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

[Wombat101]

Come to my neck of the woods and see all the Perrigrin Falcons that nest on the Verrazano Narrows bridge. You can watch 'em dive for fish that get turned up in the wake of passing frieghters, attack seagulls and harass the squirrels in the nearby park.

Nature does some pretty neat stuuf, huh?

[Xenalyte]

Oh, I knew it all right . . . Tennyson didn't, though. (Or maybe he was thinking about tigers or pumas or similar.)

[Wombat101]

Perrigrine...excuse me...

[Publius]

I just wish I could have watched it knock it down in mid air.

Saw it happen in New Jersey back in the Sixties. A Cooper's hawk went into dive bomber mode and snagged a pigeon. You could hear the impact, a loud smack. Then he "pulled the stick up" and took it home for dinner at his leisure.

[Muleteam1]

"How much do I have left on my card?"

[r9etb]

Cool. Just plain damned cool. What a great opportunity to watch a hawk doing what it does.

[RightField]

#34
Oh my gosh ... are you in North Olmsted? There's a Lowes there now? I graduated from NOHS in 1966, left town in July of that same year, and never returned! I bet I wouldn't recognize it.

[Sabatier]

Cool. Lucky hawk. Doesn't have to stand in a Home Depot line waiting for the clerk to do a price check on a 99 cent pack of finishing nails.

[landorepub]

I live in Florida and there were 2 ospreys living on top of the office building where I work. I witnessed a pick and kill one day. Absolutely incredible. It was pigeon one second then *poof* a cloud of feathers.

[Labyrinthos]

"Some of the customers were upset. DEMOCRATS

Some said it was the neatest thing they had ever seen." REPUBLICANS

"Where can I buy one?" CONSERVATIVES

[ArrogantBustard]

Lions, and Tigers, and Bears!




(Oh my!)

[GraniteStateConservative]

I thought this was another Paul Wolfowitz hit-piece.

: )

[MainFrame65]

Several months ago I went down to Tunica, MS, the new gambling mecca of the Old South, to see a lecture by Buz Aldrin, one of the astronauts who went to the Moon. But I was frequently distracted from the lecture by a large owl that had somehow entered the theater and would intermittently fly from place to place among all of the fixtures, curtains, and other paraphenalia hanging from the theater ceiling.

The theater manager said that like all raptors, the owl is a protected species, so they were not allowed to harm it in any way. They were still trying to find someone to trap and remove it.

[af_vet_rr]

heh... The Circle of Life? I'm sure the home depot manager is secretly happy because pigeons are filthy.

You have to love nature, sometimes it takes care of things that humans have a hard time with, from pigeons to idiots who probably shouldn't be having kids.

Home Depot - they should advertise a free show with every purchase :-)

[MadelineZapeezda]

I had a small dog who would go crazy when he saw a shadow moving over the ground. We figured that he had been attacked as a puppy and had managed to get away.

I don't think your puppy would be here today if he had an encounter with a hawk. I've seen them soar down and pick up small animals and carcasses w/o skipping a beat. I always fear for my cat's safety.

[cyborg]

Yep. I see an Animal Planet documentary 'Rats vs.Pigeons' in the near future *lol*

[KarlInOhio]

Oh my gosh ... are you in North Olmsted? There's a Lowes there now?

I had to look on a map to find it. I'm closer to the other corner of Ohio. I have no idea if there is a Lowe's there. I'm just used to seeing HD and Lowe's opening up in pairs.

[NotQuiteCricket]

I don't think your puppy would be here today if he had an encounter with a hawk. I've seen them soar down and pick up small animals and carcasses w/o skipping a beat. I always fear for my cat's safety.

Well, you never know. He was a stray - so maybe he saw someone carted off (or should that be carried?).

[af_vet_rr]

Come to my neck of the woods and see all the Perrigrin Falcons that nest on the Verrazano Narrows bridge. You can watch 'em dive for fish that get turned up in the wake of passing frieghters, attack seagulls and harass the squirrels in the nearby park.

Down on the Texas coast (Port Aransas/Corpus Christi area) there is a large section of land set aside for wintering birds. Lots of ospreys and other raptors live there through the winter, and it's always impressive to take a walk/tour through there and see them in action. I believe it's called the Port Aransas Wildlife Refugee or Center. Very large, and you can take boat tours or kayak/canoe tours through there.

We've went a few times and just about everytime, somebody would ask how they can get this or that type of hawk or whatever to live around their home.

There is also a raptor rehabilitation center somewhere up around Dallas. I saw a quick blurb on tv about it. They rescue and return several hundred raptors every year (upwards of 300+), and they do use live prey to get them ready for release back into nature. That would be a fun job. I'm surprised PETA hasn't protested, lol.

[Night Hides Not]

Thanks for reminding me of an old joke:

What's the difference between birds of prey and Army Air Defense Artillery?

Army ADA eats their young.

Spoken from experience as an ADA officer, 20 years removed from active duty.