Call Out The CSI Team!

There have been a series of murders in the yard over the last week leaving me feeling much distress.  I currently live in the suburbs of a small Midwestern city where the space between houses is about six feet at the most and much of the surrounding farm fields have been converted into condo subdivisions. With that said I have become sort of attached to some of the wildlife which does exist in the yard.

Murder #1 The Robins

The first animals to be murdered were a nest of unhatched  baby robins. Mr. & Mrs. Robin lovingly placed their nest in the branches of the pine tree in the front yard defending it from all would be intruders and those of us who dared walk near it to look at the blooming flowers. She then laid a clutch of 3 bright blue eggs and that's when things went to poop.  The nest now lays overturned under the pine tree the three blue eggs each of which has a tell tail beak sized hole in it. 

Murder #2 Mc Squidgey

Now Mc Squidgey was a rather cunning grey squirrel who spent the winter eating an entire HUGE block of peanut suet, put out for the birds. Once she had polished off the big one she ate not just one but 2 smaller suet blocks!

Here is Mc Squidgey doing her best to scare people sitting at the kitchen table.



Murder #3 Pfeffernusse

Pfeffernusse was a rather large cottontail rabbit who spent much of the winter eating seeds, which the birds kicked onto the ground from the birdfeeder. Pfeffernusse would spend cold stormy nights under the stacked lawn chairs or the edge of the chimney.

Now I know what your thinking; how do I know that the other grey squirrels or rabbits that move through the neighborhood are not my beloved backyard friends? Simple they had very distinct markings on them.   Pfeffernusse had a stripe of missing hair on the middle of it's back on the left side and Mc Squidgey had bright white ears where as all the other squirrels have grey ears.

So what happened to them?

Murder #1 The Robins

Culprit: The European Starling. 
Bias Alert! I hate these birds! I may or may not have killed off some baby starlings my roommates had found laying in the lawn of our place of employment. I suggested feeding it to the raptors we had at the rehabilitation clinic, but they decided we needed to feed them and raise them. So for weeks we took turns feeding them mash (as prescribed by our wildlife biologist), changing the poopy paper, and keeping them warm. Until one day I running late for work, and forgetting it was my morning to feed the creeps, threw a hand full of mealworms into a cup of water. After the wiggling stopped I figured I was safe and grabbed the tweezers to stuff them in the gullets of the two noisy houseguests.  Full, I headed to work not giving them another thought until later that night I was accused of murder. See I hadn't left the meal worms in the cup of water long enough to actually kill them I merely had stunned them. And during the day they had chewed their way out of the starling's stomachs killing them (as confirmed by our wildlife biologist).   Now before you get all upset starlings are not native to the United States they were brought here in 1890 and released into Central Park. They are extremely aggressive bird which has been know to steal nest from other birds throw the eggs over the side and take over the nest as their own. Starlings will also peck open and eat the eggs of the nest they are taking over, but mainly they feed on insects.

Murder #2 Mc Squidgey
Culprit: Raptor or Heart Attack

I'm not a hundred percent sure what may have happened, but I'm sure it had something to do with the weight gain from eating too many suet block over the winter.  There are a lot of red-tailed hawks living in the neighborhood which I have seen chase after smaller speedier squirrels.  Yes, there has been a recent squirrel meets tire incident, but I checked no white ears.  So, if your a raptor cruising the hood who would you eat a small speedy squirrel or a fat slow moving squirrel.

Murder #3 Pfeffernusse
Culprit: Vulpes vulpes

I found clumps of rabbit hair while moving the yard and after I was done took a stroll through the neighborhood looking for headless rabbits hanging in trees. Didn't find any, so that ruled out the local area raptors.  Confused? I'll explain raptors, smaller than a great horned owl, will feed on prey items the size of a rabbit where they kill it because they are generally too heavy and awkward to carry to a perch to feed on.  However, raptors like the great horned owl or larger can carry heavy prey to a nearby tree and then feast until they are full leaving the rest to rot in the tree.  I once worked on Gallop's Island in the middle of Boston Harbor and often found some of our slower rabbits headless hanging in trees killed the night before by the population of Great Horned owls on the nearby Lovells Island.  Since I found hair, but no body, I checked nearby tall trees for left over rabbit. A few days later after coming back from a walk I saw a most curious sight. Vulpes vulpes bold as brass trotting through the neighbors back yards!

    Red Fox In Yellowstone National Park by Peter Zuzga

 

 

I tore out the back door thinking I was suffering from heat induced delusions only to hear the neighbor's scream as he trotted past them.  COOL!!! I know there are red foxes, coyotes, and occasionally wolves in the area, but I have never seen them EVER.  It is entirely possible my dear rabbit became lunch for the local fox and he was probably in the area scouting for another meal when he was spotted by the two legged locals.  I'm hoping to see him or her again  (goodness knows there are still many many many more rabbits to eat) because watching them pounce is pretty fun.  Feast well my friend!

 



Red Fox Pounce by Peter Zuzga

 

Murders Solved. Case Closed.