A few minutes ago I disturbed a crow that was busy subduing a large Garter
Snake*. The snake was lying on the sidewalk, not moving, with a bloody
wound on the back of its neck area where it appeared to have gotten a
good, hard peck. As I waited some distance away, the crow back, but kept
getting disturbed by other people. About five minutes later, the crow
was busy working to finish off the snake, which was still alive but very
lethargic. About 20 minutes later I looked again, expecting to see the
crow having a snake lunch. The snake was there, quite dead now, but no
crow. The crow only seemed interested, if you'll forgive the
anthropomorphism, in eliminating a potential threat or nuisance, but not
in eating it. As I recall, this is what some other tweets have reported
about crows and other animals. It seems odd to go to all the trouble of
killing something that could be a tasty meal and then leaving it.

* Capitalized so people don't think it was another kind of snake just
posing as a garter.

Burt Guttman guttmanb at elwha.evergreen.edu
The Evergreen State College Voice: 360-866-6000, x. 6755
Olympia, WA 98505 FAX: 360-866-6794