Very polite of her, to wait to see if you wanted it.
Was the little mammal still alive?
These aren’t rare round these parts (Finisterre in western France) but this is a poster child of an example: pyramidal orchid.
j
Nice color!
We went on a day trip yesterday to the Gulf of Mexico. Didn’t stay long, but I saw a guy catch a stingray and throw it back.
Also saw some pelicans. This one’s turning his pouch inside out for some reason.
It’s June and time for the Finch Family to bring the kids to the feeder for the first time. As always, there is one who refused to eat on its own.
“This is where you get the food.”
“No! Feed me!”
“It’s right here.”
“No! Put it in my mouth! Daaad! Mom won’t feed me!”
If it wasn’t immediately dead prior to being submerged, it was at very least out of it in shock - there was zero struggling. But I suspect it was dead pretty much instantaneously. Herons don’t just grab, they’ll spear larger prey using that big bill like a lance. You can see the point of impact after capture in the shot below and I think from the angle it would probably have broken the spinal column. Even if it hadn’t, sudden severe trauma like that would probably have caused the heart to stop simply from the shock.
That’s something I’ve never actually seen myself (neat picture!), but apparently it is just a yawn that has some utility in also clearing out random debris that might have accumulated in their pouch.
Thanks for the follow up. I know it’s the circle of life and everything, and I’m OK with that, but I’ve gotten to be such a softie in my old age.
Speaking of gophers, I think I may have seen one on my walk around the neighborhood. It went running across the street in front of me. We have lots of gray squirrels and a few rabbits around here. This thing was roughly squirrel sized but had a short tail and the fur was more brown than gray. Since it was running across the street away from me, I didn’t get a real good look at it. Maybe somebody’s pet critter escaped?
Personally, I tend to root for the predator, in these matters, because they have more at stake. When the hawk beats the squirrel, you lose 0.01% of the local squirrel population. But if the squirrel wins a few times in a row, you can lose 50% of the local hawk population.
True enough but hawks have such an overwhelming advantage - it’s not exactly a level playing field. Sometimes I can’t help but root for the underdog.
I don’t think it’s unfair, nature being red in tooth and claw and all that. Who knows, maybe I’m just feeling guilty about all the hunting I did in my younger times.
Or maybe, like I said, I’m just a big softie these days.
Today in my yard - it was not there yesterday - was what is apparently Dog Vomit Slime Mold;
It’s quite a bright yellow.
OMG, so not a fungus, but some kind of amoeba collective! Neat.
I think there was some of that outside of my apartment a few weeks ago, too. I didn’t get a picture, though.
Well, either that, or actual dog vomit. I wasn’t inclined to investigate closely enough to be certain. But I think it was the weird one.
Prey reproduces fast because it is hunted, so when it is not hunted you have a problem. Search for “mice infestation Australia” and you see what happens when there are no longer enough predators around because they were hunted as vermin.
Today in nature we saw…. the fabulous coast of Finisterre. Zoom in to see the maze of inlets
If anyone wants to locate it, the lighthouse(s) is/are the Phare de l’Île Vierge
j
Ooh, I need to be keeping an eye out in the evenings. We’re about due for them here, too.
Nice! Are you on vacation?
Sure are. Normandy to catch up with friends and then on to Finisterre. It’s a variant of a trip we try to do most years.
j