Right now I am in actual disbelief. I live in a very populated suburb with my illegal chickens- and the biggest worry I have had are my own dogs- or a stray cat, for the most part. Too many powerlines for me to worry about a hawk coming down. Never see them here anyhow.
I do wildlife rehabilitation. I had four pigeons, and they never left- so, they flew free but roosted on my house and knew where their meals were, so they stuck around.
Then there were two. i assumed that the two just left and found somewhere else to exist. Then there was one- same assumption.
Well we got around nine inches of snow this morning. I was out shoveling and my Golden retriever and my pit bull were wrestling in the snow.
All of my chickens were in their coop- which I made fun of them for. They were acting freaked out. I joked that they thought they were California birds...not supposed to have snow. One hen wouldn't stop cackling soooooooo loud.
A hawk came out of nowhere- and snatched the pigeon right out of my chicken yard, about three feet from me. Almost dropped the pigeon, and was only about four foot off the ground across my yard and my Golden and my Pit almost caught it. It did drop the pigeon- after leaving a trail of pigeon flight feathers and/or tail feathers and a zillion little feathers. The pigeon just plopped into the snow- and I called off the dogs- but before I could get to it, the pigeon flip flopped into the air, couldn't get any real flight to it, and dropped down into someone elses back yard.
I am sure its dead or dying- and I am not going to try and recover it.
I am in shock. I would have never guessed that a hawk would even appear- much less come down with me and the big dogs out there. I have no idea what kind of hawk. It was definitely not a red tail...and it was huge.
AND now I am very sad. I fear for my hens- and I cant put up netting in the middle of this winter. I can in the spring- but not now with everything frozen and buried under snow. I know it will be back...my chickens are sitting ducks.
I do wildlife rehabilitation. I had four pigeons, and they never left- so, they flew free but roosted on my house and knew where their meals were, so they stuck around.
Then there were two. i assumed that the two just left and found somewhere else to exist. Then there was one- same assumption.
Well we got around nine inches of snow this morning. I was out shoveling and my Golden retriever and my pit bull were wrestling in the snow.
All of my chickens were in their coop- which I made fun of them for. They were acting freaked out. I joked that they thought they were California birds...not supposed to have snow. One hen wouldn't stop cackling soooooooo loud.
A hawk came out of nowhere- and snatched the pigeon right out of my chicken yard, about three feet from me. Almost dropped the pigeon, and was only about four foot off the ground across my yard and my Golden and my Pit almost caught it. It did drop the pigeon- after leaving a trail of pigeon flight feathers and/or tail feathers and a zillion little feathers. The pigeon just plopped into the snow- and I called off the dogs- but before I could get to it, the pigeon flip flopped into the air, couldn't get any real flight to it, and dropped down into someone elses back yard.
I am sure its dead or dying- and I am not going to try and recover it.
I am in shock. I would have never guessed that a hawk would even appear- much less come down with me and the big dogs out there. I have no idea what kind of hawk. It was definitely not a red tail...and it was huge.
AND now I am very sad. I fear for my hens- and I cant put up netting in the middle of this winter. I can in the spring- but not now with everything frozen and buried under snow. I know it will be back...my chickens are sitting ducks.
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