baby thrashers, week 3

Then there were none...


I checked the nest on Sunday, and the chicks were still there and growing rapidly, but by Tuesday they were gone.


I saw an adult Brown Thrasher, Toxostoma rufum, near the bottom of this brush pile, which is where the nest is located. I thought maybe the chicks, which had become rather large for the nest, had maybe descended into the pile, to a place less exposed than at the top of the brush pile.


Then, earlier today, my brother-in-law took this photo, of an Eastern or Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, sitting in the nest. As I said, the nest has been empty for several days now, so the snake did not dine on baby Brown Thrasher today, but may have earlier in the week.

The cycle of life, a great wheel that never ceases to turn. Some must die so that others may live, that is the nature of life and death. One is simply the complement of the other. Without death, there can be no new life. Nature created this balance. While I would have been tempted to interfere with this balance, to try to save the chicks, I try to not disturb the balance Nature has created. Who am I to presume that I know better than Nature what is best? Is the Garter Snake less worthy to live than the Brown Thrasher chicks?

Previous Baby Brown Thrasher posts:
baby thrashers, week 2
we have babies
the cycle of life continues