An owl having no patience with struggling prey.
1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
I photographed this probable male Short-eared Owl with prey four years ago this month in northern Utah. He had recently landed on the fence post but the vole was still very much alive as evidenced by its bright open eyes. It was still struggling which caused its body to swing back and forth from the owl’s beak.
The owl is already showing signs of his lack of patience with the struggling prey as he brings up his right foot and talons in preparation for dispatching the vole quickly.
1/1600, f/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
He grasped the vole with his foot and then it was over with a single quick bite to the back of the neck. The vole struggled no more.
As much as I love owls and other raptors in these and similar situations I have at least some empathy for the prey so I always welcome a quick and merciful death. And since these photos were taken during nesting season the vole was likely intended for growing and hungry chicks so for me that helps to make the medicine go down.
But it can still be a little uncomfortable to watch, especially through a high powered lens, although it’s always interesting too.
Ron
Note: If this seems like a quickly written, somewhat disorganized blog post, it probably is. Comcast went down this morning so I’ve been on my mobile hotspot which turns setting up and composing a blog post into a frustrating endeavor with potentially disjointed results.
I really don’t like last minute hiccups.
Sometimes I get so caught up reading the comments that I forget to leave my own comments. :$
Yup, I get that.
Geez, I don’t know how you manage to not only witness these moments but catch them on “film”. I guess I do but have neither the patience, equipment or experience.
I guess I respect any animal (or human) that catches it’s own food with its bare beak/claw/hands, etc. Humans use tools (guns, arrows), but then so do crows and primates (sticks for bugs). I’m getting confused, I think I’ll go make a tofu sandwich.
Thanks, Lyle.
Making a tofu sandwich is easy. It’s the eatin’ part that’s hard…
It’s an acquired taste, unlike vole tartare.
LMAO! 🙂
I’m a little late to the party today. I’ve been enjoying the little bit of light rain/heavy drizzle we’ve had this morning. 🙂
I completely understand empathy towards the prey. I hate to see any animal suffer and wish I could go plant-based, but my body doesn’t function well without a certain amount of animal-based food (believe me, I’ve tried!). So, I make sure to acknowledge the animals involved in my meals and do what I can to help animals with my volunteer time and money.
I also had a classroom snake — Bob the Cornsnake — that was “less than ept” when it came to dispatching of prey. I tried feeding him frozen/defrosted mice, but he refused to eat anything that he hadn’t killed himself. I always felt bad for the mice and tried to give them a little treat before I fed them to Bob. On and off, I raised mice for him, but would get too attached and end up with cages and cages of mice as classroom pets. (And yes, I did get looks when I took my classroom mice to the vet.)
I’ve always had a very soft heart, but it seems to be getting even more-so, the older I get. This made my last few years of teaching especially difficult, as my students had so much going on outside the classroom.
Marty, I’ve never had a snake in the classroom that showed any interest in prey that was already dead.
The one I had before, I could trick by wiggling the mice, but Bob was on to me, the little stinker. Our department was quite the jungle — almost all of us had multiple animals for a long time.
I am glad that the end was swift (though my wimpy self wishes it wasn’t preceded by fear).
I gave up meat decades ago because eating it was giving me migraines. I hasten to add that I believe it was not the meat but the things we do to it that was the problem. If I had to kill my own food I suspect I would have turned to what my family considers the dark side even earlier.
But, as Laura says, the bird puts its own life on the line in its hunt for food, and very few birds/animals seem to waste it (and their leavings are cleaned up by others).
In this as in so many other ways our ‘superior’ species is put to shame. Again.
Great series again. Thank you.
“the bird puts its own life on the line in its hunt for food, and very few birds/animals seem to waste it”
Those are both significant differences between them and us, aren’t they EC.
They are. Differences which I really wish that more people considered.
Brilliant two shot story! Thanks Ron
Thank you, Dave.
I’m watching a nest cam of great grey owls in Montana, where the parents are bringing in lots of voles for the two chicks. So far, they all look completely dead, and hopefully the end was swift. Also, I’m a meat eater and really appreciate Laura’s point about the need to be aware of where our food comes from (and do less harm where possible).
I’m a meat eater too, Cathy. Agreed.
Nice series of how the owl dealt with the vole.. I always have mixed feelings watching too. It is like watching a Quentin Tarantino or Akira Kurosawa movie. I like the story but not the gore.
Thanks, April. I guess I like the entire story but feel less comfortable with some of it (speaking of predator/prey relationships, not movies. I never like extreme violence in movies and most of it is gratuitous anyway).
And then it was over… As much as I enjoy all raptors seeing the ‘end moment’ has never been pleasant. Great catches for both of you!
Thanks, Kathy. No, for most of us watching it isn’t pleasant but it can be extremely interesting. and I don’t mean in a sadistic sort of way.
/what beautiful images. I know how annoyed they can get when prey struggles and refuses to submit to the whole predator/prey thing.
When I first started falconry, I thought I’d have big trouble with Mariah killing a rabbit–I mean, a bunny (two different ideas)!! But on her first free flight, she nailed a rabbit and I immediately changed teams from prey to predator. It’s not that I don’t respect and honor the life of the prey. Quite the contrary. Falconry gave me a much greater respect for the prey along with a MUCH stronger connection to the Rules of Nature. But at the same time, I knew that Mariah had put her life on the line to catch her dinner unlike us humans who forage at Kroger (insert favorite grocery store here) where everything is clean and sanitized, all screams, struggle, blood and gore removed from our sight so we don’t have to bother with that. It was quite the epiphany and from that day forward, I’ve been compelled to challenge people on that Eeeewwww response, asking how is that different from the hamburger or chicken you had for dinner, beyond that you didn’t have to out your life on the line to catch it? Yes, I know that’s annoying, but it is real. We humans need to be fully aware of how our food gets to market. It’s really not pretty.
“We humans need to be fully aware of how our food gets to market. It’s really not pretty.”
You make an excellent point, Laura. I agree.
I am with you here, Laura. Once you have to put your own life on the line to get your food by living off the land, the entire prey-predator-decomposer cycle comes into a different perspective than living in a more “civilized” fashion.
I have to admit, notice I said admit, that as I have become older I am much more empathetic toward those animals that were among the prey for the predator. Maybe that is why wars are fought by the young? What does that really mean? At any rate, for the shorter time I have on this planet, I truly like to see living beings.
I’ve probably become softer with age too, Dick. Although I’ve sometimes thought my heart was too soft even as a young kid and teenager.
Beautiful and elemental in subject. We don’t often see that moment, I suspect. Forgive my ignorance, but what is “bokar” in relationship to background? In the old days, it was a coffee . . .
Thank you, Sallie.
It’s actually “bokeh”, not “bokar” or “bokah”. Bokeh is “the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image, especially as rendered by a particular lens.”
Some lenses (especially high quality lenses) provide a soft, pleasing bokah and others not so much.
Love these shots Ron !! The uncluttered bokah background make them even more favorable to the eye !
Thanks very much, Gary. Backgrounds matter!
I remember a time in your Utah wildlife class at South High in which we were feeding Fred, the Gopher Snake. Instead of a quick and merciful death, Fred toyed around with the little rodent, prolonging the agony. I remember how badly you felt and agonized that we would be traumatized by the sounds and scene we were watching. I loved that class!!! I love reading your blog! Thank you!
I remember that incident clearly, Juliannah. Fred was usually very efficient at quickly dispatching and swallowing his meal but he bungled it that time for sure. The last thing I wanted to do was traumatize any of my students so it was a little tense for a few minutes.
And here I am all these years later trying to be just as careful with the sensitivities of my readers. I’ve photographed quite a few things that I would never post here for that very reason.
I’m delighted to know you have such fond memories of my class. Thank you.
Cool even if gruesome – “Know” how nature works BUT! 😉 Great photo of the owl doing what it needs to do! 🙂 Saw a Kestrel on the way to town last week struggling with “something” on top of a metal fence post – couldn’t stop and it would have been “gone” anyway. Also a few Avocets in their bright colors in a temporary puddle in a ditch….. No, glitches and “complications” when you’re trying to get something done ARE frustrating!
Thank, you, Judy.
Great closeups. Yes, you can’t help but feel for the victims of our owls, hawks, eagles, etc. Just this past week I took photos of a GHO bringing home a gopher to one of her two fledglings. It look though that she had already silenced it before I saw her with it.
Thanks, Everett.
I appreciate your empathy for both of them!
Some days, you’re the owl. Some days, you’re the vole…
Thanks for the Mary Chapin Carpenter ear worm, Alison!
Actually, I was surprised recently when I learned that Mark Knopfler wrote that song and Dire Straits performed it originally. I’m a die hard Dire Straits/Knopfler fan so I should have known…
Ron, I knew that I enjoyed your photographs and blog for another reason! I also love Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits! Thank you for your compassion for the prey as well as the predator. I know that predators have to eat but my heart breaks when I see “the act” or a favorite individual goes missing. I recently saw a squirrel in the talons of a hawk flying high above me. The poor squirrel’s tail was twitching and I knew that his fate was sealed. I am sure he knew it too. So sad for this retired wildlife rehabilitator now wildlife observer. Thank you for not sharing the more explicit scenes that you have photographed.
Thanks, Melanie. Did you know that Knopfler wrote ” The Bug” (Sometimes You’re The Windshield, Sometimes You’re the Bug”)? I certainly didn’t, until recently.
Ron, I did not know that! Thank you. I will do my research. I follow MK on Facebook, have a couple Dire Straits albums and admire Mark’s work and talents so much. I am sure your foot taps when you hear “Walk On Life” I always think of sailing around the BVI when I hear the album “Brothers In Arms”.