Hawks in the city!

[piecemaker]

When we lived in Houston alot of nieghbors fed the squirrel in feeders. When the number of them got high we noticed more hawks. Pretty soon the number of sqirrels went down so did the hawks. We are in the country now. DH wound not let anyone squirrel hunt until we had a hawk take a silkie not 10 feet from us. Luckly he let her go. So the boys got to go squirrel hunting. Fewer squirrels no hawks seen latly.

piecemaker

 

[Opa]

I have a 16x16 run covered with mesh so the chickens are pretty safe there. Once the hawk migration is over in the fall I allow the chickens into my 36x36 fenced garden. There is no netting over the garden and I know that sooner or later I will lose some to hawks. As much as I hate that idea I still like seeing hawks around.

 

[pascopol]

Quote:
Since they are protected species having no enemies their population has frown out of control in the last few years
.
They killed most of songbirds in the woods and forests,( many of those birds are protected species) so they are coming to the cities.

Happening all over the country.

Example of government and environazis admiration and protectionism for all kind of predatory animals.

Unnecessary protection of some species causes overpopulation and imbalance in nature.

But every hawk lover and defender will tell bunch of lies like:
Hawks "basicaly" do not attack wild birds A LIE !

"Hawks feed mainly on rats and mice" - Mice and rats hide during the day, and hawks are not night hunters like owls.

Hawks only attack domestic birds on "occasion" A LIE

Hawks will attack chickens, pigeons, and rabbits any time they have a chance, and when succesfull will come every day for more.

 

[deerman]

Sure hawks will take chickens in the cities. Copper hawks feed mostly on birds. They are fast and alot go to the cities to feed on the common pigeon.

 

[redhen]

Quote:
Since they are protected species having no enemies their population has frown out of control in the last few years
.
They killed most of songbirds in the woods and forests,( many of those birds are protected species) so they are coming to the cities.

Happening all over the country.

Example of government and environazis admiration and protectionism for all kind of predatory animals.

Unnecessary protection of some species causes overpopulation and imbalance in nature.

But every hawk lover and defender will tell bunch of lies like:
Hawks "basicaly" do not attack wild birds A LIE !

"Hawks feed mainly on rats and mice" - Mice and rats hide during the day, and hawks are not night hunters like owls.

Hawks only attack domestic birds on "occasion" A LIE

Hawks will attack chickens, pigeons, and rabbits any time they have a chance, and when succesfull will come every day for more.

i know for a fact that they attack/kill wild birds...i saw it with my own 2 eyes...my mother and i were driving one day, and right in front of us a hawk swoops down and grabs a wild bird....then the wild birds mate must have been trying to protect its mate and it went after the hawk...of course it did no damage to the hawk..and the wild bird died...it was very sad to see...

 

[tiffanyh]

Everything has to survive and hawks cant hit the 7-11 to eat.

OP, I am sorry you lost your bird! I lost one that way also many years back. Very sad.

 

[wundernurse]

Are their free-ranging days over? Will it be better when they are older? We figured out it was a Cooper's Hawk (aka chicken hawk). will the birds just learn to run for cover? What do you guys do?

 

[redhen]

its very hard..i have had 2 hawk or brown eagle attacks here....i have had my hens cooped up all winter long because of it..i am just now starting to let them out in my yard again....the hawk WILL be back...so, its a choice only you can make....

 

[pascopol]

Let's not to be intimidated and brainwashed by hawk lovers and mercenaries, let's get together and push for hawk control, since these species got out of hand and being protected they multiplied to the extend of causing an inbalance in nature.

They are multiple reports from all over the country hawks invading suburbs and big cities.

Why?

Hawks killed most of the wild birds in woods, many of those birds are rare and endangered species, so they need to expand their territory.

I live in semi wooded suburban setting, 5 years ago never seen a hawk, plenty of wild birds nestling on just about every tree around.

Now they are at least 2 or 3 hawks circling the skies all the time, looking for prey, wild and song birds are gone, can't free range chicken anymore.

To all hawk lovers and mercenaries on this board:

Do not try to intimidate me by labeling me a "flamer" or a "troller" as you did in the past.

I have a right to express my opinion about hawks and other predators, I never induced anybody to do anything illegal.

I am just exposing the lies and hypocrisy of environazis and brainwashed part of public supporting the unlimited "rights" of all kind of predators to multiply out of control and kill all wild and domestic species they care, while suppressing God's given rights of every human being to defend the life, property, and the life and well being of any animals an individual cares to own.

If you want to hatch, breed, raise and feed your chicken, rabbits, pigeons, sheep, cattle... you name it to predators, bless you, that,s your right.

But keep your dirty hands from my livestock making it a free game to all kinds of predators and making "laws" preventing me from protecting my property and my animals.

Most common LIES about the hawks:

LIE # 1

Hawks feed MOSTLY on rat and mice
Rats and mice are nocturnal animals, they HIDE during the day, hawks do not hunt at night, hawks may get lucky and kill a rodent but rodents are NOT the primary source of their food.

LIE # 2

Hawks feed mostly on squirrels and rodents.
Again:
Squirrels are too smart to be a serious pray for hawks, they are very fast and alert, will hide immediately id a hawk is close by.
Ever seen a dog or cat catching a squirrel?

I've seen growing numbers of hawks and squirrels in my area, there is a squirrel on just about every oak tree around here, never seen a hawk catching or eating a squirrel, but many times I'vee seen a hawks eating wild birds and destroing their nests.

LIE #3

Hawks will attack domestic birds only on "occasion".

Another lie, once hawks kill most of the population of wild birds in the woods and forests, they will come to suburbs and cities to kill domestic birds, and they will keep coming every day after they are successful.

Why hawks invade the cities?
Cause they run out of prey (birds) in the woods.

THE TRUTH ABOUT HAWKS:

Hawks kill primarily birds, wild, or domestic, and since the are protected and have no enemies they multiply out of control causing big damage and imbalance to environment.

The bottom line:

Hawks population in US got out of hand and needs to be controlled.

 

[deerman]

LIE # 2

Hawks feed mostly on squirrels and rodents.
Again:
Squirrels are too smart to be a serious pray for hawks, they are very fast and alert, will hide immediately id a hawk is close by.
Ever seen a dog or cat catching a squirrel?

I've seen growing numbers of hawks and squirrels in my area, there is a squirrel on just about every oak tree around here, never seen a hawk catching or eating a squirrel, but many times I'vee seen a hawks eating wild birds and destroing their nests.







Yes I have seen many redtail hawks take squirrels, and rabbits.

Depends on type of hawks on what type of prey they feed on.

Sparrow hawks do take many field mice, during the day.

I spend many hours in my woods and fields, yes have seen many mice during the day. Owls do feed mostly on rats and mice, but so do the small hawks.

Coppers, sharpshim, and Perigine are the main ones that feed on birds.

They go the cities to feed on the easy common pigeon, not because there is a shortage of birds in the woods.

Know for a fact that all these are not lies, as I said I have seen redtaiil hawk take squirrels when they were on the ground from tree to tree. No a squirrel can NOT out run a hawk, niether can a rabbit.

Spending alot of time with nature, will give you alot more facts.