It's not uncommon for a lot of animals the general public thinks of as either cute/docile and vegetarian as otherwise omnivorous. Cows and horses are the easy one because they will quite literally hoover up small enough animals like mice and birds, but then you get onto things like woodpeckers which use their bills to burrow into the brains of larger bird chicks while still stuck in their nests.
"Nature is metal" is the subreddit/trope name for good reasons.
Explaining how mice will eat their own young if their nest is discovered by a predator is always a grim one. Sure mice will eat insects, worms, molusc, and other things in general, but explaining cannibalism in order to reclaim the energy spent producing the brood rather than leave it to waste or the predator is a special kind of horror for many.
Well dang, I once discovered a nest of rat pups in a box while moving stuff in a garage, and I smashed them with a brick out of spite. Guess I was just pre-masticating them for their mother.
I'm surprised this is the first time. As far as I know, it's not uncommon for chipmunks to eat frogs, and they're basically squirrels.
It's not uncommon for a lot of animals the general public thinks of as either cute/docile and vegetarian as otherwise omnivorous. Cows and horses are the easy one because they will quite literally hoover up small enough animals like mice and birds, but then you get onto things like woodpeckers which use their bills to burrow into the brains of larger bird chicks while still stuck in their nests.
"Nature is metal" is the subreddit/trope name for good reasons.
Explaining how mice will eat their own young if their nest is discovered by a predator is always a grim one. Sure mice will eat insects, worms, molusc, and other things in general, but explaining cannibalism in order to reclaim the energy spent producing the brood rather than leave it to waste or the predator is a special kind of horror for many.
Well dang, I once discovered a nest of rat pups in a box while moving stuff in a garage, and I smashed them with a brick out of spite. Guess I was just pre-masticating them for their mother.