Posted on 07/29/2018 9:18:49 PM PDT by EinNYC
This is NYC, not rural NJ. This is what makes this so weird. While my neighbor's 18 month old and 3 year old daughters were happily splashing around in a little pool in the yard, a red tailed hawk landed on the porch railing not 10' from the little girls. My neighbor shot several pics with her cell phone. She would have called me over, knowing I'm an avid birder, but I had just left in my car on an errand. Scared that the raptor might hurt her kids, she grabbed them and took them inside. I guess Mr. Hawk was interested in the flock of sparrows always hanging around or maybe one of the pesky squirrels who like to dig up my garden plants. Or maybe it was interested in the water in the pool. Who knows?
I once saw a young Red Tail dive bomb a cat. The cat turned and gave him a “what the hell??” look and the hawk decided that maybe this wasn’t meal material and flew off.
I had a couple of semi-close encounters with a Red Tail hawk.
A Red Tail was limping in my side yard, then flat out just stopped and wouldn’t move at all. He saw me and still just kinda sat there.
I called wild life people in the county and they said I had to bring the hawk in in order for it to get some help.
So, I decided to throw a blanket over it, then box it and take it where it could get some help.
I got within about 5 feet away and he\she managed to flutter up into a tree.
By the time i put stuff away and came back, the hawk was gone.
Another time I am on a golf course and I am wearing an orange hunters hat. All of a sudden, a hawk diving right at me with it’s talons open. I raised a golf club and he\she pulled up.
Not sure if it was the golf club or he\she realized the orange thing wasn’t breakfast. I didn’t have to change my shorts but it was that kind of event.
Based on the 2x4 railing it’s standing on (actually 1.5”x3.5”) the beak to back of head is 7”+/- so it’s “Bigger than Yer Average Sparrow” so using that scale it’s 28”+/- from peak of head to end of tail feathers. Best I can tell anyway.
Hope that’s close enough.
See Post 23
My next door neighbor just lost a small young pup to a hawk recently. Broke her heart. Be aware these are hunters of opportunity. Full grown dogs and cats are pretty generally safe. The young on the other hand can become prey pretty fast. The great horned owls around here are heavy weapons. Jack rabbits aren’t small and they are on the menu.
From Wiki:
The red-tailed hawk is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo, typically weighing from 690 to 1,600 g (1.5 to 3.5 lb) and measuring 45–65 cm (18–26 in) in length, with a wingspan from 110–141 cm (3 ft 7 in–4 ft 8 in). This species displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males.
So it looks like I’m real close.
Neighbor..called and told me to go out and look.
Well...he's Osage native....and I'm Pottawatomi native...but I don't much believe in owls and hawks and things...waiting near you to die.
I liked looking at the hawk...thought he was either hunting, resting...or an old hawk....He flew...off and never saw him again...
Told a friend once....I was walking out down and old unused road..at dark after bow-hunting...
The moon was bright....and that little owl....circled me..and was very curious...about me....almost to my truck.
That was at least 10 years ago.....but my friend who is Creek native...raised her eyebrows...at the time...And shook her head!!
I laughed...I don't believe in that stuff....Critters are curious things....
In fact it might be a female based on Wiki size info. Might have a 5’ wingspan.
Or maybe it came from Brooklynn;)
I understand the concern but haven’t experienced that kind of heartbreak, yet.
we are watching my sons 5 month old brindle boxer. He got him when he was like 6 weeks old.
We only recently allowed him out on a 20 ft dog run. We waited, not so much because of the hawks but because of the coyotes.
I wonder if the hawk in this thread starter might have been eyeing the kids ?
They’re probably watching to see if you scare any rodents. Pretty common for owls to follow people or animals at night.
Rat dogs are game for orators an coyotes.
POS spell check
I doubt it. They would have been big enough to cause pause. It may have been squeals and playing might have seemed interesting. It’s likely it’s looking for a bird or rodent. The raptors are amazing hunters. They see stuff humans never notice. If its small as quart jar or less then it’s probably a menu item. Snakes will qualify. They are amazing hunters. Osprey and eagles fish the rivers out here in Idaho. They get their feet wet. They generally have fish for dinner. They do better at fishing than me.
They r trying to eat my cat, so he stays indoors during daylight
OK, thanks, I did not know that. And to the owls, glad to be of service.
Video about a sick bald eagle rescued by a human (Martin Tyner, of the Southwest Wildlife Foundation of Utah):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iQTZxUgt4Z8
Large owls are just as agressive as hawks. Thing about cats once they are about half grown, pound for pound they are nothing most other animals want to screw with. The predator might win but the cost is expensive. Easier ways to eat is what I think they figure. I’m glad my outdoor cats don’t weigh as much as my 3 year old border collie and wanting to play. Four feet of claws and chompers would be a problem.
My normally indoor cat likes to go out on the patio from time to time and lounge in the sun or eat some grass, but she seems to have gotten spooked recently and seems afraid to go out, or when she does she stays only a couple of ft. from the door. I think she may have gotten spooked by a hawk, which I have seen occasionally in the neighborhood.
Now THAT is an amazing treat to have one be that close to you. Co-worker who was a Master Falconer kept a pair of these for a few years.
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