Drama in the Woods – Ermine and Red Squirrel Meet

[J&J]

This morning while I was in the house I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I went to see what it was and it was an Ermine (or Short Tailed Weasel). I grabbed my camera to see if I could get off a couple of shots. I followed (from inside the house) the Ermine as it wandered through the woods hunting, getting off some shots here and there. I was able to squeeze off seven shots before it disappeared from view.

Although the pictures aren’t the best because they were shot through two panes of glass and from 70’ feet away inside the house and have been cropped, they do tell the story though. This shows the Ermine as it comes upon the Red Squirrel who was doing some hunting itself under a small tree under the snow and was completely unaware of the Ermine right above it. The circle of life.

The hunter spots its prey.

Putting itself in position.

Makes the attack.

The hunter walks away after the hunt with the squirrel in its mouth.

 

[griffin]

Wow! Thank you for sharing these.

 

[TEO]

Awesome!

My sister had a bard owl kill a rabbit right outside her kitchen window earlier this winter, while my brother-in-law, my nephew, and she ate breakfast. After repeated unsuccessful attempts at flying off with the lagomorph, the owl dragged it 50 yards to the woods, where it broke the corpse down into smaller pieces and carried them away over several flights.

When I was a teen my twin brother and I and my parents watched a wolf kill and carry off a young big horn sheep in Rocky Mountain National Park, much to the mother sheep's apparent mournful dismay.

 

[1HappyHiker]

Although the pictures aren’t the best because they were shot through two panes of glass and from 70’ feet away inside the house and have been cropped, they do tell the story . . .

John, I hear what you're saying in the above quote . . . but nonetheless, I think the snapshots turned out pretty darn good!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Hikes4fun]

Guess you'd better pay attention if you're a squirrel What a neat experience.
Could have titled it..."Ermine and Red Sqirrel Meat"

 

[gaiagirl]

OUch ... tough day in the woods if you're a squirrel.

Great series of photos. Thanks for sharing.

 

[brianW]

Thanks for sharing. I have seen a fox chasing a rabbit in my front yard into the woods and also a hawk with a squirrel in its talons being bombarded in flight by a flock of crows. The crows won.

 

[Tom Rankin]

Thanks for sharing. I have seen a fox chasing a rabbit in my front yard into the woods and also a hawk with a squirrel in its talons being bombarded in flight by a flock of crows. The crows won.

At the risk of luring Paradox into this thread, I'd say this thread should have been called " ... Ermine and Red Squirrel Meat "

 

[Hikes4fun]

Tom...you're late on that one

 

[Tom Rankin]

Tom...you're late on that one

DOH!

Ok, so there was this man who owned a cattle ranch. He had 3 sons. He called the Ranch FOCUS. One day he called his sons together and told them he was giving them the ranch. They had always wondered why the Ranch was called FOCUS, so the oldest son asked him the reason for the name. He replied:

"Well, don't you know boys, this is where the sun's rays meet"!

 

[sierra]

nature being nature

One of my fondest memories of being with my dad who has passed, is a day we where fishing on profile lake in franconia notch. The trout were rising like mad and we where having a blast, when my dad looked up and saw a hawk circling above. I quickly realized he was watching the fish rise, mentioning this to my father he agreed, seconds later this bird hit the water like a bullet, rising with a fish. It was quite a beautifull moment and we where left impressed and awed at the hawk and nature happening right before us.

 

[Little Rickie]

At the risk of luring Paradox into this thread,

Ermine m-eats Red Squirrel.

Batter up.

 

[Chip]

Great pics. Got to love nature. Bad day for the squirrel, but great day for the ermine's family.

Puck's got a great story about a professional photographer friend sitting for days observing an eagle's nest, waiting for the right shot, and the resulting "nature", but it might offend some, kind of sad. Frickin funny, but a bit sad.

 

[Jason Berard]

"some times your the ermine, some time you're the squirrel"

(sing to the tune of the song "The Bug" by Mark Knopfler)

 

[Motabobo]

Nice shots !

 

[Mark_Goodearl]

Ermine vs. Squirrel, continued...

We had the same drama play out in front of our house, I've posted some photos on Flickr that my wife took, including some close-ups:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/markgoodearl/sets/72157626285924622/

 

[Peakbagr]

I was sitting in the woods one autumn day, leaning against the trunk of a large tree.
Lots of noise in the woods and a rabbit runs right across my legs. A few minutes later I hear another rattling of the leaves. Ermine runs right across my legs, hot on the trail of the rabbit.
One of those 'did I really just see that' moments.
Beautiful photos.