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Margaret, could your dark grey mammal have been a short-tailed shrew? And you can always tell owl legs because they are feathered down to the toes, whereas hawks have the tarsometatarsus free of feathers (the "leg" section below the "knee"). Cheers from Jim in Wolfville ---------- From: "Margaret E.Millard" <mmillard@eastlink.ca> Reply-To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Date: Sun, 25 Nov 2007 10:16:51 -0400 To: naturens@chebucto.ns.ca Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Boreal Birds moving south this winter Hmm....no, the grey victim was smaller than a baby rabbit and the skull bone was gone, just the skin with ears still attached and a snout, all in shape and entrails remained. Now I am even more curious what killed it. The feet of the bird would be relative in size although my description of them was poor. My neighbour said a older grandchild had taken them away from his dog. They may be in the garage hung up somewhere. I may be able to get a photo at some point if he returns. I do think they were a small owl or hawk but I am not familiar with the birds various so I can't say. More hooting in the night. I would say a barred owl......I realise I can hear them now because my husband is a snorer, and he is now using the nose strips and they are working!! I can hear night sounds again....unless I start to snore! ha!! Marg, In White Point http://margmillard.ca ----- Original Message ----- From: "Randy Lauff" <randy.lauff@gmail.com> To: <naturens@chebucto.ns.ca> Sent: Saturday, November 24, 2007 9:47 AM Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Boreal Birds moving south this winter > On 23/11/2007, Margaret E.Millard <mmillard@eastlink.ca> wrote: > > > . >> I found a small charcoal grey creature, not a star-nosed mole....but >> maybe >> something a bit bigger and blockier. The body was missing, just the head >> from behind the ears out to the snout and the complete digestive system. >> No >> tail, no feet, no more fur and no mess, to speak of. > > > Perhaps a juvenile rabbit? This was likely not an owl kill - they > preferentially eat the head. > > > > ...and in the morning found what was I think might be the remains of a >> Saw-whet Owl. I am not sure. >> >> What we found were 2 crows trying to pull apart the two legs still >> attached to each other...Oh, the claws were yellowish in colour. Quite >> heavy >> and gnarly. > > > One wouldn't describe the claws of a SW Owl as being "heavy and gnarly". > Perhaps it was a larger owl...GH Owls can take any of the others. > > > Do they mate at this time of the year rather than the spring? > > > Nope. Any hooting/tooting you're hearing now is likely territorial, or > perhaps to maintain a pair bond for the residents. Mating calls tend to > start in February-March. > > Is that why I am hearing the calling or are they gregarious ... > > > A few species are gregarious in winter, the Long/Short Eared Owls are best > known for this. In several presentations at the recent World Owl > Conference, > people showed photos of communal roosts of Long-eared Owls...*in* towns, > often in deciduous trees. You can imagine the number of droppings and > pellets that 30 LE Owls in one tree could drop! This creates just as much > animosity for these owls as pigeons do in our downtowns. Education seems > to > be working though. > > > Randy > _________________________________ > RF Lauff > Way in the boonies of > Antigonish County, NS. >
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