{"id":85330,"date":"2020-05-18T06:02:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-18T12:02:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=85330"},"modified":"2020-05-18T06:13:49","modified_gmt":"2020-05-18T12:13:49","slug":"a-short-eared-owl-a-vole-and-the-coup-de-grace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2020\/05\/18\/a-short-eared-owl-a-vole-and-the-coup-de-grace\/","title":{"rendered":"A Short-eared Owl, A Vole And The Coup De Gr\u00e2ce"},"content":{"rendered":"

An owl having no patience with struggling prey.<\/p>\n

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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<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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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<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

But it can still be a little uncomfortable to watch, especially through a high powered lens, although it’s always interesting too.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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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.<\/em><\/p>\n

I really don’t like last minute hiccups.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An owl having no patience with struggling prey.<\/p>\n

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