I recently took a walk on my woodland trails where I found a ball of fur on
the ground. I kicked it a few times to identify it. Turned out to be the
head of a cottontail rabbit. I know that great horned owls will
commonly take rabbits and also decapitate them to lighten their load.
As I walked back toward the house I noticed drops of blood on my walkway
and continued for quite a ways with a drop every 3 to 5 feet.. Rabbits
will often times eat below my bird feeders at night for anything that has
spilled to the ground. The blood started a bit beyond the feeder and led
down the walk, up the porch to the house, and down some stairs leading to
the lower patio.
I am guessing that the owl captured the rabbit some 20 feet from the
feeders and then flew quite low with his load as it glided towards our
house and then along the side of the house and them came to rest below in
the woods where it removed the head and then flew off with its meal. An
easy-to-read drama from some 10 spots of blood and a rabbit head laying
among the leaves in the woods.
Bill Volkert
FdL Co.
One life, one planet - and so many birds.
--
Bill Volkert
Naturalist
www.billvolkert
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