News from the Friends of Reinstein

National EE Week Part 1: Scavengers!

Happy National Environmental Education Week! Reinstein Woods is excited to be part of this national effort that encourages and celebrates environmental learning across the United States. To celebrate, this week we’ll be highlighting some interesting nature sightings and activities at Reinstein Woods!

Recently a deer passed away in Reinstein Woods, we think after being hit by a car. Since in nature everyone is someone else’s lunch, we were curious who would visit the carcass. Naturalist Intern Heather Rutherford mounted a trail camera at the site of the carcass and recorded the visitors over four days in early March. The camera revealed visitors that you are likely to see on a stroll through Reinstein Woods, and also more reclusive creatures that call Reinstein Woods home.

The first visitor was a red-tailed hawk. The most common hawk in New York State, the red-tailed hawk is often seen sitting on telephone posts along roads, searching for small mammals in the grass below. This raptor will take advantage of carrion like this fresh deer. 

This or a different hawk visited the carcass on each of three successive days, showing off the red tail that gives it its name. 

The next visitor was a white-tailed deer who may have wandered in out of curiosity, or just by chance.While white-tailed deer are most active at dawn and dusk, their abundant local population makes them a frequent sighting on walks through Reinstein Woods.

Within a couple of hours, a coyote appeared on camera. These much misunderstood animals live at Reinstein Woods but are seldom seen. They will scavenge on deer carcasses but don’t often kill adult deer, preferring instead to hunt for smaller animals like rabbits, mice, voles, and other small mammals. They will eat insects and berries at certain times of year as well. (Humans are not on their list of preferred dinner items).

The coyote stuck around for only a few minutes on this first visit, but as soon as the coyote was finished with its snack, a red fox stepped in for a meal (note the time on the photo below).

These smaller members of the canine family will also feed on a dead carcass, but their diet mainly consists of small mammals, birds, eggs and fruit. Fox enjoy the mix of habitats provided by suburban neighborhoods, so it is not unusual to encounter one at twilight at Reinstein Woods or to spot one in the surrounding neighborhood.

Over the next couple of days, the camera captured several visits by coyote and red fox. Interestingly, in the early hours of March 9, a fox was enjoying a meal…

When it was interrupted by not one…

but two coyotes!