This may sound like a silly question, but I have been wondering about this for a while. I live in a suburban neighborhood with a lot of trees. A lot of trees means birds and squirrels. You can hear them all day and cant leave the house without seeing them.
So why dont we see dead birds and squirrels more often? I only really see them after they have been hit by a car.
My first thought was that nature was just really efficient at cleaning them up. Flies, foxes, and maybe birds of prey get to them before I notice. But that would have to be awfully efficient. When I see a dead squirrel in the road it can take weeks for the sun and the flies to remove it entirely. A fox would have trouble getting in to my backyard (lots of trees but it is fenced in), and I rarely ever see a hawk or a falcon in my area.
My second thought was that there may not be as many birds and squirrels as i think. Yes, there are a lot of them, but maybe I am seeing them same ones over and over again? Squirrels dont really travel THAT far from their homes so maybe I just see the same 10 squirrels all of the time, which makes me overestimate their numbers.
There is a store near my house that always has hundreds of pigeons hanging out in the parking lot. They fly up to the power lines and occasionally fly down for what I assume is left over food or trash. Im guessing they arent there at night, but during the day you can always see them. Why wouldnt you see more dead pigeons in an area with so many pigeons? I know they have relatively long lifespans but still, some of them must die of unnatural causes
Does anyone have any idea where they go?