Rattlesnake vs. jay

[Raymond Davis]

On 8/23 I saw a rattlesnake under my sunflower feeder (common occurrence ), so I went to get a trashcan and snake stick to catch it, but it had moved by the time I got back to it.   I catch 0-7 each year and move them away from the house..

On 8/24, there was a dead Steller's Jay under that feeder.   I poked at it, and saw no sign of what killed it.    Later I looked for it, but it was gone, so we figured the dogs moved it.   Maybe 1 hour later, my wife and sister-in-law spot the rattler heading into some tall grass, so I go catch it.   AND, the dead jay is back within 3 feet of where I originally saw it, and the head and shoulders are all black and slick and icky.

Those of you that have been here have probably seen my pictures of a rattler eating a red crossbill, and several years ago, as I captured a rattler with a red crossbill (another one)

in his mouth, he regurgitated it so that he could defend himself.    That dead bird was amazingly partially digested already, even though it only got 1/2 way down the snake gullet.

SO I think, with some poor visual evidence, that the rattler struck and killed the Steller's Jay this morning, then tried to swallow it back under a rock but couldn't fit it, so regurgitated it on his way back out to hunt.  The rattler would not confirm or deny my theory.  The dead jay was nowhere near a window, so I don't think it was a window strike.

Davis - at 6,000 ft. 4 miles NW of Lyons (Larimer County)

[Erik Hendrickson]

Good observations, very interesting - thank you.

Erik Hendrickson
Cortez, CO