Daily Account #16- Union Bay Natural Area

5/31- while we were walking back from class after learning about waterfowl in the UBNA, i saw a crow having a scuttle with a mouse! it was a high-powered battle. the first thing i saw was a crow flying really close to the ground on a path perpendicular to ours, swooping down and pecking at a tiny mouse darting back and forth on the path. within thirty seconds the crow had the mouse in its beak and flew up into a nearby tree to (presumably) devour it. however, the tree was right over some shallow water, and the crow dropped the mouse into the water. i wonder if this was intentional? i doubt it. in any case, the noises the mouse was making were very distinct, and distinctly stopped after the drop, which means that it drowned. the crow then flew down to the shallow water and seemed to be looking, unsuccessfully, for its fallen prey.

i'm not sure i knew that crows eat mice. would it swallow it whole? do they have the faculties to chew and devour mice? do they eat worms and seeds otherwise? i don't even know a crow's diet, i just know they always eat food that we throw outside of our house, and rummage around garbage cans.

it was a very muggy and warm day- probably mid 60s F, dull sunlight and quite a bit of cloud cover.

Posted on June 4, 2012 03:12 AM by akumar