I could be way off here, but I think it might be a star-nosed mole. The
size is looks right (bigger than voles/mice/shrews), and it looks like a
star nose in the first photo. What looks like "ears" in the second photo
might actually be the front feet. I thought the fur seemed too long, but
here's a photo online that looked similar. Also, that heavy "rat-like"
tail looks like the mole. A SN mole would also make sense for that
marshy location. What an interesting sight, especially this time of year
when they're not feeding young!
Karen
On 11/25/22 12:57 PM, Steve Weston wrote:
Brian,
Great photos. I have never seen anything like that, although it does not
surprise me.
It is definitely not a shrew. The fur is too long and I can see ears in one
of the photos. Probably a vole. Looks too thick for a mouse.
Steve Weston
On Quigley Lake in Eagan, MN
swesto...@gmail.com
On Fri, Nov 25, 2022 at 12:45 PM MOU <m...@moumn.org> wrote:
(Posted by Brian Tennessen <brian.tennes...@gmail.com> via moumn.org)
This morning at Old Cedar Bridge, actually beyond the bridge, over where
the trail from the bridge T's at the river, I observed a behavior I've not
seen before--A Red-bellied Woodpecker with a small rodent, maybe a vole or
shrew, maybe a mouse for that matter.
The bird carrried this around for some time, then put it into a tree hole,
seeming to cache it. It then flew off. I would imagine this is an
opportunistic find that this Woodpecker came upon, maybe a cached kill of a
Shrike for example. After caching, the woodpecker still had a small piece
of innards that I presume it then ate, I have a photo of this as well. If
anyone has seen this behavior before or thoughts on this, please comment.
Quite an interesting behavior..
I talked with Dale Carlson and Steve Carlson about this after this
occurred, as they were both down at the bridge as well, and showed them the
photos on my camera. Neither of them had observed this behavior before.
Please comment with any thoughts, similar observations you may have had in
the past etc.
https://flic.kr/p/2o2jjxc
https://flic.kr/p/2o2gvbR
Brian T.
St. Paul MN
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