Looking out the kitchen window this evening, I saw our resident fox chewing on the carcass of what appeared to be a cottontail. Repeatedly trying to swallow it whole, the young hunter was clearly frustrated and resumed his efforts to tear off pieces of the victim.
All the while, like vultures on the Serengeti Plains, a flock of black-billed magpies circled the fox and his prize, attempting to snare the carcass whenever the hunter stopped to rest. Soon, the fox gave up and stretched out below a nearby tree while the magpies fought over the remnants of his kill.
Notably young and thin, I wonder if the red fox has the hunting skills to survive the upcoming winter. He has clearly put a dent in our cottontail population (or spooked them into seclusion) but his nutritional status is suspect. The magpies, on the other hand, gregarious, aggressive and omnivorous, will do just fine.
