Murder on the Grand! **Warning Graphic Nature Scene*

I was out the other day with a friend of mine after work near the Grand River and we came across this scene.  Warning, some of these images are graphic, the circle of life sometimes isn't so pretty.  This white-tailed deer was killed by Coyotes.

I find it interesting to look at the tracks of the wildlife that were consuming the deer.  We even found that the friendly little eastern chipmunks were feeding on the carcass and dragging little bits of the deer into their holes.

We also discovered a rare plant in the area, American columbo.  Credit to Andrew for spotting and identifying these plants.  This species has an S-rank of S2 meaning that this species is imperiled in the province.  This status is typically reserved for species with 20 or fewer known occurences in Ontario.

American Columbo remains visible as this dry stalk in the winter

Here is another rare plant (S3-vulnerable in Ontario) that we found to be present in good numbers along the Grand River, Pignut Hickory:

Some cute chipmunks leaving their den after a long winter!