Lady feeding raptors - law on my side? - Page 8

Quote:

Originally Posted by spolicas 

 

That's a good idea, I will definitely do that next time I see it.

 

Yeah, we have an active German Lab, I am looking into getting a rooster (we just have some in our family who refuse to eat fertilized eggs), and we do have some patches of dense underbrush (as well as a trailer to hide under) - in this realm I am also looking at growing a few square feet of grass really tall so they can hide in that as well.

Think brambles rather than grass as cover.  Red-tails readily hunt in 36" fescue but patches of brambles can force hawk to approach on ground and provide chickens with shade.  Make hawk walk to contact chickens once chickens no hawk is about.  Brambles can also be of the fruit bearing rasberry and blackberry varities. 

Roosters can be very effective against hawk under trailer or other structure that denies hawk ability to fly.  Make certain rooster(s) truelly adult and do not do the bantam stuff.  I suggest strongly more than one rooster.  They will scrap a little but gives backup.  You may still loose a bird on occasion if dog not in place but such losses are likely to be seasonal.  To provide aditional chick protection, consider having them hen reared.  Hen and rooster, if he thinks he is daddy, will defend brood and from what I have seen with my birds, a pair of relatively small standard sized chickens can be more effective than a single wild turkey hen at defending against hawks.  The business of little bitties and even juveniles moving about in open is like a candy store for hawks.  Keep them in brooder or chicken tractor a little longer so big enough hawk cannot just pack them off.

As for the fertilized egg bit, a little fibbing might be in order.  You can indicate nothing is really going on in eggs that are promptly collected (within a day) and placed in the refrigerator.  Such is not too far from truth.

You can also have birds free-range only part of day which can be particularly important if dog is limiting.  If dog must be restrained, then move it about periodically so hawk thinks dog is mobile.  We used to have Coopers hawks getting gamechicks near chained hounds but moving dogs about seemed to keep hawks from coming in.  Red-tails also seem to respect dogs more than Coopers do, espcially when chickens targeted are small.

Quote:

Originally Posted by centrarchid 

Take a picture of it or find picture of same on internet.  Heavy presence of one raptor species could be used to your advantage since if a dominant like red-tailed hawk, more problematic species with regards to chicks like Coopers can be excluded.  Some raptor species can be protected against differently than others.

 

 

 

My bet is raptor(s) being fed juvenile red-tailed hawk.  They can become extremely habituated to humans.  Patches of heavy cover, adult standard sized roosters, or better yet an active dog can keep them from visiting yet hawk will keep others raptors away while it is doing its thing.

I had a juvenile Red-Tail that targeted my flock one winter. Killed 2 EE's, 2 BR's, 2 Minorca's - basically all of my free-ranging large fowl (the only roo's I had were Bantam Cochins, they were no help at all! In fact, one of them was killed, too.). There was cover - I found one BR under a downed log; I had to scramble through brush to find it (scattered feathers drew my attention) so I'm betting this hawk had to follow the hen in there, too.  They can be terribly persistent when they find a food source. 

Random thought - IDK how this woman came to have a "pet hawk," but she is convinced that someone blew it away with a shotgun, and has fixed the blame on you. I don't think you will ever convince her otherwise. Even if you showed her that you don't have a gun and could prove that you have never had one, she probably would decide you poisoned the bird. You have nothing to gain by engaging her in conversation or any other interaction.

Another random thought - Unless this woman is delusional, she doesn't believe that the wild hawks "need" her to feed them. The fact that she is trying to call one to her hand makes me think she is getting off on a sort of power trip, in that she can get these "magnificent, wild, yadda yadda" animals to feed from her hand. 

I believe that the best thing for you to do, is to protect your birds at home, and leave this lady and her pathetic fantasies out of it as much as possible. Ignore her. Ignore her feeding the birds - with a bit of luck, one of them will bite her when she tries to feed it! It's a nuisance to have to pen your birds up, but that was the option that I was forced to. I wish you the best of luck!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bunnylady 

I had a juvenile Red-Tail that targeted my flock one winter. Killed 2 EE's, 2 BR's, 2 Minorca's - basically all of my free-ranging large fowl (the only roo's I had were Bantam Cochins, they were no help at all! In fact, one of them was killed, too.). There was cover - I found one BR under a downed log; I had to scramble through brush to find it (scattered feathers drew my attention) so I'm betting this hawk had to follow the hen in there, too.  They can be terribly persistent when they find a food source. 

 

 

Random thought - IDK how this woman came to have a "pet hawk," but she is convinced that someone blew it away with a shotgun, and has fixed the blame on you. I don't think you will ever convince her otherwise. Even if you showed her that you don't have a gun and could prove that you have never had one, she probably would decide you poisoned the bird. You have nothing to gain by engaging her in conversation or any other interaction.

 

 

Another random thought - Unless this woman is delusional, she doesn't believe that the wild hawks "need" her to feed them. The fact that she is trying to call one to her hand makes me think she is getting off on a sort of power trip, in that she can get these "magnificent, wild, yadda yadda" animals to feed from her hand. 

 

 

I believe that the best thing for you to do, is to protect your birds at home, and leave this lady and her pathetic fantasies out of it as much as possible. Ignore her. Ignore her feeding the birds - with a bit of luck, one of them will bite her when she tries to feed it! It's a nuisance to have to pen your birds up, but that was the option that I was forced to. I wish you the best of luck!

Bantams should not be let out of brooder when predators present.

If hawk in consideration by OP is juvenile, then it could have dispersed, been eaten by a great-horned owl or died from some other event not involve direct human actions.  Stop looking to reasons to get riled.

Hawks and wildlife in general are interesting.  Understanding them can help understanding flock and self.  If wildlife offends, get a rocketship and go to Mars or better yet Venus.

Quote:

Originally Posted by spolicas 

Quote:

Originally Posted by centrarchid 

Concern I have is that if everyone with a small flock where to start taking action against raptors, the hawks in many areas would have nowhere to even land.  For me, at some time I have to put a value on the raptor since they are public domain.  My flock is considerably larger and probably more valuable, at least to me.  Despite that, I have reservations about killing or harassing raptors especially if they are not even on my property.  Those raptors are worth more to the interested public than is my flock.  If flock is to be protected, then take measures that operate only on your property and minimize risk to tax payers raptor.  Many options exist to control losses of your birds and many will be flat out more effective than your present approach which is effective in short-term only and will appear to be little more than a pissing contest with neighbor.

 

In my line of work, a different group of birds (cormorants, herons, kingfishers, ospreys and bald eagles) that target fish can consume a good number of fishes in a single day yet repellents as you are contemplating are only effective when they are set off while predator is present.  Such methods are ineffective when they are not operational and hawk will not schedule it's hunting forays for when you are home after work and on weekends.  Birds also acclimate to propane cannons.  Big fish producers that can loose $10,000's in a single 24-h period do find such efforts worthwhile as flocks move through but with small numbers it is simply not worth effort.

 

Like I said earlier, I would not kill the raptor. Obtaining a kill permit would be a diplomatic deterrent for the lady who is feeding them. I do believe this lady is messing the food chain up by feeding these hawks, not only attracting more to the area than is normal... but also showing them not to be afraid of humans. Just a few days ago I walked out into my horse pasture and a large Osprey was looking at my cats... the first and only time I had ever seen it is when I confronted the lady for calling it and trying to feed it. So when I approached it to scare it off, it simply fluttered to the other side, pitting the cats between itself and I. I finally got it to go away by picking up a shovel and approaching it (it was not scared of me, but only the foreign object - which I was not going to use to harm it, simply to scare it off).

 

I understand about the effectiveness of repellents. I was planning to use them only when the boarder was calling them to come eat, and only then if I saw one in a tree ready to approach her for the food she offered. I was not going to just randomly set off fireworks... c'mon now.

 

I am going to keep all my options on the table, if for nothing else but diplomatic purposes (including: a permit to kill, fireworks, air cannons, getting a rooster, and the myriad of other ideas given to me on this forum).

 

Thank you all for your concern and help! I look forward to any more replies. :)

If you look at the link I send you about the FEDERAL LAWS  you will need that permit to even shot off the fireworks.   or the feds will get you under that law.

I will add this.... since the lady has caused this problem your only solution may be to use the permit and kill them.  Not the best option in my opinion but they are there to stay, they have food so why leave.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMRippy 

 

 

 

I will add this.... since the lady has caused this problem your only solution may be to use the permit and kill them.  Not the best option in my opinion but they are there to stay, they have food so why leave.

Feed supply provided provided by such a small flock is inadequate support a hawk for any length of time.  Territory of such birds is minimum of several square miles.  Most of the prey actually consumed will be dominated by small rodents.  Only conceivable situations for me where a hawk would concentrate all hunting efforts on one location is no alternatives or winter conditions extreme and again alternatives hard to come by.

Hawk will move on or at least spread hunting effort over wider area.

Hmmm.... some pretty strong opinions. Remember, there is an exception to EVERY rule.

Anyone that is feeding wild hawks is not right in the head, I would be very careful in dealing with her.  In the meantime, keep your chickens safe.  The good thing about bad neighbors is they usually go away.  I doubt she will be feeding those hawks in a year from now.  I still can't believe that she is perfectly legal in doing so but in the meantime, just let it ride.