February 14th, 2013
Yesterday we found a great story in the snow – the remains of a mourning dove that had been caught and eaten by a Cooper’s hawk. At first we noticed fox tracks, making the shallowest of impressions on the surface of the snow, then some scattered feathers, then “ground zero.” The fox was a red herring, it had just been sniffing out the scene. Hawks pluck the feathers from their prey before consuming the rest, and an adult male Cooper’s hawk has been very active here this winter. See our previous post, and photos of the Cooper’s Hawk.
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Evidence of a fox “mousing”
Not to be outdone, though, the fox comes back into the picture further up the trail. It’s line of single tracks is broken by a jumble of prints, and a small hole dug into the snow. This is evidence of “mousing” when foxes leap up into the air for a better view of the ground and to provide a little extra oomph to their pounce. Still in the hole, a dead shrew, making me think we might have actually interrupted this hunting expedition. Would have been great to actually see a fox in the field!!