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The Daily Bucket: Who Eats Red Squirrels? A Trailcam Tale in Five Parts. [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-06-10  

Red Squirrels are ubiquitous in my backyard in SW Michigan. They’re well fed on sunflower seeds from the bird feeders. They shelter in one of the multitude of tree cavities available, since we finally (fingers crossed) blocked them from getting in the attic and walls of our house.

Warning: some readers may not be happy with the content of the next paragraph.

Red Squirrels are considered nuisance wildlife in the state of Michigan. When my son visits me he culls the population a little. Those sacrificed squirrels don’t go to waste, there are plenty of hungry critters around. We placed five dead squirrels in front of the trailcam to see who was interested.

The trailcam takes 10 second videos, then pauses for 10 seconds, and repeats if there is still movement to trigger the camera. The breaks make the videos a bit jumpy.

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Right away there was some activity. Part 1 is 2 minutes, 25 seconds.

Part 2 is one minute.

Part 3 is 2 minutes, 15 seconds.

Part 4 is 2 minutes, 21 seconds. It’s the Hawk eating the whole time.

Part 5 is one minute long.

I was surprised that we didn’t see raccoons. I don’t think they had an opportunity, since all the food was gone within 36 hours. They’re still nosing around the spot, though.

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The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.

We invite you to note what you are seeing around you in your own part of the world, and to share your observations in the comments below.

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Each note is a record that we can refer to in the future as we try to understand the phenological patterns that are quietly unwinding around us. To have the Daily Bucket in your Activity Stream, visit Backyard Science’s profile page and click on follow.

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The Red-shouldered Hawks are permanent residents. A couple of days ago three Red-shouldered Hawks circled above me in the sky, one calling and making lots of noise, so I think it was a youngster. Thank the squirrels for providing a couple of meals!

Beautiful weather in SW Michigan these days, upper 70s daytime, 50s at night, mostly sunny, low humidity.

Please share your nature news and observations.

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