Tag: vehicle

Owl

A Day at Point Reyes National Seashore

I was at Point Reyes National Seashore a few weeks ago and saw many creatures I typically see there such as tule elk, black-tailed deer, coyotes, bobcats, red-tailed hawks, harriers, kestrels and quail.  I also saw a white-tailed kite and several male elephant seals.

I also saw something that is not too uncommon, but a little harder to find on any given day.  Based on the photo of its eyes below, do you know what critter it is?

A great horned owl perches on a bush in Point aReyes National Seashore.
Who am I?

It has feathers so it’s obviously a bird.  Its eyes are located at the front of its face for binocular vision for judging distance and that leads one to think it’s a predatory bird such as a hawk or owl.  The eyes are very large and the pupils are especially large which suggests that it hunts at night.

If you guessed it’s an owl you’re right.  What kind?  It’s the most commonly seen owl at Point Reyes, or almost anywhere, a great horned owl.

Great Horned Owl, Point Reyes National Seashore
Great Horned Owl, Point Reyes National Seashore

You may be wondering how I got what appears to be such a close-up photo of the bird’s eyes above.  There was a reason for that.  In addition to the assistance of an 1120mm super-telephoto lens and significant cropping, the owl was perched in a bush on the shoulder of the road.  While hawks perch close to roads on fence posts, it struck me as odd that an owl would perch in a bush within a few feet of the road in daylight.  Then I noticed what might have been the reason.  The bird’s left wing droops.  I think it had just injured its shoulder.

I did see it fly from one bush to another.  That was a relief.  I don’t know how it got the droopy wing.  My guess is it either tangled with a car or the barbed wire fence that runs along the road right below where the bird was perched.  About a year ago, I found a harrier about 1/4 mile down the road from where this owl was.  It was standing on the road and its wing was obviously broken.  I put it on the shoulder of the road and reported it to a ranger who was nearby.  The likely explanation for that injured bird is that it tangled with a vehicle.  Several years ago I found a common egret next to a barbed wire fence with a broken wing.  I assumed at the time that the egret had flown into one of the barbed wires on the fence it was standing next to. I don’t know, of course, exactly what happened to this owl with the drooping wing, but I think flying into a vehicle or the fence are the most likely causes.  I hope it leads a long life.

Bobcat

Injured Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of a bobcat with some lost fur.
Bobcat Has Lost Some Fur

I photographed this bobcat on May 2.  I saw that it had lost all its fur in one spot on its back.  It was like something with a straight edge to it had come down on the cat’s back and either moved rearward or the cat moved forward to cause a straight line of fur at the forward edge to release. As the object moved rearward the pressure lessened and less and less fur was removed until about 6 inches from the beginning the pressure was fully released.  As I photographed it I could see it was limping.  Something was wrong with its right hind leg.

Photo of bobcat that limped as it walked and had some fur missing on right hind leg.
Bobcat Limped As it Walked and is Missing a Strip of Fur on Its Right Hind Leg.

If you look closely you can see there is fur missing on the rear of the right hind leg midway between the heel and the letter “R” in the word “Rights.”  This area also looks like something pressed down on the fur and scraped it backward or forward and removed a couple of inches of it.

This got me to thinking what the cause could be.  I came up with three possibilities. First, the bobcat could have been hit by a vehicle.  However, I can’t envision how a vehicle could remove the fur in those two areas, let alone not do any other damage.  Second, the bobcat could have been in a fight with another animal such as a bobcat or coyote.  Again, I can’t envision how a bobcat or coyote could cause these fur removals that begin with a straight edge to them and then move rearward on the back and downward (or possibly upward) on the hind leg.  Claws and canine teeth wouldn’t do that.  Third, the bobcat could have gotten caught in a barbed wire fence and lost the fur in its struggle to escape.  I can envision the cat getting caught between two wires, especially if one or two wires had gotten somewhat loose as sometimes happens and, with one or two wires pressing down on its back and rear leg, the wires could have caused fur to be pulled from the bobcat in the process of the bobcat pulling free.  While I don’t know for sure what happened, that seems to me to be the most likely cause.  Hopefully, the bobcat is no longer limping.