The Barred owl behind my house, which the neighborhood kids have named
George, was about this weekend. At one point, early afternoon a couple of
Douglas Squirrels were giving an unusual alarm call and I was wandering back
through the greenbelt with some stuff from the previous nights campfire. As
I came into the area I saw George perched and very intently leaning forward,
moving his head back and forth, eying two Douglas Squirrels. Since one of
the things I was carrying was a folding camp chair, I set up the chair, sat
back and watched. It was pretty boring for 45 minutes as the squirrels
yelled and George settled back into that calm patience that owls are so good
at. I was entertained by listening to the new bird calls in the woods,
flycatchers, yellow-rumps and a couple I do not know. I did not have my bins
with me and was about to leave when I looked up and noticed George was gone.
Hmmm. That's the end of that, so I stood up and stretched just in time to
see George flying full power about 2 feet off the ground, zoom up behind the
tree. One of the squirrels was moving from tree to tree on a tiny branch
(bad idea) and got caught out vulnerable. The squirrel leapt, George did a
power bank turn and caught the squirrel by the tail! Then things got sort of
muddled, as George lost altitude and was flapping his wings and the Squirrel
fell, hit the ground and ran like a lightening bolt into the brush. George
swung around in the air, made a pass over the brush, then landed. He had
something in his talons, and when he flew again, a minute later it fell to
the ground. It was about 2/3rds of the tail of the squirrel. Earlier this
morning I saw the surviving squirrel, running about. It seems to be quite
awkward without it's tail. Later it was under the feeder. It does not hop
and bound like others, but runs now like a chipmunk. I imagine a tail is a
key balance element for a tree squirrel. It might also serve the exact
purpose it did for this individual, distracting a predator. I have over the
years found a few such tails in the woods, although mostly from flying
squirrels.

Rob Sandelin
South Snohomish County at the headwaters of Ricci Creek
Sky Valley Environments <http://www.nonprofitpages.com/nica/SVE.htm>
Field skills training for student naturalists
Floriferous at msn.com


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