Another Gut Pile - Bone Yard - Scavenger Thread

[Paula]

Did you get any pics of the deer nibbling on the carcasses?

[Woody Meristem]

 

Quote

Did you get any pics of the deer nibbling on the carcasses?

There's quite a bit of information on white-tailed deer feeding on other animals from small rodents to fledgling birds. Last year one of my blog posts highlighted the fate of a dead fawn -- https://forestandfield.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-dead-fawn.html

[Paula]

 

9 hours ago, Woody Meristem said:

 

There's quite a bit of information on white-tailed deer feeding on other animals from small rodents to fledgling birds. Last year one of my blog posts highlighted the fate of a dead fawn -- https://forestandfield.blogspot.com/2017/06/a-dead-fawn.html

I know, i was just hoping he had pictures

[Curmudgeon]

Paula -

We've had deer at the bait but I have never been able to determine if they fed. Woody's blog post is fascinating.

[Curmudgeon]

This is a sad story about teens illegally shooting deer to use as bait to illegally kill eagles - http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/national/article195484319.html

On the bright side, here are some photos from this week. Some coyotes and a fisher, and a few bald eagles and ravens. We are getting a few golden eagles but I haven't gotten any good shots that I can share. Maybe soon.

 

[Steve D]

28 minutes ago, Curmudgeon said:

This is a sad story about teens illegally shooting deer to use as bait to illegally kill eagles

Nice pics...must be some of the same ones sucking on detergent pods

Why would anyone shoot an eagle or bite a pod.

[Woody Meristem]

It would be great if those idiots faced both state and Federal charges for shooting the eagles, but they'll probably only be charged by one agency. If that's an on-going problem in the area, it makes you wonder if eagle shooting is a family affair. That's the type of mentality that leads some to throw rocks from overpasses -- young and dumb.

Good photos of eagles by the way.

Edited January 20, 2018 by Woody Meristem

[TreeGuy]

Awesome pics again. As far as shooting eagles,forget the legality to it, they are such an amazing looking bird don't know why anybody would want to shoot one anyways. If you can't display it, can't eat it, and certainly can't sell it.... Why !?!! Idiots. Pass me another tidepod please

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[Curmudgeon]

Here are a couple of fun shots from today's download.

 

 

[rachunter]

what are the sticks with the cans for if anything?

 

[Woody Meristem]

That first photo is a good illustration of the plumage of immature eagles.

[stubborn1VT]

Great pics!  Thanks for sharing.  Those Brownings appear to be be top notch.

[hunterdan44]

Great pics! Thanks for sharing, saw a fisher this past bow season real cool. I agree your cameras are very good.


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[Curmudgeon]

4 hours ago, rachunter said:

what are the sticks with the cans for if anything?

 

The sticks are actually rebar keeping the yotes from dragging the bait. Those are chunks of wood on top to keep birds from hitting their wings.

[helmut in the bush]

These are real interesting pictures, keep posting

[TACC]

The sticks are actually rebar keeping the yotes from dragging the bait. Those are chunks of wood on top to keep birds from hitting their wings.

Good info, very ingenious

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[Curmudgeon]

Eagle and raven numbers have climbed significantly since the weather warmed.

Some mamals in Delaware County - the fox is a grey if it isn't obvious

Delaware County Golden Eagle - note the gold nape

Otsego County Bald Eagles

[ny hunter]

Awesome pics

[Curmudgeon]

Here is a sampling of recent photos. Golden Eagles have been recorded at 5 of the 7 sites we are operating in Delaware and Otsego County. It is my belief that with ~70 ravens present, Golden Eagles here at home are behaving more like Cooper's Hawks than scavengers. They have been observed around the site this year and last while rarely being photographed. A photographer in the blind last year watched an adult came charging in. It didn't catch anything and quickly exited. Now, about once a day everything erupts like shrapnel from a bomb.

When I got there for a card swap yesterday, the long strap for the camera had been unwound. It was laying on the ground. The camera was askew. Take a good look at first photo. It appears the raven tried to fly off with it and got jerked back just as the camera triggered.

As a final note, I got a refresher safety course this morning. I was using the 7' wide snow blower on a farm tractor to clean up the staging area where DOT drops carcasses. There was one under the snow I had forgotten about, or somehow missed . All I can say is stay away from snow blowers. It would have nice if the shear bolt sheared. It was a mess.

Raven in the air while attached to the camera strap.

Bald Eagle and Common Ravens.

Eagles and ravens.

Adult Golden Eagle and ravens.

[RyanT]

On 11/17/2017 at 12:18 PM, Curmudgeon said:

I sent a photo to the dog warden. She may try to trap it after the weekend. We'll be butchering the harvest Monday and dumping the bones there. The warden has a big live trap for dogs.   

Good to hear. Sad to see...

[cynthiafu]

On 1/29/2018 at 11:09 AM, Curmudgeon said:

Eagle and raven numbers have climbed significantly since the weather warmed.

Some mamals in Delaware County - the fox is a grey if it isn't obvious

Delaware County Golden Eagle - note the gold nape

Otsego County Bald Eagles

The picture with the eagles flying looks like they are passing a Christmas card to each other lol

[Woody Meristem]

The photos you posted today are really interesting. If you've got 70 ravens feeding on a carcass they might harass an eagle enough to keep it from feeding. We have wintering goldens down here, but they seem to prefer the most remote areas so aren't seen often. I assume you've seen the videos from the Tuscarora State Forest, but in case you haven't --

 

Edited February 6, 2018 by Woody Meristem

[Curmudgeon]

Woody,

I just googled Tuscarora SF. You are in southern PA, more central to the winter range of eastern Golden Eagles. I generally don't watch online video due to data limits.

Yes, the ravens may be a problem for individual goldens. They certainly know the difference between the eagle species. I watched 5 balds and a golden circling above my site one day. Ravens bombed the golden, ignored the balds. I have hundreds of my own videos. In them, ravens relentlessly yank the tails of balds. With few exceptions, they give goldens a wide berth on the ground.

The effect of large numbers of ravens on goldens is not always negative. One of the sites operating under my license regularly has as many, or more than my home site. That site has multiple goldens feeding every year.  It is where half of the NY  GPS tagged birds were caught. When we released one at dusk, over 100 ravens came boiling out of nearby hemlocks where they had gone to roost.  

[Curmudgeon]

17 hours ago, cynthiafu said:

The picture with the eagles flying looks like they are passing a Christmas card to each other lol

That is, in fact, a Christmas tree, yet to be harvested.

[cynthiafu]

On 2/6/2018 at 7:44 AM, Curmudgeon said:

That is, in fact, a Christmas tree, yet to be harvested.

But it looks like they are handing it to each other lol the claws are on the top of the tree and the other is holding the bottom lol