ちぎれた足事件：A Case of a Torn Foot (or A Case of a Discarded Foot of a Common Coot)

河川敷の殺人（厳密に言うと「人」ではありませんが）事件です！いつもの場所にゴマダラチョウの幼虫を探しに行きました。勘がよくなったのか1本の木に4匹の越冬幼虫を見つけることができました。それはよかったのですが、帰り道にもう一度確認しようとその木に立ち寄ると、何と、足元に鳥の足が落ちているではありませんか。通常の鳥の足ではありません。鱗状に広がった足先、黄色みを帯びた跗蹠。一瞬恐竜の足？と思いました。落ち着いて観察すると、広がった足は弁足のようです。弁足の色や形はまるで生きているように鮮やかで、骨に付いている腱や肉片も新鮮です。形状と大きさからしてオオバンのものと思われます。また、周囲に羽毛が散乱していないことから、おそらくオオタカなど大きな猛禽がオオバンを襲ってたらふく食べた跡の残骸を、カラスあるいはトビなどが拾って、食べられる部分を食べて捨てたものと推測しました。

    It's a murder (not strictly speaking "of a person") on a riverbank! 

    I went to my usual spot to look for larvae of the Gomadaracho. As if my intuition had improved, I found four overwintering larvae on the foot of a tree. That was good, but when I stopped by the same tree on my way home to check again, I was surprised to find a bird's foot with naked bones attached to it lying on the ground. 

    It was not a normal bird's foot, but a scaly foot with a yellowish tarsus. The color and shape of the toes are vivid as if they were alive, and the tendons and pieces of meat attached to the bones are fresh. For a second, I thought it was a lizard's foot. Then I calmly observed it and found that the spread toe fingers seemed to be lobate toes. Then it must be the foot of a common coot many of which are around this time of the year. Since there are no feathers scattered around, I assume that, after a goshawk or other large bird of prey had attacked the the coot and devoured it, a crow or a kite must have picked up the leftovers, ate the edible parts, and threw the foot away.

    Anyhow it was a startling incident of otherwise common and peaceful visit to a riverbank.

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Photos 2022-01-04