Neighbor busted for hawk death

[VioletBlueIvy]

TheFox (love that username!)
Oh, I know. I just don't remember all the details well enough to post about it. I never paid very close attention to be honest, it's just something you don't do, like one of the ten commandments you know?
When I was a little girl I was walking with my family near a wetland off the lake I grew up on, and we found a kingfisher on the RR tracks that had been shot. I put my shirt over it and carried it all the way home. I had blood all over me from it. I will never forget how beautiful it was, and how helpless. I remember being so appalled at how anybody could do such a thing, and I still feel the same way! I remember trying to wrap my head around it, and in my mind it was the same boogyman that is lurking out htere to nsnatch kids and grocery stores and other people like that that are scary to kids. We called the game warden and they came right out and got it and took it to the rehab center. They said it would never fly again.

 

[BWKatz]

We had a craftsman here in Columbia that was using Bald Eagle feathers picked up off the ground at the zoo in Dreamcatchers. There was a bigg write up in the paper about how illegal it was. I don't remember if she got out of the fine or not but she did have to return all the feathers.

 

[LadyHartman]

We had a situation here recently with a young red-tailed hawk. It's a beautiful bird really, but I'm not pleased that it killed an Austrolorp pullet. The pullet was too big for it to carry off but the strike killed it. We chased it to a telephone line where it just waited for us to leave. hoping we'd leave the kill. We'll long story short We contacted the DNR (a feat in and of itself) and they said there is NO reason at all that we would be allowed to shoot the bird. Not even if the bird came after a human kid. They also said that we COULD net the bird and remove it from the area. Apparently, being trapped in a net is so traumatic for a bird of prey that they won't return to that area again.

 

[twentynine]

Quote:
Gawwwwly!

Distant pasture.

Bird soaring.

.22 rifle.

and hit'em.

For sure a very very very wrong act. But must be one of the best shots I ever heard of, or luckiest, or unluckiest, depending on how you look at it.

 

[twentynine]

We don't have eagles to worry about here, bt we have red tails, maybe a kite or two. But I have never had a bird taken by a hawk. Are full grown chickens to big? I have a redtail hawks nest just yards away from the chicken run, never seem interested in the chickens.

 

[arch_cpj]

Quote:
not necessarily you never know who is watching if you are within a mile or 2 of another house assume someone is watching you...

 

[dirtsaver]

While I don't advocate the killing of predatory birds(hawks/falcons/eagles etc.) I find it absurd to allow one of them to harm our livestock/chickens. Kentucky law states a farmer can kill predators that "harass or kill livestock". After seeing the huge increase in predatory hawks since the ban of DDT and the severe decrease in quail and rabbit populations that came about in that same period I really have to question the sanity of the "protective federal laws". Looks to me like it's the same screwball thinking that is repopulating wolves and bears near suburban areas and farmsteads.

Sorry if that offends some of the folks here but to me all the above mentioned are nothing but varmits ,pure and simple. Maybe if you grew up living on a hardscrabble farm and depending on EVERY calf,chicken and baby pig to survive like many of us,and needing the small game animals to supplement that, you'd understand better.

Now consider that with the current economy and political mess we're dealing with today,there are many people that are in that position again today. Refering back to my first sentence, I don't advocate killing those birds but I sure as Hell do not condem anyone that does kill a hawk/owl/falcon etc. that is endangering their flock.

I've got my asbestos long-johns ready so let the flames begin.

Larry

 

[Show Me Chick]

dirtsaver wrote:

While I don't advocate the killing of predatory birds(hawks/falcons/eagles etc.) I find it absurd to allow one of them to harm our livestock/chickens. Kentucky law states a farmer can kill predators that "harass or kill livestock". After seeing the huge increase in predatory hawks since the ban of DDT and the severe decrease in quail and rabbit populations that came about in that same period I really have to question the sanity of the "protective federal laws". Looks to me like it's the same screwball thinking that is repopulating wolves and bears near suburban areas and farmsteads.

Sorry if that offends some of the folks here but to me all the above mentioned are nothing but varmits ,pure and simple. Maybe if you grew up living on a hardscrabble farm and depending on EVERY calf,chicken and baby pig to survive like many of us,and needing the small game animals to supplement that, you'd understand better.

Now consider that with the current economy and political mess we're dealing with today,there are many people that are in that position again today. Refering back to my first sentence, I don't advocate killing those birds but I sure as Hell do not condem anyone that does kill a hawk/owl/falcon etc. that is endangering their flock.

I've got my asbestos long-johns ready so let the flames begin.

Larry

I completely agree!!!

This gal stays locked and loaded.

And it makes me mad as heck that the conservation departments are introducing wolves, cougars and other threats back into areas that our ancestors have worked so hard to eliminate them. Oh how I wish I could catch all the destructive critters and release them to roam the cities with the AR nuts.​

 

[TheFeatheredTempest]

Uh..........the "destructive critters" are US. Humans. Plain and simple folks.

Now everyone has gotta eat. But killing raptors (hawks, eagles, falcons, owls, etc.) is short-sighted. In its lifetime one of those birds is going to do so much good for you and your farm (and local small game) that if it takes some chickens no big deal. You are still getting the better end of the bargain! Those birds munch up gophers, mice, and rats, all manner of rodents like they were popcorn.

The smaller raptors, like the kestrel, even prey on grasshoppers and other insects that attack crops. The old perceptions die hard, but they were often formed out of fear, lack of more detailed information, misperceptions.... With the current level of knowledge regarding ecology, food webs, etc. there is just no good excuse for ignorance. If you are on this forum then you have access to the internet and to droves of information about the role of raptors in the ecosystem. Even some of the small owls can eat a dozen or more rodents in one night.

As for any local decline in small game that you may have noticed, this is not due to an increase in raptors. I know it may look that way, but there's more going on. Have you heard of mesopredator release?
Raptor populations will rise and fall in sync with rodent populations. By "controlling" rodents raptors also control predators like foxes, coyotes, weasels, and snakes. That is, I assume, good for your farm. And by controlling rodents they prevent outbreaks of zoonotic diseases that spread rampantly when rodent populations are "out of control". Once again, good for your livestock and poultry. Most raptors, even though they appear large, are actually too small to take standard size poultry let alone any type of livestock. Folks, they eat rodents! Even the common barred owl - once again it looks large - is too small to take a grown rabbit. And if they take some young rabbits that's not bad either in the big picture of things. It keeps the rabbit population healthy and robust, survival of the fittest, eat the young, the old, the weak and diseased, you know the drill.

I could go on and on, give examples and number, cite scientific literature, etc., but you get the point. Personally I think you are REALLY fortunate to live in a place with so much wildlife. There's nothing around here but corn, corn, corn, corn, soybeans, corn, corn corn corncorncorncorn soybeans CORN. And that is why a lot of folks are thrilled to see the reintroduction of wild animals. When you live without them and your kids live without them and the children in the area don't even know what a raccoon is (!!!) then you begin to appreciate what you've lost and you long for that connection to the land.
whew, have to catch my breath after that long one

 

[joebryant]

Quote:
I agree 100%. There was a time when the protection was needed; however, with no natural enemies, most hawk species are over-populated.
The law needs to be updated, but who's going to request its being done?
DNR? Hardly, they could lose job positions.
Politicians? Perish the thought.