Bird eating cow!

[Alan]

This morning I was out at 7 ish, looking after one of my permissions. One of my favorite places to sit, is about 40 yards from a grain feeder for the cattle. This time of year, while the cows are feeding their calves, the feeder has some sort of grain and sorghum mixture to enrich their milk, I assume.

It is not uncommon for sparrows and grackles to sit on the framework of the feeder. At 40 yards, it is like shooting fish in a barrel. That is, I don't miss! The dead birds typically fall on the ground, and the chickens clean up my messes. I say messes, because at 40 yards and 60 FPE behind them, the NSA slugs literally unglue! Even Eurasian doves explode is a hail of feathers and body parts. I should add, that they spin at nearly 50,000 RPM, which is part of the reason they unglue.

Well, this morning, several cows were feeding, when a grackle sat upon the framework. A quick squeeze, and pow! Except, this morning, a cow walked over to the splattered bird on the ground. Instead of nosing it like they usually do, this cow picked up the grackle and ate it!

Yes, I know chickens eat them, and the cats if they're hungry enough. But a cow? I've never seen this, nor ever heard of them doing so. Even the veterinary who owns the ranch, has never heard of it either. He did suggest, that perhaps the blood was the turn on, as the mineral licking blocks do have meat processing blood added to them, as it is a good source of iron.

[steveoh]

I saw a vegetarian eat pork sausage once and they proclaimed it delicious, especially when dipped in maple syrup.

 

[Alan]

Back to nature they always say!