Observe the Scavengers

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The ability to survive in the wilderness means utilizing all of your senses and applying your experience and skills to the process of staying alive.

Today while out hiking in the deep Spring snow, I heard a raucous bunch of crows in the forest nearby. From their tone, these crows were up to something interesting. I just had to check it out. Following their caws and cries through the brush toward their position, I made a most interesting discovery.

Many has been the time I have come upon a bunch of crows up to no good and making plenty of noise. Often they are harassing their arch enemies the owl or hawk, relying upon sheer weight of numbers to drive the offending predator away. On other occasions a mass of crows are dining on a carcass. Table manners aside, they work on a first come first serve basis with fights and scrambling for position all part of crow etiquette.

dead dear
Meat on the Hoof

The noise crows make while dining can be good news for you, the survivor. It could just be your dinner bell.

A short way into the forest and there it was, a freshly killed deer – not more than the day before. Upon seeing me eight or ten crows scattered from the carcass, cawing in anger at this newly arrived predator.

So far the crows and coyotes had managed to penetrate the body on the side opposite the ground. Most of the guts remained intact. This meant that on the side resting in the snow was the meat of nearly half a deer, resting on a thick layer of snow and ice.

Whoo Hoo! What a find this would be for the hungry survivor. Not only meat, but a good source of bone for tools and weapons, animal remains for trapping and fishing, and half a hide.  Great for improvising a great deal of survival gear.

The lesson here is that the survivor keeps in tune with his environment. By observing how the wildlife around him are behaving he can pick up many valuable clues. And they may even lead him to a great windfall meal foraged from the wild.

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SurviverMan
The best survival food in Meals Ready to Eat packaging!
knight
argentina
good. On a rescue party in the mountains here we were able to find a lost hiker (a middle aged woman with a mental disabilty and a heart condition) alive but unconcious thanks to vultures circling thespot where she had fallen in the brush. Watch the scavengers in the wilderness - they alwys have something to tell
Ron
NH
Good Knight, nature's signalling device! Who would've thunk that?!
You found an MRE
Man himself was at first a scavenger, surviving on food that was first taken by predators. These meals were the first Meals Ready to Eat!
Brock
TN
One thing to watch out for though are even bigger scavengers (bears, coyotes, mountain lions) that have the same idea as yourself. Be cautious and attentive of your surroundings; keep food away from your shelter.
SurviverMan
Good call Brock - YOU could end up as scavenger food if you are not carefull!
LgMan
Boston
Or you could hide nearby and wait for fresh meat to come along. You could bag a coyote, fox, fisher, lynx and other predators. Even a couple of crows ha!

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