Very cool observations. Donna quoted me pretty well. Wanna-be-predators is what crows are. They definitely don’t have the tools to make it happen often.
Actually, eastern chipmunks are substantially larger than meadow voles. I trapped hundreds of meadow voles, Microtus pennsylvanicus, for my master’s research (“Small mammal populations on Ohio strip‑mined lands reclaimed with herbaceous vegetation under old and new reclamation laws”). Some big bulls and pregnant females would be over 50 grams, but I only had a few get over 60 g. Chipmunks, on the other hand, start at 80 g and can get to be 150 g. I’ve handled both (and skinned both), and chipmunks are much tougher customers than meadow voles. It would be one crafty crow that could kill a chipmunk. Crows eat small mammals when they can, but by far the most common prey is the short-tailed shrew, Blarina brevicauda. Blarina have short tails and short gray fur very much like meadow voles and can easily be mistaken for them. The pointy shrew nose is the characteristic to watch for. Best, Kevin From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Donna Scott Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 2:34 PM To: Susan Fast; CAYUGABIRDS-L Subject: Re: [cayugabirds-l] Crow-chipmunk As Kevin McGowan recently wrote, Crows are wanna-be predators and don't quite have all the equipment or know how to be a consistent bird of prey (I paraphrased here; sorry if I got it a bit wrong). --Donna Scott ----- Original Message ----- From: Susan Fast<mailto:[email protected]> To: 'CAYUGABIRDS-L'<mailto:[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2013 2:04 PM Subject: [cayugabirds-l] Crow-chipmunk I’ve spent much of this morning watching red squirrel interactions in our yard; stuff I haven’t seen before. Anyway, on to birds. We also have still one CHIPMUNK which has daily been filling its cheeks with seeds (yesterday it had a tail; today no tail, but that is a rodent-rodent interaction most likely). It was busy foraging when our 3 yard CROWS arrived and also started feeding on seeds. 2 of the crows soon flew off to the compost; the third remained and began sidling closer to the chipmunk. It got within 6”, the chipmunk turned its back, and the crow reached down and grabbed it by the skin in the center of the back. Chipmunk twisted away and shot under a bush, the crow jumped back, then flew off. 5 minutes later, they were both back to the same spot under the feeders, about a foot apart, but this time the chipmunk watched the crow like a hawk and no interaction occurred. Several years ago, I watched a crow this close to a meadow vole (same size as chipmunk) and the crow hammered the vole twice with its beak and killed it. Why the difference? Steve Fast Brooktondale -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: Welcome and Basics<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME> Rules and Information<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES> Subscribe, Configuration and Leave<http://www.northeastbirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm> Archives: The Mail Archive<http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html> Surfbirds<http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds> BirdingOnThe.Net<http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html> Please submit your observations to eBird<http://ebird.org/content/ebird/>! -- -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
