Hi John About your strange mammal--we've been seeing a mange Red Fox of late perhaps this is your alien mammal? I snapped photo a month ago--she drinks at our bird water feeder out front on occasion--and DOW reported it was a mange Red Fox. At first I thought it was a "dingo" ... :-)
Thanks Gary Lefko, Nunn http://coloradobirder.ning.com/ Mobile: http://coloradobirder.ning.com/m On Saturday, January 5, 2013 6:57:59 PM UTC-7, JohnT wrote: > > Cobirds: > A jaunt through Boulder, Larimer, and Weld county today for > mostly raptors and redpolls. This is a bit verbose, but interesting. > Counties noted where interesting sightings occur; W = Weld, L = Larimer, > and B = Boulder. > > Numbers 1st: > Red tailed hawk - 21 - B, W, L > American kestrel - 14 - B, W, L > Ferruginous hawk - 4 - W > Rough-legged hawk - 1 - W > Bald eagle - 1 - L > Golden eagle - W > Northern harrier - 2 - W > Common redpoll - 2 - W - in prairie habitat in Central Plains Station area > Common redpoll - 16 - L - in Fort Collins at the Discovery Center (already > reported by many birders) > Western meadow lark - 54 - L, W - some were singing > Red winged blackbird - 12 - W, one was singing > Eurasian collared dove - hundreds, especially at farm houses on the > Larimer, Weld County line. > > I observed a northern harrier (male) on the ground with a prey item that > looked like a prairie dog. Two ferruginous hawks were battling to steal > the prey, but surprisingly the harrier fought them both off. Then > proceeded to gorge itself on fresh prairie dog. > > Another observation: 108 pronghorn herd on private land adjoining the > rail line and the main road, north of Nunn. They're not dumb - rifle > hunters were out today. > > Lots of duck and goose hunters out in force in Loveland and Fort Collins > area - some blasting away really close to bike paths (perfectly legal) and > along river paths. Be careful out there. (last weekend we saw geese get > blasted close to Valmont Reservoir - hunters can shoot from private land > and then walk over to Open Space and pick up the carcasses. > > And then the strangest one for today: a very creepy looking morph or > mixed-breed coyote about 5 miles due east of Nunn. I was stopped on the > road looking for birds, when I saw a strange animal running at full speed > across the road in front of me, along with a "normal" looking coyote, also > running at full speed. This is one of those instances where my brain > circuits blow a fuse. I will try to describe. Said animal looked > dog-like, with dappling black-and-brown that some domestic dog > breeds have. The head was that of a coyote, but nearly hairless. The body > was covered with short hair (like a short haired boxer), powerful, sleek, > and muscular. The tail was nealy hairless except for a thick tuft of hair > on the end - african lion like tail tip. When I saw this - my mind was > racing at milli-second speed to catigorise it as some species - North > America, African, Amazonian - my mouth dropped. It's one of those mind > bending moments that you can't get your thought process around. Finally, > minutes later, I figured it was some weird integrade species, domestic dog > - coyote cross thingamagigee. The fact that it was traveling with another > coyote, meant that it must have been part coyote. And further - this was > a really healthy looking animal - not mange or scabies looking. Fully > healthy, running, powerful looking, happily running across the prairie. > I've seen a lot of North American wildlife in my day, from Alaska to the > Tropics, but I ain't never seen anything as weird as this. You'd had to > have been there. > > Now I can see how tales about the "chupacara" are propigated. > > Happy birding. Sleep tight, and don't let the chupacaras bite. (hee > hee). - John T (Tumasonis), currently of Louisville CO and a member of > Boulder Audubon. > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to cobirds@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cobirds+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/cobirds/-/LYLPlo1laUgJ. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
