This little fella was dropped into my front yard by a crow that was flying with it in its beak.
Just in front of the left ear is a gash.
A crow and baby bunny represented the constant battle that takes place in nature and, in this instance, in my front yard this afternoon.
It all started when the UPS delivery guy showed up at my door around 4:30 with a package and then went on to tell me about what he had just witnessed as he drove in front of the house.
"See that lump up there?" he asked, pointing to a small hump about 20 feet away in the grass. I nodded, and he said, "It's a baby bunny." About that time, the little guy hopped about three feet and stopped.
The UPS guy went on to tell me that as he drove up the road, a crow flew across the road in front of him and dropped something in my yard. Thinking it was an awfully big hunk of food, he watched as it hit the ground and took off running, and realized it was a bunny.
I grabbed my camera and he grabbed his phone camera, and as we neared the little fella, he hopped a little further and stopped again, hunkering down so we wouldn't see him. His breathing was labored and there was a gash on his head in front of his left ear, possibly from the crow's beak. What amazed me was that, although it was a baby rabbit, it was not a tiny baby so the thought of a crow flying with something that size was hard to imagine.
I thanked the UPS guy for telling me about this unusual event (who knew crows would go after bunnies?) and we talked a bit about the odds of witnessing something like that, and then he continued on his route.
I snapped a few more shots and then the bunny hopped to a nearby tree where he was sheltered from the afternoon sun. I left him on his own but later, as I walked to my vehicle to head out, what I presume was the suspect crow was walking around the area where I had last seen the bunny, checking out under a cedar tree and nearby shrubs as if looking for the prey that got away.
A google search found that crows indeed hunt for small mammals. One account told of a crow pecking into a baby squirrel's skull and feasting on its brains.
The battle of nature. It's natural ... but it's not pretty.
Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
5 May 2011
It all started when the UPS delivery guy showed up at my door around 4:30 with a package and then went on to tell me about what he had just witnessed as he drove in front of the house.
"See that lump up there?" he asked, pointing to a small hump about 20 feet away in the grass. I nodded, and he said, "It's a baby bunny." About that time, the little guy hopped about three feet and stopped.
The UPS guy went on to tell me that as he drove up the road, a crow flew across the road in front of him and dropped something in my yard. Thinking it was an awfully big hunk of food, he watched as it hit the ground and took off running, and realized it was a bunny.
I grabbed my camera and he grabbed his phone camera, and as we neared the little fella, he hopped a little further and stopped again, hunkering down so we wouldn't see him. His breathing was labored and there was a gash on his head in front of his left ear, possibly from the crow's beak. What amazed me was that, although it was a baby rabbit, it was not a tiny baby so the thought of a crow flying with something that size was hard to imagine.
I thanked the UPS guy for telling me about this unusual event (who knew crows would go after bunnies?) and we talked a bit about the odds of witnessing something like that, and then he continued on his route.
I snapped a few more shots and then the bunny hopped to a nearby tree where he was sheltered from the afternoon sun. I left him on his own but later, as I walked to my vehicle to head out, what I presume was the suspect crow was walking around the area where I had last seen the bunny, checking out under a cedar tree and nearby shrubs as if looking for the prey that got away.
A google search found that crows indeed hunt for small mammals. One account told of a crow pecking into a baby squirrel's skull and feasting on its brains.
The battle of nature. It's natural ... but it's not pretty.
Photos by Lynn R. Mitchell
5 May 2011
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