Category: animals

A Murderous Crow

Posted on by kenwheaton in animals, Birds, Colorado, Nature

Trigger warning (and spoiler alert): Death and dismemberment

It had already been a long morning here at the house. A storm system moved through around 4 a.m., the sort of thing fit for an old-fashioned Hollywood horror movie. I’ve lived through numerous hurricanes and other storms and I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that much lightning. It looked like someone had turned on the world’s biggest strobe light. And the thunder at 8,500 feet is always something, but this was extra.

And then Ruby needed to go out. And then I had a 6 a.m. call for work.

I was just settling into what felt like a normal morning, when something started banging on the house. We are plagued by woodpeckers and nuthatches and flickers and other birds that peck on the siding. But this sounded like someone, like a human, knocking. But it wasn’t at the door. We have Ring cameras and they didn’t go off. Ruby, though, most certainly did.

So I let her out into the dog run, and began a circuit of the outside of the house.

And that’s when I spied a crow perched on top of a birdhouse that’s attached to the side of the house. I considered the crow. The crow considered me. Just this past weekend, while hiking nearby, we’d come across a murder of crows, about 30 strong, just raising a ruckus as crows do. Except one of the creeps had learned to talk, apparently. From the top of a pine tree, we could hear “Helloooo?” Sounded like a baby in the tree.

This crow, the one on our bird house, sat there watching me take pictures of it for a moment or two before flying off.

The birdhouse has been occupied this summer by tree swallows. I like the tree swallows. They’re graceful birds and they don’t have a habit of drilling holes in our siding.

I walked up onto the deck and under the birdhouse, all around my gas grill, was carnage. Feathers and blood everywhere. I don’t know if the crow got only the babies or if it managed to eat the whole family.

It was upsetting to say the least. But such is the nature of, well, nature. It’s nasty and brutal, birds in particular.

RIP little tree swallows.

Below Deck Colorado: What Lurks Under Our Feet

Posted on by kenwheaton in animals, Wildlife
A mule deer under the deck

Up here in the mountains of Colorado, things have been moving about below our feet, sneaking about in the night, brazenly making themselves comfortable during broad daylight. Sometimes we catch glimpses. Sometimes we hear noises. But how to prove it? Put a game camera under the deck.

So in this edition of Wheaton’s World of Wildlife, we’ll meet the animals that make themselves comfortable under our deck.

Let’s start with something exciting. A bear! He (or she) has only come through twice. And hopefully this bear doesn’t set up a den during the winter. Fun fact: Bears don’t actually hibernate; they go into torpor. “The main difference between hibernation and torpor is during torpor, the animal is able to wake up quickly to avoid danger, or if the opportunity exists exit the den to feed.” Put another way, if the temperature climbs mid-winter and you’ve left your garbage out, guess who’s coming to dinner.

Next up is a gray fox. Interestingly, you are much more likely to see with your own two eyes the red fox as the gray is smaller, more timid, a little shy. I’ve seen footage of red fox under the deck, but I must have deleted that from the memory card. Oh well. Here’s a gray fox.

Tired of mammals? How about a magpie. This guy’s showed up this summer and is dividing his time between hanging out under the deck and the dog run on the other side of the house.

Okay. Back to the mammals. Do deer hang out under the deck? Oh yes, deer love it under there. (These are mule deer, for those interested in the specifics.)

Here’s Deerdra, having herself a little lie-down.

And here’s Deerdra and friends at rush hour.

But it’s not just the ladies who hang out under there. Here’s Bucky.

Wild animals aren’t the only ones passing through. This black cat, who hails from lord knows where, is a fan of the spot.

But who is the absolute Captain below deck? Who can be spotted every day and every night, hanging out, checking out his turf, murdering mice and other little rodents? This orange badass, the neighbor’s cat.