Can I scare hawks away?

[seminolewind]

I never had a problem with hawks. Maybe it was the bigger chickens, or the crows. The hawks around that I've seen are not very big. I have seen a bald eagle swoop thru my yard once. But one day, I had a singleton about 11 weeks old, and put her outside for fresh air, and came back and she was missing her head and gutted, and the hawk flew off when he saw me. I cried for days.

 

[MrHodari]

I never had a problem with hawks. Maybe it was the bigger chickens, or the crows. The hawks around that I've seen are not very big. I have seen a bald eagle swoop thru my yard once. But one day, I had a singleton about 11 weeks old, and put her outside for fresh air, and came back and she was missing her head and gutted, and the hawk flew off when he saw me. I cried for days.

thats horrible

 

[Room101]

It is also illegal to harass a hawk so if your friendly neighborhood USG&F agent is a little behind on arrests this month he can pinch you for saying "Boo" to a hawk.

I highly doubt that you would or even could be prosecuted for shouting or throwing a lemon at an attacking hawk, and I suspect you could get away with a whole lot more in the way of deterrence. Firstly, the definition of "harass" includes an element of repetition and intent to annoy; isolated instances of protection are not "harassment". Secondly, as indicated by the Fish and Wildlife Service web page linked below, you can "harass, haze, or herd" at least some protected birds to prevent depredation outside of the breeding season and, implicitly, you can also do so during the breeding season as long as it's not in a manner that might cause them to abandon a nest.

www.fws.gov/pacific/migratorybirds/Permits/conflict.html