Loggerhead shrike (prey items)

Description:

The Loggerhead Shrike is a passerine bird. It is the only member of the shrike family endemic to North America; the related Northern Shrike (L. excubitor) occurs north of its range but also in the Palearctic. The bird has a large hooked bill; the head and back are grey and the underparts white. The wings and tail are black, with white patches on the wings and white on the outer tail feather. The black face mask extends over the bill, unlike that of the similar but slightly larger Northern Shrike. The bird waits on a perch with open lines of sight and swoops down to capture prey. Its food is large insects and lizards . Known in many parts as the "Butcher Bird," it impales its prey on thorns or barbed wire before eating it, because it does not have the talons of the larger birds of prey. (information from Wikipedia)

Habitat:

Open prairie / cattle pasture

Notes:

As I drive county roads (secluded gravel roads between huge cattle pastures) I see A LOT of barbed wire fencing. It's amazing how many shrike prey items are impaled on these fences. The snake particularly caught my eye because of the size of the animal. It is a juvenile orange-striped ribbonsnake (Thamnophis proximus proximus) and seemed somewhat freshly killed. Then, about 20 feet away on another barb, I saw another shape so I inspected it. Turns out that one was a female rainbow scarab (Phanaeus vindex) and she was STILL ALIVE. I couldn't believe it. Her entire abdomen was eaten away and she was still moving her legs. That told me she hadn't been there very long.