Spring Killings

Neighbor Joyce was startled when she saw a headless rabbit next to her house. She said it was a fresh kill, that it had only one fly on it. She buried it immediately and looked for information on the internet. It seems wolves or coyotes often kill rabbits to eat the head, where most of the nutrients are located. They aren’t interested in the meat on the body. I’ve never eaten brains, although humans do eat them. I would avoid the raw meat of a rabbit, not wanting to eat hair that covered the hare.

The day warmed up, so I ate lunch on the back porch. I spotted the first wasp of the season on the screen nearby. Getting my favorite glass for trapping, I put the glass over it and slipped a piece of cardboard underneath. I sprayed the railing with wasp killer, and while the insect was at the top of the glass, I removed the cardboard and put the glass over the poison. The wasp was dead within a minute, so I felt it was fairly humane. When the weather warms up for good, I often leave the back door open and do not want wasps having free access to the house.

20 thoughts on “Spring Killings

  1. Well that poor rabbit and now possible coyotes or coyotes and their method of dining is not so nice is it? That’s a good day to remove wasps from your area. I had a big black wasp come into the house a few years ago, either on my clothes or hair. I trapped it in an empty oatmeal box – the thing was big enough to go to work!

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      1. It was in the swag lamp and I had a devil of a time getting to it as it went up into the hurricane lantern part. You know me – I don’t like bugs of any type, but at least it didn’t have long legs and could move like a centipede! With this rain we are having every day from Monday through Easter Sunday, the centipedes will be showing up.

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          1. We got to 76 degrees today – unusual, but dropping 30 degrees tonight. I think all the rain will bring in the ants earlier too – I have those little ants that start coming in by mid-April.

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  2. I just noticed I put coyotes or coyotes … coyotes or wolves. Either one is scary. We have a lot of coyotes around here. People with small dogs have to go out in the backyard with them to ensure a coyote doesn’t jump the fence or a Cooper’s Hawk doesn’t get them. We NEVER had going on until recently.

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      1. The Department of Natural Resources puts out bulletins on the radio and social media to be very careful January through March because it is coyote mating season and they are much more aggressive toward people and other animals. The neighborhood is not what it used to be! About five years ago there was a coyote family living at Council Point Park. They disappeared during the day but people driving by at night, on a moonlit night, saw the parents and one pup prowling around the Park. They left because the dog catcher shot the male in the leg, so they moved on.

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  3. Glad you got rid of the wasps without getting stung. Those can really hurt bad!!
    I never heard that before about a predator eating only the head of a rabbit. Interesting!!

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