Greenfinch on a rose hip. BW.
Red Squirrels readily eat rose hips. Since they cannot sit on the flimsy branches of rose bushes, they eat the rose hips on the ground, biting them lengthwise to reach the core. Mice gnaw sideways into the rose hip and pull the core out, leaving the remains lying under the bushes at feeding sites. Mice are secretive when feeding, so the remains of a meal are usually hidden.
Rose hips with Red Squirrel feeding signs (left and middle); mice (right).
Numerous birds, like Fieldfare and other thrushes, eat the red flesh of the fruit and leave the core behind. Finches—Greenfinch, for instance—peck into the flesh of the fruit just to reach the seeds; they do not eat the flesh itself.
Rose hips with Greenfinch feeding signs. BB.
