Legal Elimination of Hawks and Owls

[MayberrySaint]

This subject came up in another thread and because there is a lot of misinformation, I decided to post the following link...

http://www.fws.gov/permits/

This is a form to apply for a permit to kill migratory birds if they are causing loss of personal property (livestock, poultry).

Some common misconceptions:
1. It is illegal to kill hawks and owls. If you have a permit it is legal.
2. It is illegal to harass birds of prey. It is not illegal and ou must show that you have tried to harass birds before a permit would be issued.
3. You will go to jail and receive a $10,000 fine if you kill a hawk or owl. It is actually a Class B Misdeamenor and fines can be a small as $50 with no jail time.

 

[TGB3RN]

Deleted post copy taken out

I know I am stepping right in it here but oh well. What a sad state of mind? If this was not done then our eco system would be even more screwed up than it is now. If we were to let "Mother Earth" work as she wished well over half of us would not be here today. I am not saying this would be a bad thing mind you--just fact. I have no problem killing ANYTHING that takes food from my family, or anyone for that matter. For anyone not of the same state of mind---you would be in that half that did not make it the "Mother Earth" way I was refering to. Only the strongest/fittest and all that.
Just my 2bits
Tom​

 

[danischi24]

Quote:
Sorry, gotta stick my nose in it...just too tempting. I lived my whole life in Africa. Bushmen do not build fences. Why? Because bushmen are semi-nomadic & live off the wild game & plants by stabbing rabbits etc with pointed sticks & hunting with poison arrows. They don't have crops or herds to protect.

About this whole predator thing...if it was your pet dogs being killed by predators which could get over fences & slaughter them anywhere except in the confines of your home, many people's tunes would change fast. Should we lock our Great Danes in a tiny house 24/7 instead of letting them have a garden? I believe that people have the right to protect what is theirs whether it's their pets, their property or their family. No one is planning a large scale eradication of North American raptors...if any were killed, it would be the few that return time & time again to kill people's chickens & wont be deterred. I assure you that many many more are killed on the roads & die prematurely from natural causes.
I don't believe in lying to people about their rights-rights seem to be a very important part of American culture. If it's difficult to get a permit, then it's difficult like many other things in life. Difficult is not impossible & each state is different. If someone pulls this off & relocates or eradicates a predator, good for them. If they don't get it right, at least they tried everything they could to protect what is theirs. Eradicating a few predators from species that aren't rare, is far less damaging to the environment than building a house.

 

[aquaponics3712]

Have any of you folks actualy seen a hawk take one of your chickens ?
I have an adult female and two yearling redtails in my backyard every day. I have 37 chickens (free range)7 large roos...5 RIR, 1 SLW and one mean nasty agressive 'cauna,3 open coops,2 pheasant runs and 5 feeders plus all the crack corn i toss on the ground every day.All this adds up to LOTS OF MICE AND MOLES !! In fact, i'm over run with mice and moles. The two yearling redtails are out there every day and they NEVER go after my chickens . I don't know for sure if it's the over abundance of rodents that keep the hawks fed and away from my birds or the vigilant roos(which are as big as the hawks). I'm guessing that those red tails would much rather deal with the rodents rather than a much larger prey like my birds. Make sense?
Anywho, so far they have never gone after my girls. In fact, the only evidence i ever found of the hawks feeding was a semi eaten grey squirrel a few days ago and when the chickens went after it's kill the red tail didn't even bother with the chickens over that.
If those redtails run out of rodents and prey on my girls from time to time.......oh well....i'm not gonna go bankrupt, be out of food or lose any sleep over critters doin what critters are desiged to do.

Yes actually. (Replying to the person who asked if we had actually SEEN a hawk kill a chicken.) For 2 months now (at least) we have been chasing off hawks who swoop down into our front YARD and take chickens with our swinging our arms and yelling. They do not care one bit that we are protesting. Our front yard is treed, we have let grass grow up around the perimeter for the chickens to hide, and have taken to sitting on our front porch to work (we work from home) so that we can try to protect our chickens. And these hawks are bold and determined. They will come in and roost on one of our smaller trees (literally just above our heads) and swoop in. They in no way are deterred by our presence. It is going to be VERY expensive for us to cover our entire front yard. I am beyond frustrated by stupid laws that keep us from protecting what matters to us. OH.....and my cousin had his DOG (a smaller breed - Bishon) picked up from his back yard by a hawk. He was screaming and waving a broom. It is unreal that we have to put up with this!

 

[Guitartists]

http://www.fws.gov/permits/mbpermits/birdbasics.html

As authorized by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issues permits to qualified applicants for the following types of activities: falconry, raptor propagation, scientific collecting, special purposes (rehabilitation, educational, migratory game bird propagation, and salvage), take of depredating birds, taxidermy, and waterfowl sale and disposal. Migratory bird permit policy is developed by the Division of Migratory Bird Management and the permits themselves are issued by the Regional Bird Permit Offices. The regulations governing migratory bird permits can be found in 50 CFR part 13 (General Permit Procedures) and 50 CFR part 21 (Migratory Bird Permits).

http://www.fws.gov/migratorybirds/intrnltr/mbta/mbtandx.html

Hawk, Asiatic Sparrow, Accipiter gularis
Broad-winged, Buteo platypterus
Cooper's, Accipiter cooperii
Ferruginous, Buteo regalis
Gray, Buteo nitidus
Harris', Parabuteo unicinctus
Hawaiian, Buteo solitarius
Red-shouldered, Buteo lineatus
Red-tailed, Buteo jamaicensis
Rough-legged, Buteo lagopus
Sharp-shinned, Accipiter striatus
Short-tailed, Buteo brachyurus
Swainson's, Buteo swainsoni
White-tailed, Buteo albicaudatus
Zone-tailed, Buteo albonotatus


Owl, Barn (=Barn-Owl, Common), Tyto alba
Barred, Strix varia
Boreal, Aegolius funereus
Burrowing, Speotyto (=Athene) cunicularia
Elf, Micrathene whitneyi
Flammulated, Otus flammeolus
Great Gray, Strix nebulosa
Great Horned, Bubo virginianus
Hawk (=Hawk-Owl, Northern), Surnia ulula
Long-eared, Asio otus
Northern Saw-whet, Aegolius acadicus
Short-eared, Asio flammeus
Snowy, Nyctea scandiaca
Spotted, Strix occidentalis

http://www.fws.gov/forms/3-200-13.pdf

No permit is required merely to scare or herd
depredating migratory birds other than endangered or threatened species and bald or golden eagles. You should apply for a
depredation permit only after non-lethal management proves unsuccessful. If a permit is issued, you will be expected to continue
to integrate non-lethal techniques when implementing any lethal measures.

Please provide the following information:
1. List the species of migratory birds causing the depredation problem and estimate the number of each involved.
2. Provide the exact location of the property or properties where the control activity would be conducted (State, county, and physical
address of the specific site).
3. Description of damage.
(a) Describe the specific migratory bird damage or injury you are experiencing.
(b) How long has it been occurring (e.g., the number of years)?
(c) What times or seasons of the year does it occur?
(d) Describe any human health and safety hazards involved.
(e) Provide details such as types of crops destroyed, human injuries sustained, property damage incurred, and health and safety
hazards created.
4. Describe the extent of the damage and estimate the economic loss suffered as a result, such as percentage of acres of crop and
dollar loss, cost to replace damaged property, or cost of injuries.
5. Describe the nonlethal measures you have taken to control or eliminate the problem, including how long (e.g., a week, month,
year(s)) and how often they have been conducted. List the techniques you have tried, such as harassment (e.g., horns,
pyrotechnics, propane cannons), habitat management (e.g., vegetative barriers, longer grass management, fencing), cultural
practices (e.g., crop selection and placement, management of pets and feeding schedules), or no feeding policies.
6. Proposed actions.
(a) What actions are you proposing to take to alleviate the problem (e.g., kill, eliminate nesting, trap and relocate)?
(b) Describe the method you propose (e.g., shoot; addle, oil, destroy eggs; trap and relocate; trap and donate birds to a food
processing center).
(c) If you propose to trap birds, describe the method that will be used and your (or your agent’s) experience with the method.
7. What long-term measures do you plan to take to eliminate the problem?​

 

[john sring]

Bottom line.....we need to get legislation in to 1- allow protection to pets and live stock to include killing and trapping on ones own property. 2- In Europe, they have hunting seasons cause folks eat them. So having a legal season works as well to make them skittish. Barred Owl took my Cochin mix rooster and only ate the head and neck 'cause Interupted it responding to the screams . Coopers hawk killed a pigeon IN a cage even though it wouldnt be able to get it through to eat. Had leg full length into the cage and only let go when I ran at it. pigeon still died. Prob. same bird or mate, took a pigeon in front of wife one morning, and let it go only when she threw a flip flop at it! The pigeon flew INTO the kitchen as I came out of the door to see what the commotion was about. I have pic of barred owl sitting on a cage on my deck, trying to get to pigeons in a cage as well. Standing in the yard a few months ago the coopers showed up in a tree over the coop with me standing there. Had 5- count them - 5 fledglings with them !!!! Showing them where the grocery store is, I figger ! So they are tuff, tenacious, hungry, fearless critters and they are - NOT - endangered. Anyone know how to get an amendment to current law?

 

[sourland]

Monteen is right on the money. Anything else you hear regardless of the source is incorrect.

 

[OzawkieBantams]

Quote:
Great points.
Being a Native American I find it difficult to hear of these stories " I just shoot the hawk on my property "
Quote:
like Monteen said protect you flock from the gods above.

Daren

 

[centrarchid]

I agree! I just had a hawk after my chickens for the second time, today. He had one hen down but took off when I started yelling and running towards him. There will not be a 3rd time. Once more and he is gone bye bye...

You will be the one going bye-bye, as in behind bars. You will also charged a modest fee. If you cannot keep losses down to acceptable level in a free-range setting, then confine the flock.

 

[The Moonshiner]

My my, how times do change. At one time the grannies that I knew growing up would have blasted chicken hawks on first sight with gramp's shot gun.

Remember as a kid and going to a family friend's house. He caught an owl in a pole trap so invited me to come along and dispose of it.
He had a rope attached and started bringing it down like lowering a flag and my job was to get it in the gunny sack once low enough.
I'd rather stack bobcats then mess with an owl again. Those talons will slice through three layers of cloths then latch on and get tangled up. Its like pulling Velcro. Every Time you get him loose all of a sudden he's hooked up somewhere else and you have to start over.
By the time you get him in the bag you figure out you've done stepped in the bag so now your leg and the owl is in the bag.
You're screaming "get in the bag" the owls screaming "who? Who?. The old man has done pissed himself laughing.
Just a bad idea all the way around. At the time I was convinced he didn't want to waste a shot gun shell. I soon figured out the truth it was for pure entertainment.