The day started off with 5STR heading off for the ridge; as 92 was still playing the part of big (emphasis on big) bully. Soon after she left, the otherwise quiet day came apart at the seams...
It began with a lot of flapping, hopping, and squawking. I ignored it until it reached such a decibel that it was impossible to do so. I knew it was a pair of crows, fighting over what I thought was something dried up and gross (as is usually the case) on the ground. This was my consensus after a quick glance, until all pd's and gs stood at alert, and it grew dead silent in the field; even 2 had shut up to gaze over in the far corner. I leaned out, and got a prime view, as the crow took off with a slightly decapitated ground squirrel. I watched in fascinated disgust, as it towed its prey over to (ironically) the pd crossing sign. It deposited it, chased off a few would-be stealers, and started ineffectually pecking at it. From the look of the body, that was how it had been killed, by ineffectual pecks that happened to hit the correct body parts for death.
I needn't have worried about poor ways to kill, as I was about to witness a very quick efficient way to do so: with a bear hug.
29 is a big rusty colored fluffy guy. He's not as bear-like as 2, but he looks somewhat like a teddy bear, and his fur is silky looking. He has territorial disputes with 2, which he always loses, but he gets along well with the girls. He seems the nervous teen as he runs, than walks up to RR2 or 50, making little nervous noises as he gets close. He almost always sniffs and runs, even before they have a chance to back-hand him. He's just your average lovable guy. Until he meets a gs who looks at him the wrong way. The screams were what made me turn around. 29 was hugging a gs (the gs had its back in 29's stomach) to himself, and gnawing on its neck, as he curled his back legs around it. Even though I'd seen gs and pd's scuffles, I immediately knew he was killing it, and said so over the radio. The effect was instant: "Tape IT!!" It was over in a matter of seconds. 29 dropped it, and then commenced to cannibalizing the back half over the hips; any protein this time of year is good protein....
Over in John's area, a new drama was unfolding. It included a very big badger and a very unfortunate prairie dog that we'll call AVun. The badger at first appeared to be digging through the snow after a mouse....and then came up with a pd..AVun. He also was efficient at the dispatch, and like 29, appeared to be on the hungry side. Unlike 29, he started with the head.....
At days end, we dissected AVun to see how far along her pregnancy had progressed before her untimely end. Unlike the gs (as there are millions more), I was sad to see a pd go.
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