 What
would Ward do if he arrived with a mouse and found the owlets alone in the
nest? Would he climb in and carefully divide it up among them? Not a
chance! He looked confused and alarmed as he dangled this mouse over
the leaping, wheezing owlets, and withdrew it as soon as he realized that
June was not at home. Feeding the owlets is an extremely complex job that
is definitely not for part-time help. He called for June from the rail and
then flew off to give her the mouse. She soon returned with the mouse and
entered the nest where she surprised me by giving the entire thing to
Emmett. He then swallowed it whole without much of a struggle. Since this
mouse is about six inches long and Emmett is only around nine inches long,
it was an impressive accomplishment. June is always encouraging the owlets
to take bigger pieces because it means less work for her. She will
continue to chop up the larger prey, but all of the owlets should be
eating whole mice before they are two weeks old. Note the short tail which
indicates that this mouse is actually a meadow vole. They are active in
the daytime and much more likely to show up at the nest in daylight than
the nocturnal white-footed mouse. |