Dr. Roundbottom: Scientist & Philosopher: A Hawk’s Meal

A Hawk’s Meal

Making use of the remaining time before winter, I have been working on my survey of faery predators within the Park ecosystem. A surprising variety of species, both native and invasive, make meals of the faeries. Documenting predation can be a tricky task, but sometimes, a naturalist gets lucky, as was the case with this common red tailed hawk and his meal of a poor hard-wing faery.

It was a quiet morning, thankfully dry and without a rain cloud in the sky. I decided to take advantage of the air to take a walk, and I carried my equipment with me as I always do. This late in the year, I did not expect to make any a new discovery. The sight of the hawk resting on an oak’s branch, its prey hanging loosely in its beak surprised me to the point of making a quickly squelched startled cry, nearly ruining my chance to make a capture.

Hard-wing faeries are not well understood in the park. Their morphology is particularly unusual, featuring the hard outer wings of a beetle, but possessing more mammalian limbs. Their body structure lends more creedence to Mortonlowe’s theory that the faeries are not naturally evolved, but artificial creations, at least in their genesis. I have always considered Mortonlowe’s theory to display a certain lack of imagination. The physical laws of this world are not the same as those that allowed for the evolution of insects and humans in another. Perhaps an altered variation of the Anthropic Principle is at work here in the strange amalgam of traits to be found in the beasts.

I will admit that the recent events of the Bird Boggart War was the first thought on my mind upon seeing the hawk, and I expected at first that I would determine the prey to be a poor unsuspecting boggart–a casualty to lingering hostilities. I have heard of no boggart sightings since the end of the war, and I suspect that the tribes have withdrawn deeper into the Park’s boundaries, believing that they have acquired what they desired.

After I made my capture, I spoke softly to the hawk, wondering if it had something to tell me. It fixed me with a dumb stare, swallowed its prey whole, and took to the air, disappearing above the trees. I have read that the birds of prey–raptors–are of lesser intelligence. It’s only anecdotal, but I wonder if the raptors are not part of the bird group mind that forms the Bird Queen. Or perhaps they still have nothing to say to me.

In the coming weeks I will bring you more of the research I have been gathering on faery predation. Some of the captures were made earlier in the season, but I suspect you will find them most interesting. I would be very interested to hear of any examples of faery predation you have witnessed in your research, my fellow naturalists. Perhaps we can co-author a paper for Urbana Natura…

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A Scholarly Discussion

James Van Pelt

November 3rd, 2008 at
11:50 am

A startling picture to be sure, good Doctor. Although I’ve seen many hawks and some eagles in our area, I’ve not spotted them preying on the faery folk. Bull snakes and the larger garter snakes, though, often lay in wait in our gardens for the unwary creatures. I chase the snakes off when I find them, but their shed skins wrapped around the base of the rose bushes show that they frequent the area often.

Minister Scott Campbell

November 3rd, 2008 at
1:51 pm

I tend to disagree with Mortonlowe’s theory as well. That faery predation happens at all is a sign that the faery are part of the natural ecosystem. Usually when a foreign organism is introduced, it tends to disrupt the ecosystem something fierce. Unless there is evidence of this disruption, your belief in natural evolution would be valid.

Accepting ‘natural’ as relative when faery is involved.

Daniel Mortlewood

November 3rd, 2008 at
7:37 pm

Oh, I must say, that capture is so,.. graphic. You must have a stronger stomach than I, Doctor. I feel I must get some air.

Dr. Venitus

November 3rd, 2008 at
11:39 pm

Do not dispose of Mortonlowe’s rather elegant theorum. I find that the most truthful theories are the simplist, and Mortonlowe’s simplicity and robustness make it quite likely to shape future thought on the nature of life in this world.

Min. Campbell: faery predation is only the utilization of resource. Animals do not think ‘this is a mouse and therefore food, and this is a fairy and therefore not’. Indeed, the instinctive nature of animals is what separates them from us. Find the owner of a cat or dog and ask them if they will chase after a trailing string. Certainly it looks and smells nothing like food for either, yet their hunting instinct is so strong they will not pass this by.
Likewise, the hawks in the park are simply seizing upon an animal of about the right size for prey. Fairy meat is edible, though depending on specie, perhaps not palatable. Though I did once have a servant who made a kelpie bouillabaisse that was quite pleasant on a rainy fall evening.
As for fairy predation, I have no personal exploits to report. Though I recently came across a passage in Brownestein’s “Journey in The Deeps” that mentions Angler Whisps feeding off the bats in the caverns. A bit in the reverse of what you were asking for, however.