Red in beak and claw

While out on a recovery walk, done in hopes of aiding healing, I spied two crows intently busy on the grass. The larger of the pair was stabbing vehemently downward with its dagger-like beak, and it struck me this was much more effort than required for snagging earthworms.  As I got closer, I could see something gray wriggling in front of the birds; it was a medium-sized rat, which the bird was finishing off and starting  to butcher. The bigger crow picked up the dead-looking rodent by a scruff of skin and flew over to  a garage roof, where it resumed stabbing and tearing as its companion looked on with evident interest.  After my recent experience with laparoscopic surgery, I felt a twinging in my guts.
Didn't know crows could do in rats, but I admire them all the more for it.  Did not stay around for the final portioning out.