Hawk Feeds on Pigeons at Ohio Home Depot

Associated Press / Newsday.com ^ | February 25, 2004, 8:34 AM EST | A.P.

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

NORTH OLMSTED, Ohio -- One visitor to Home Depot has been hunting for more than home improvement items.

A Cooper's hawk has been flying above the stocked shelves at a suburban Cleveland store for more than a week while feeding on pigeons that live in the rafters.

The brown bird's three-foot wing span casts a moving shadow across the concrete floor, causing customers and workers to duck and cock their heads toward the 25-foot ceiling.

The hawk entered the store through an open door while chasing a pigeon last Saturday. It caught its prey above the electrical aisle, worker Craig Warth said. Witnesses saw the hawk rip the pigeon apart and feed until nothing was left but feathers and claws.

"It wasn't a pretty sight," said Terry McGuire, assistant manager. "Some of the customers were upset. Some said it was the neatest thing they had ever seen."

Workers said about 15 pigeons were living in the store, but since the hawk arrived, few are left. Cooper's hawks are a protected species, so the bird can't be harmed or killed.

Local wildlife experts say the hawk will likely leave when the pigeons are gone.

Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press

[Bikers4Bush]

This is old. They trapped the Hawk and released him into the wild a number of days ago.

[RandallFlagg]

We've got hawks doing this all the time on the roof of our building. I'd be up there sneaking a smoke and see a wing, a leg, a beak, etc.

[spodefly]

I live in a semi-high rise (mid rise) condo in midtown Atlanta. I occasionally get to watch hawk/pigeon encounters out my window. There are 2 or 3 hawks that regularly fly around the neighborhood. There are way fewer pigeons now than there used to be.

[Jonah Hex]

I was walking through our local Busch Gardens theme park a couple of summers and observed a hawk drop a partially-eaten rabbit in front of a little girl in the crowd. She went into hysterics, while her parents were up in arms about the park management allowing this to happen(?).

They actually threatened to sue Busch because their little girl will carry the "mental scars" the rest of here life. The local manager did his best to sooth these tourons while reminding them that Mother Nature can be a bitch (or words to that effect).

Me? I just sat back and watched, amused and bemused. It was an amusement park after all......

[redhead]

"We had a hawk sitting on our deck railing a foot from the back door last week. We have bird feeders that the squirrels, chipmunks, and mice are always at - I think he was hunting around them."

We have sparrow hawks here in Southcentral Minn. Every year, they manage to get a couple from around my bird feeder. A hawk takes a sparrow, then flies to the top of our 7' board fence to enjoy his lunch. The process takes about an hour, while he devours his prize then rests while it digests. I have some pictures, but they aren't very good.

[SENTINEL]

Here in Alaska, and I mean midtown Anchorage, even twenty pound dogs aren't safe from the bald eagles.

[redhead]

"On Travel Channel, they showed a fancy hotel in some Arab place where the management employs a hawk & master and regularly has the hawk patrol the grounds. Keeps the fancy place pigeon free and clean."

Isn't this the reason why New York has peregrine falcons nesting on some of the high buildings? To prey on the innumerable pigeons that infest the place?

[Xenalyte]

You just gotta love nature, red in tooth and claw.

[sandydipper]

We have 2 resident Red Shoulder hawks that raise a chick or 2 every year. I've never seen them go after another bird, they seem to perfer frogs, worms or rats. The Merlin is another story - he flies right into the scrub after smaller birds. Great Show.

[CholeraJoe]

Same story in Montana. I once saw a Bald Eagle square off with a border collie over road kill. The eagle won.

[TXBSAFH]

That is the way of nature.

[SENTINEL]

How'd they keep the warhead from going off ?

[Bikers4Bush]

Lol, it must have hit against the hamster they used as bait.

[KarlInOhio]

In an attempt to be competitive, the North Olmsted Lowe's has a pack of wolves hunting in its aisles.

[ZOTnot]

After you're finished with him send him to my house. I could use a good 'roof-cleaning'.

[ZOTnot]

After you're finished with him send him to my house. I could use a good 'roof-cleaning'.

[b4its2late]

Excellent! We need more hawks. I could use one here.

[mewzilla]

Nature red in tooth and claw. We've got a hawk around here that likes to go after the sparrows.

[mabelkitty]

I don't understand why this is national news.
This happens in my yard all the time.
First time I got in my vehicle and turned it on, next thing I know, feathers and down were sprinkling on my windshield.
Freaked me out, and those hawks are HUGE.

[ArrogantBustard]

You just gotta love nature, red in tooth beak and claw.

Us predatory-type birds don't have teeth. We have razor sharp beaks.

But you already knew that.