Our very first hawk.....didn't last too long~

[chickbea]

Eeeh - I too thought we were going to be reading the sad demise of the noble ChickenDuck!
Yay for Kitty!

 

[Juliechickens]

Oh what a fabulous story! Gooooo Ruthie!!! Man,,,I need a Ruthie at my house! My dogs are Portuguese Water dogs and they are very mouthy too. My dogs circle my coop and fenced area for my chickens all the time. Every instinct my dogs have is to "Place chicken in mouth" "Place chicken in mouth" I can almost hear them saying it every time I let them in the back yard. It's always been a fun game to my dogs to catch baby birds during flying lessons from my trees. They don't mean to kill it,,,they just want to carry it around in their mouths and squish it a little like a squeaky toy. I just hate it because the birds die from it anyways.
So far,,,,neither of my 3 dogs have ever gotten to my chickens and hopefully never will! I have a tarp over my whole pen so a hawk or other creature can't get to them. However,,,I am afraid of neighborhood cats who can jump my fence and slither under the tarp. Hopefully, the scent of my scary dogs will keep the cats away.
Anyways,,just loved your story and boy,,,what a wonderful guard cat you have. She will be even better at it now that she has made the kill of the hawk. She will perfect her technique for next time and probably always be waiting for another opportunity to arise. Lucky Lucky you! Go Ruthie!
Proud in Memphis of Ruthie the chicken hawk savor! She deserves a hero metal! Good going also to you for keeping her claws in tact!!! Smart!! So many people remove cat claws now and I think it's cruel as they can't protect themselves afterwards.
Keep us posted on Ruthie stories!
Julie

 

[Juliechickens]

OOOPS,,,when I said my dogs got to baby birds,,,I did NOT mean chickens,,,I meant the wild birds that live in my trees in the yard....I just thought I should clarify that! If my dogs ever kill one of my baby chicks,,,I think I would have to place dog at Grandmas house!
Julie

 

[cookiesdaddy]

Wow ... what a story! Make me want to have a cat too.

4H kids & mom: RUTHIE deserves to have his picture posted! Please let us see the face of the hero. And you didn't take a picture right after the battle? I'd like to see how big the hawk is up close.

 

[mudhen]

Wow, 4H, I was gone this weekend (camping!) and I'm still getting caught up on my reading.
What a story! My heart was racing, (still pounding!) and I couldn't read it fast enough!! Whew!
So glad it all turned out. Chickenduck and Ruthie, our very own BYC heroes...those two need capes and a catchy theme song.

 

[Frozen Feathers]

What a great story, and what a great kitty! My cats are all indoor wimps and could learn a thing or 2 from your Ruthie!

 

[4H kids and mom]

Aww thanks everybody!

Angie n Maine...Ruthie USED to be an indoor wimp! I finally kicked her out one day when she piddled on my newly mopped floor because I bought the wrong kind of litter! lol She went exploring but stayed very near the house, so we kept it up. Now she BEGS to go out each morning, and mews LOUDLY when its raining!

2mnypets....Ruthie is my hero.

I love her so...even when she piddles on my clean floors! lol The nappers slept right through it all, and I dont see how! It was LOUD! I probably wouldn't have heard them on the monitor, but the door was open, so I could have heard them from the house either way, but glad they all stayed sleepin! One 3 year old is a BEAR if she gets woken early!

I did talk to her vet, and he said to just keep a good eye on her. She is UTD on her rabies vaccines and such, so I didnt worry about that too much. I'm just surprised the killing didnt go the other way around....

As for the goats, they ran for the hills! Actually, I found them cowering in the coop with the chickens. Hershey (the black goat) was IN the nestboxes! Oi!

And for everyone else, here's a photo of my kitty hero! Ruthie cat!

Oh, and to cookiesdaddy....I didn't take a photo after the battle because 1) I was busy running around making sure everyone was OK, and 2) hawks are protected and I worried about someone thinking I'd killed it. That would be a Federal offence, and I love my cat, but I aint goin to jail for her! But, to give you an idea, I DID measure the hawk for my own records. It was just under 20 inches in height, with a 52 inch wingspan and probably weighed in the ballpark of 3 pounds or so. I believe it was either a young bird, or a female because the tail lacked the bright red, but had a more dusky brownish tone. I have to tell you, I was very curious. Raptors have always interested me, so I looked that thing up and down, and took full advantage of being that close to one. I opened its beak, felt its feet and talons, looked at its HUGE golden eyes, spread the wings....VERY impressive creature. I'm sad she killed it. I wish it would have just gotten the hint and flown off. BUT, its one less hawk to go tell other hawks about the walking buffet in my yard.

 

[ozark hen]

Ruthie sure has class! She is a beauty!

Thanks so much for posting her picture. It is nice to see what we are talking about. LOL

 

[cookiesdaddy]

Thanks for the info, 4H! Yes I would like a close look at that creature myself. Impressive! Only 3 lbs and has a wingspan of 52 inches. Wow. And he (she) can take off with a 5-6 lbs full grown chicken!

And Ruthie looks gorgeous!!!

If we have a rating system for BYC stories, I would vote your story to be the post of the year!

 

[StupidBird]

I know this thrilling story was posted quite a while ago, but wow! That's some cat!

Used to have a guard cat too. Chased off every single dog and critter, no matter how big & fierce - even stalked and bullied off a nasty rottweiler! Yet our doberman was his best friend. I miss 'em both so! (old age). Brings tears to my eyes even after all these years.