NEXT UP: 6th seed Island Fox vs. 11th seed Gray-bellied shrew opossum! #2020MMM 
The island Fox is endemic to the Channel Islands, an archipelago of 8 islands off the coast of California. The foxes are about the size of a house cat, w/ greyish to honey brown & red fur. They eat mice, insects, birds, & fruit tinyurl.com/shz6r8m #2020MMM
You might be wondering, what is a cute smol fox doing in a place like this? Scientists aren't sure! Some think they were introduced to the island by Indigenous People while others think the 'rafted' across before humans arrived at the islands tinyurl.com/tuk43fp #2020MMM
Living on an island changes much about behavior. Species on islands are often smaller (the island fox is ~2/3rds the size of mainland gray fox). They also tend to have smaller home ranges, reduced # offspring, and longer lives. tinyurl.com/rxdxwxm #FostersRule #2020MMM
Sadly, by the 1990s, the golden eagle had wiped out the majority of these foxes. These raptors were able to take over the niche left when the bald eagle population was decimated by DDT. One some islands, there were only 15 left! #2020MMM
The gray-bellied shrew opossum is a marsupial found in the western Andes of Ecuador and northwestern Peru. Their faces are elongated & their fur is brownish, with underfur that is gray (hence their name!). They eat arthropods, fruit, and smaller vertebrates. #2020MMM
The shrew use tiny tunnels under tree roots along small streams in wet grasslands. If you want to trap a shrew opossum to study them, the recommended bait is 6:2:2:1 mixture of peanut butter, oatmeal, raisins, & bacon! tinyurl.com/socu7st #funfact #2020MMM
Shrew Opossum finds itself on Santa Cruz island (shorturl.at/kwRWY), which has 1000+ plants/animals (including 3 types of bats!). While not its native habitat, it can do well here and is excited by all the insects to eat (shorturl.at/gpu58) #2020MMM
Shrew is spotted by island fox, who sees a tasty little treat. But unknown to the fox there is a raptor flying overhead….#2020MM
The raptor circles as the fox approaches the opossum #2020MMM
THE RAPTOR BEGINS DIVING, TALONS OUT... #2020MMM
SPLASH!!! #2020MMM
SPLASH???? This is a bald eagle, not a golden eagle! A restoration program relocated the golden eagles (& eliminated the feral pigs which attracted them), allowing the bald eagle to return to the islands. And Bald Eagles love to snatch fish... not foxes! #2020MMM
The Island Fox, now part of a community ecosystem on its way to recovery & restoration, undistracted by eagle drop, does its own drop on Caenolestid! tinyurl.com/ryhcomn #2020MMM
ISLAND FOX EATS GB CAENOLESTID!!!! #2020MMM
Check out the heroes behind this project: shorturl.at/rxYZ2. Their work led to the fastest recovery of any mammal under the Endangered Species Act! tinyurl.com/ryhcomn #2020MMM
