A fox moves like a red shadow through the frosted grass of a snowy meadow. A movement in the grass attracts its attention. The fox makes a daring grab and comes up with a long-tailed mouse in its jaws.
On winds that span eight feet, a bald eagle soars over a lake, searching the water for prey. Suddenly the great, white-headed bird drops down, plucks a fish from the water with its talons, and climbs back into the sky.
Watching a predator at work is a thrill. Because they stalk other animals, many predators are by nature stealthy and secretive. They are, themselves, watchers. Predators do not feed in groups in open meadows, and few exhibit behavior that attracts attention to themselves as do bugling elk or noisy, territorial songbirds. This means viewing predators takes more work, knowledge and luck on your part.
That bushy-tailed red shadow, the red fox, is a common carnivore well-adapted to life near humans, and one that is not particularly secretive in habit. Foxes hunt by day and night, especially in the winter when prey is harder to find. Watch for them in meadows and open woodlands, along streams, and in open spaces in urban and suburban areas statewide. Winter is a wonderful time to watch for foxes and their tracks, snow-captured records of the hunt.
On a quiet Colorado evening listen for the howling of the song-dog, the voice of the American West. Intelligent, adaptable hunters, coyotes live literally everywhere – on farms and ranch lands, in mountain meadows and parks, in urban and suburban open spaces, even on airport runways. Watch for these prick-eared, busy-tailed canids trotting in the open or poised on a high spot. On the hunt for small mammals, a coyote pauses, listening and looking at the ground intently. Hearing the scratching and rustling of a mouse beneath the grass or snow, the hunter rears and pounces, pinning the hapless rodent with its forepaws. Often left on trails and paths, coyotes scat is a frequent sign of coyotes in the neighborhood. It is a dog-like, but usually drier and contains hair, berries and plant material.
Birds of prey are highly visible predators. Red-tailed, rough-legged, ferruginous and Swainson’s hawks. American kestrels, and prairie falcons are common roadside raptors. You’re liable to see them sitting atop telephone poles or wires, or soaring slowly on thermal wind currents above fields and meadows. Kestrels sometimes hover in the air watching for prey on the ground. Red-tailed hawks circle lazily on the thermals. Ferruginous are winter hawks and accomplished prairie dog hunters. A common marshland resident, the harrier, flies low over the ground, its wings held up at a “V”. It not only looks but listens for prey on the ground; a dish-shaped ruff around its face helps it gather sound, similar to the facial disks of an owl.
There’s something about a bald eagle, with its snowy white head, hooked beak and fierce-looking “eagle eyes,” that seems the essence of wildness. While a handful nest in Colorado from October to May, inhabiting areas near open water. They often patrol lakes for injured waterfowl during hunting season. Colorado’s other eagle, the golden, is a year-round resident and hunter of open areas near canyons and rocky habitat.
A large shape wings silently past you at night–the consummate night hunter, a great horned owl. Great horned owls are common statewide; in the evening you may hear the owl’s characteristics hoo-oo-oo call. Watch for their large, cylindrical shapes on tree limbs close to the trunk. They’re especially easy to see in winter when the trees are bare. Great horned owls are early nesters; they’re usually moved into an old magpie or hawk nest and are sitting on eggs by February. You’ll know a favorite roost by the accumulation of digestive pellets on the ground below (owls and hawks expel the indigestible hair and bones of their prey in matte, compact pellet).
But what about the big hunters, the ones we most associate with the term “predator?” the notoriety of black bears and mountain lions is due to their size and reputation (deserve or otherwise) rather than visibility. Few of us have likely seen a bear lion on the wild. These animals secretive habits make them elusive to wildlife watchers, and going out in search of bears and lions is not the best idea. Though these large predators usually avoid humans, if followed and cornered they may attack in self-defense.
Instead of trying to see bears and lions, enjoy seeking their sign. Tracks are exciting to find and fun to decipher. Although, you’re unlikely to find bear tracks in the winter, their track is quite distinctive. Bears walk on the soles on their feet (plantigrade) like humans; their hind prints are shaped like a human’s, with a long flat sole and five toes in front. The pad of the front paw print is smaller than the hind, and wedge-shaped. Lions leave a four-toed print (digitigrade) like a domestic cat, though obviously much bigger. Watch for tracks at watering places, along trails and little-used backcountry roads, and in soft ground, loose dirt and snow.
Scat is another clue. Despite their formidable size, strength and impressive teeth and claws, black bears are omnivores. As much as 90 percent of their diet is plant material. Black bear scat is a thick, blunt-ended cord commonly full of vegetation and insects. In fall, when bears eat lots of berries, the scat is soft and dark; in summer, it may resemble horse manure–drier and greener from eating more green vegetation. Lion scat resembles a domestic cat’s, but much larger. It contains hair and is often very dark or whitish, both indicators that the animal is eating animal flesh. Lions also make scrapes–piles of dirt and vegetation to cover their feces–similar to the scratching of a domestic cat. Scrapes are often found in low areas between rock outcroppings or land features, natural areas for animal crossings. Part of the function of scrapes may be territorial marking.
For detailed information on animal sign, a good animal tracks guide is invaluable.