Raven Snatches Up Baby Rabbit And Flies Off With Him Clamped In His Beak (PICTURES)

SWNS  |  By Posted: 2/05/2012 14:05 Updated: 2/05/2012 14:33

Source: SWNS

A tiny bunny met with a grisly end after being snatched up and carried off by a hungry Raven.

The rabbit's doomed last moments were captured by amateur photographer Bob Sharples, who was driving near Marazion Marsh, Cornwall, when he noticed the abduction.

The retired Royal Naval petty officer stopped his car after noticing a "black shape carrying something rather large in its beak".

He said: "I turned the car around, grabbed my camera and zoomed in. When I realised what it was I thought it was pretty amazing.

"I've had a couple of shots with birds with prey, but nothing like this."

Experts are in a flap about the sighting, describing it as a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.

Gary Lewis, from the Cornwall Wildlife Trust, said: "I have never seen a raven carrying a piece of prey that size - and I have been looking at nature for 50 years.

"It is certainly unusual, and amazing to capture it on camera.

"Ravens are opportunist feeders and my guess is that this rabbit had either died of natural causes or was sick and therefore easy prey, because it's unlikely a raven could have caught it if it was a healthy rabbit.

"But all things are possible, there's a possibility it could have caught it unaware."

Bob, from Helston, Cornwall, added: "It was Easter Friday that I took the picture and I remember thinking, 'it's not a very good Easter for this bunny'."

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Source: SWNS A tiny bunny met with a grisly end after being snatched up and carried off by a hungry Raven. The rabbit's doomed last moments were captured by amateur photographer Bob Sharples, ...
Source: SWNS A tiny bunny met with a grisly end after being snatched up and carried off by a hungry Raven. The rabbit's doomed last moments were captured by amateur photographer Bob Sharples, ...
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Worleybird
Retired and angry
05:38 PM on 05/04/2012
It's not unusual, I was out walking my property one day and heard a blackbird screeching and he had a baby rabbit pinned down and I started running toward him and he stayed till the last second before flying away , when I got to the rabbit he had patches of fur missing around his neck I tried to catch and help him but he scampered away in the brush.. I do believe he survived.
03:58 PM on 05/03/2012
why is this news?
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photo
03:11 AM on 05/03/2012
Scavenger bird. Feeds off decay. Same Phylum as the Wall Street Broker.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Andrew Harvey
Don't F with the Jesus
04:23 AM on 05/03/2012
Give it a rest. they went broke lending too much money to the people. What's your complaint?
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vetxcl
10:45 PM on 05/02/2012
Now that's something I don't see every day. I'm guessing that Ravens are just as smart as crows, but a bit larger.
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north of 60
Quando Omni Flunkus Moritati
02:18 AM on 05/03/2012
Ravens are the bigger smarter cousins of the crows.

It's common to see them fly off with dead gophers or squirrels.
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Just4theHalibut
05:07 PM on 05/02/2012
Not a very good Easter for kids at an annual outdoor Egg hunt at a church in Juneau Alaska. The local ravens know about it in minutes and find (and carry away) all the eggs. The kids don't have a chance. And no, I don't think the ravens remember from last year (it is a moveable feast after all). They are just on the watch all the time, and have an amazing communications system.
Heaven forbid you put your groceries in the back of your pickup and then make another short stop at the bank. You will return to find the bread and cookies torn open and most of them gone, and several ravens on the nearby roof, talking to each other and pointedly ignoring you.
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DanoX
I'll be your snack-pack baby!
04:13 PM on 05/02/2012
Are ravens raptors?
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lakabux
Imagine...
04:56 PM on 05/02/2012
No. Ravens are corvids. Along with crows, rooks, jays & magpies.
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DanoX
I'll be your snack-pack baby!
07:12 PM on 05/02/2012
I thought so. So how rare would this event be? To see a corvid take large live prey?