per day, seven days per week in Pennsylvania, mostly with a general hunting license. Still, coyote populations have remained stable.

“Coyote populations throughout North America have continued to expand, despite man's attempt to control them,” the site said. “If there's one thing we have learned about this intriguing animal, it's that the coyote, not man, controls the coyote's destiny.”