I've heard of shrikes impaling their prey to save for later. Are mice a normal part of a shrikes diet?

Tim Ryan
Dupont, WA
famryan2000 at yahoo.com

Rob Sandelin <floriferous at MSN.COM> wrote:
While doing a bit of tree survey this afternoon I found the mummified remains of a mouse impaled on a small side branch on a cedar. It was about 5 feet off the ground in an area of dense cedar foliage. Normally I would suspect a shrike of such a thing but this is so not shrike habitat here, being heavily forested, far from any opening or clearing that would attract a shrike. I looked at it very carefully and could not imagine any scenario in which the mouse could have done this itself, it was firmly impaled. Unfortunately as I was poking about the carcass looking for clues, it fell apart, so it had been there quite awhile. Would an owl do this? It was well off the normal trail so it is unlikely some kid was the culprit.

Of course, for the rest of the day, every little clump of moss looked like another mouse. But there were no more to be found.


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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