2019

NT2470 : Death in suburbia - 2

taken 5 years ago, near to Morningside, Edinburgh, Scotland

Death in suburbia - 2
Death in suburbia - 2
A Magpie watches as the pair struggle on the path. See NT2470 : Death in suburbia - 3 for the next photo.
Death in suburbia :: NT2472

Arriving home from a short expedition, and reversing into my drive, I noticed some commotion in a neighbour's garden, involving Magpies, Crows and a struggling grey fluffy ball which I thought was a Grey Squirrel. I stopped and watched, and realised it was a conflict between a Stoat and a Rabbit. Both Crows and Magpies were flapping around and squawking; after about 4 minutes the struggling stopped, and the Stoat ran off, leaving a motionless corpse on the path. I was able to get out of the car and get a bit nearer. After couple of minutes the Stoat returned and began to haul the corpse away, with great difficulty. I watched for 15 minutes more, during which time it had been dragged about 10m. Interestingly, the body soon became quite stiff, so difficult to manoeuvre along the hedge base. There was an interlude when, while the Stoat was away, a Crow had a go at pecking the Rabbit's eye. These photos are some of 32 taken during my 23 minutes of observation. An hour later the body was gone.


Creative Commons Licence [Some Rights Reserved]   © Copyright M J Richardson and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence.
Geographical Context: Lowlands Suburb, Urban fringe Wild Animals, Plants and Mushrooms Mammal: Rabbit Stoat Bird: Magpie Place: Morningside Edinburgh Primary Subject: Wildlife other tags: Predation Garden Click a tag, to view other nearby images.
This photo is linked from: Other Photos: · Death in suburbia - 1 ·
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NT2470, 785 images   (more nearby 🔍)
Photographer
M J Richardson   (more nearby)
Date Taken
Wednesday, 10 April, 2019   (more nearby)
Submitted
Wednesday, 10 April, 2019
Subject Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 2438 7010 [10m precision]
WGS84: 55:55.0812N 3:12.6898W
Camera Location
OSGB36: geotagged! NT 2438 7011
View Direction
South-southeast (about 157 degrees)
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Image Type (about): close look 
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