10,000 Birds

JANUARY 19, 2024

Memorable encounters with Mammals Part II It’s generally reckoned that there are more deer in Britain today than there were in the Middle Ages, a fact that is almost certainly true. It’s a common mammal in the countryside around my home, and I see them frequently. Rather more are killed in collisions with cars.

Fur 211

Fur Boars Estonia Deer 211

10,000 Birds

MAY 20, 2011

This behavior is not at all out of character for Tufted Titmice as is explained on All About Birds : They line this cup with soft materials such as hair, fur, wool, and cotton, sometimes plucking hairs directly from living mammals.

Raccoons 228

Raccoons Woodchucks Opossums Squirrels 228

10,000 Birds

JULY 23, 2014

They took dogs to Australia, chickens across the Pacific, rabbits to England, horses to the New World, and then brought potatoes back. There were no mammals, little game, and not many birds either. Brush-tailed Possums were brought from Australia to help start a fur industry. Rabbits are still an agricultural pest.

New Zealand 161

New Zealand Possums Rabbits Ferrets 161

10,000 Birds

JUNE 22, 2011

It’s not fecal material, but parts that are not digestible like fur, bones and the exoskeletons of insects. For example, since eagles and hawks tend to rip their prey apart and have stronger digestive acids, their pellets look like wads of fur. There was also a mammal jawbone in the pellet too. Was that a cardinal beak?

Dissection 207

Dissection Bats Minnesota Owls 207

10,000 Birds

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

In the mid 1700s, fur-traders began introducing foxes up and down the Aleutian chain, in order to generate some more raw material work with. However, they were refound on Buldir Island, a remote island that never had any introduced mammals. They were secure in their isolated home here until humanity came to Laysan in the 1890s.

Albatross 207

Albatross Endangered Species Bald Eagle Alaska 207

4 The Love Of Animals

MARCH 17, 2011

It’s not surprising that animals—especially, but not only, mammals—share many emotions with us because we also share brain structures—located in the limbic system—that are the seat of our emotions. After publishing my stories I got emails from people all over the world who had seen similar behavior in various birds and mammals.

Emotional 100

Emotional Animal Whales Whaling 100