Wednesday, 5 August 2026

WW: The Case of the Absent Hen



(A few days ago I was walking around a crumbling, overgrown abandoned farm near my house when I happened on a mass of feathers piled on a fallen tree trunk. Even more intriguing: no sign of their owner. No bones, no flesh, not even blood. Just a nearly complete, completely empty, suit of feathers.

I can't think of a local predator that surgical, though my experience in such forensics is far from exhaustive.

On another account I'm more confident: these are hen feathers. So whoever this neat and thorough raider was, he or she will have come over, under, or through the fence just out of frame.)

6 comments:

  1. The last time I saw a pile of feathers like that there was a hawk standing in the middle of them starring at me like I had just interrupted a meal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, I thought of that. We also have quite a few owls and eagles here. But generally, when I've encountered raptor kills, I've found they tend to eat the parts they most like and leave the rest. Still, raptors are my lead theory for the moment. Among other things, they'd have the easiest access to the site.

      Delete
  2. This is quite mood invoking

    ReplyDelete
  3. Ostras, pues tendrás que reforzar porque si que es extraño. Besitos

    ReplyDelete