Buzzards and Ants

As I returned from my morning walk, I see in the middle of the one way three lane road next to my house a recently deceased by way of tire... squirrel. In the past, kind street walkers have bestowed on me the honor of disposing of dead squirrels hit by vehicles with tossing the road kill into my yard. Not on the easement, but into my yard.

So, it was surprising to see that two large buzzards were on my sidewalk when I peeked back outside after a bit that day. Then it dawned on me... they have the squirrel. And indeed they retrieved the squirrel from the road and sat under the shade of the pecan trees that line my easement and dined greatly in the cool of the day. They chose the sidewalk for their meal. They took turns pecking away at the slowly dwindling carcass as I hopped into my car to run an errand.

When returning from my short trip, the buzzards were nowhere to be found. I walked down the sidewalk to see the last remains of a fluffy tail and several bones. I head back inside to retrieve my handheld picker upper and a bag to gather the remains. When returning to the place where the meal was consumed, I tried to pick what was left over up, but the leftovers were heavier than I assumed.

I looked closely at the carcass and notice an army of ants feasting on an abundance of food from their perspective. I decide to forgo lifting the sticky remains up. I cover the remains with a bough of pecan leaves from a broken branch and leave the ants in peace. My hope is they are the Meat Ant that is known to pick a carcass clean. Then perhaps a wayward dog can come along and gather the bones to bury or consume.