The Contested Birdseed

There is a pecking order (pun fully intended) when it comes to accessing the birdseed I distribute outside my house.   I use the term distribute because I fill a hanging birdfeeder with seed for birds that prefer eating from that, and I also broadcast a fair amount of seed across my drive for birds preferring to forage on the ground.

I have written previously about the local deer raiding the feeder and snarfing up the seeds I broadcast.  When deer show up to raid the goodies, the birds disperse, chattering and, I imagine, cursing in bird-speak.

The other morning, not long after I put out seed, a conspicuous flash of motion below the birdfeeder caught my attention.  When I focused there, I saw a fox nosing around and snapping up seeds from the grass.

Curious, I sneaked toward the nearest window to observe.  The birds similarly distanced themselves and watched.   After watching for no more than thirty or so seconds, I saw the fox lift its head and freeze in place.   Something out of my view had caught the fox’s attention.  A few seconds later, the fox backed away from the feeder, trotted across the drive, and stood staring again.

Before long, a doe mule deer rushed in and began chasing the fox.  Head down, the deer pushed the zig-zagging fox out onto the prairie and then down what we call Big Tire Gulch.

Once satisfied she had made her message clear, the deer pranced back in and began licking seeds from the birdfeeder.

Her birdfeeder.

I have posted a couple of rather grainy photographs I captured with my smarter-than-me-phone of the deer, the fox, and some mourning doves.  Disappointingly, I was unable to capture the chase.

—Mitchell Hegman