Posted on 07/29/2018 9:18:49 PM PDT by EinNYC
My mother has two indoor cats. They have been declawed I have told her not to let them out. They are now as defenseless in many situations and can’t climb a tree to safety. It would be the same as sending a soldier out with a golf club. If the cat has the standard equipment then it can hold its own. Declawed means indoor forever to me. IMO. Couldn’t talk mom out of it.
I don't know if such birds remain downtown or if firms continue to let birds nest high-up in their buildings.
Three early mornings ago I was standing on my front porch watching our 25 lb poodle use the front yard.
It was still mostly dark, security light came on.
An owl swooped down to within about 3 ft of the dog. It either saw me or realized the prey was too large.
Fly to a nearby tree . Completely silent.
I ran into the house to get a camera but it flew off before I got back out.
Think it was a barred owl.
5 or 6 years ago had a Horned Owl decide it wanted a try out our little Yorkie. I heard it squeal and got to the door just in time to see my Jack Russell hit the owl running full blast. There was about a 15 second scuffle and the owl managed to get back in the air minus a few feathers and the Yorkie.
Peregrine falcons prefer nesting in Atlanta high-rises to north GA canyons.
Redtails and hawks in general can carry about 1/3 to 1/2 of their weight. The larger female redtails can weigh about 3 pounds or a bit more and can fly off with one pound or so, a sqirrel. When they kill or find dead animals, such as squirrel road kills, they like to eat it on the ground or carry it a short distance to a low tree limb. That's why this one did not want to get out of the road since they are not good heavy lifters.
There is a video of a cat confronting a hawk on the ground. Eventually the hawk flies away with its prey, but had to drop if about 50 feet away. (I won't link the video since the lying title is click bait, which got this SOB 2 million views.)
Owls, on the other hand, are the heavy lifters. Great Horned Owls that are 3 pounds can supposedly carry 8-9 pounds. Cats and small dogs, look out!
There are all kinds of fake videos of hawks carrying large animals. It won't happen.
We call in coyotes with the sound of human babies crying. They come running.
Coolest recent hawk video I’ve seen featured a young fox with a rabbit it killed. The fox is trotting through the brush and a hawk swoops in and takes the rabbit away from the young fox. Nature is amazing. I have multiple raptors in my area: owls, red-tailed hawk, kestrels, & others I have yet to ID.
Great photography!
“He’s in your home state,
he’s outside your door ...
he’s going to eat you up!”
I used to work at a camp. Was in my office when I heard something slam against a large window in the main room. On the ground were two stunned birds-a hawk and a little wren (I think it was a wren). Must have crashed into the window as the hawk was grabbing the smaller bird
I watched them until they both came to. The wren regained consciousness first, walked in little circles then finally flew away when the hawk was just starting to stand. The hawk flew off in the opposite direction. Not seeing a window saved the little bird’s life for the moment.
I agree, I have Owls in my back yard, I have not been able to see them, but I hear them at night. When they start their hooting the cats get all bunched up, its like they know something wicked this way comes.
Very prevalent in my wooded neighborhood ~ always keep my yorkie on a short leash for potty breaks, cats kept indoors ....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/cbw5k9aada5panx/squirrelride.m4v?dl=0
This is a "Yankee Flipper", and it works great (though it is expensive, $135 on Amazon!)
Funny, I was so disappointed, because squirrels are smart in their own squirrel way, even if they can't cross roads without getting run over...and they learn. They just stop trying to go on it after they go for a few "rides"...but if you let the battery run down...they do try it once in a while, and will be back on it! I have another video that is about 2.5 minutes long showing a squirrel just hanging on, determined to run the battery down!
right click on the box and click on view image
I agree. I live in the Texas Hill Country. While driving into town a few years ago, I observed a large Red Tail swoop down and scoop up a jackrabbit that was at least 4 times as long and many times his weight. He didn’t get far in the air but did manage to drag him into the ditch next to the road. There he dispatched him and began eat his catch. I think extreme hunger will cause them to behave in aberrant ways. They do what they have to do to survive.
Whaaaaaat? You mean they can’t lift a mountain goat??????
Just kidding...good, post! I never really looked at raptors and ranked them by their pound by pound heavy lifting capability!
Hawks are often in cities. A couple of years ago there was a live Web Cam watching a nest on a building ledge near Washington Square.
I’ve learned to stay far, far away from the animal “rescue” people. Evil. Made the mistake of calling them twice and both times I had to rescue the animal from them because they admitted they usually kill the animals.
Heard a big commotion in the yard a few days ago. Our smallest cat decided a big blue heron looked tasty or maybe he thought she looked tasty. Both escaped.
I never much liked cats until I was given two female kittens which I accepted for rodent control. They remained strictly outdoor cats that I would house in a detached garage and feed daily.
Outdoor cats are amazingly different from house cats. They become far more athletic, are highly territorial, and are deadly and fearsome hunters.
At the same time, ours have always been far more affectionate than ant indoor cats we had. They will drop whatever they’re doing and come racing to you when called. They will go for walks with their owners just like dogs do. And they always followed me around the property when there were tasks to do. When I took a break from clearing brush, they would jump up to sit on my lap. I’ve even had them climb ladders to join my on the roof when I cleaned gutters.
They seem to have no fear. This may be hard to believe but I had one of my bigger outdoor cats bring home a great grey owl. On another occasion, I watched a different cat sneak up on a bald eagle perched on a dead tree stump. The cat spooked the eagle who took off from the stump. But when eagles take off, their weight sometimes drops them down a bit before they gain altitude. When that happened the cat leaped into the air and narrowly missed the bottom of the bird. I don’t think that would have been a good outcome for the cat. It’s not always good to be that fearless.
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