6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
sumak7
15 years ago
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Comments (94)
sowen18
8 years agorehabber46
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoRelated Discussions
Up Close & Personal With Wildlife
Comments (12)I had to laugh out loud at the instructions your Wildlife Department gave you, and I had mental visions of your husband in his trapping gear. It's prolly an everyday occurrence to them and they think nothing of it. I have been clawed and bitten sufficiently by my gentle little hens to take beaks and talons with anything but the greatest respect. Like Lilo says, I have a great deal of empathy with birds of prey. Life isn't easy for that kind of predator. I get daily performances from our turkey vultures (who are carion eaters and not likely to kill anything) and it's amazing to watch them. Over the years, I see that they do their hunting with a precision routine, and it's not at all random. They plot out zones and soar up high, and circle down low and then move over to the next zone and do it again if they don't find food. Sometimes there'll be a dozen of them doing this in tandem. When they light, I know that somewhere in the fields or pastures below, an animal lays there dead or dying. In the wintertime, I watch the routine of one particular female Cooper's Hawk. She is magnificent and for the last couple of years, I have watched her make her daily rounds. Our property is part of it, although she roosts in a grove of trees between some pastures up and across the road. After she checks out our feedings stations, she heads up to our spring grotto for awhile before moving on. Last winter, one of her progeny (I'd presume), a young male followed her same route almost daily. It was so funny, yet sad, to watch him as he first started learning to hunt. He tried to fly into the vines after the smaller birds, and got entangled. He sat there in full view under the feeders for long periods of time, like the birds would going to fly down and into his mouth. He caught on, eventually....See MoreHawks, cats, owls, men and other varmints
Comments (51)Actually we are fat because of the fat fairy. Remember when you put your tooth under the pillow and got a quarter? Or nickel? Well, that winged (^(^((&&*&%$%$ takes the teeth and grows them into fat cells. When you are sleeping happily with all your adult teeth she sneaks in and glues it to your butt and thighs, and anywhere else she can. And uh, I kind of roll around in the dirt too, it sure makes me happy to be all dirty in the garden! Tally Ho!...See MoreHunting habits of hawks
Comments (69)For the last two years, I've been experimenting with methods used to deter hawks. I wanted to see if any particular method worked better than another and, I was hoping to find their achilles heel so I could perhaps create a method that would help people who want to enjoy the critters in their yard. I did this for not only songbirds but mammals, such as rabbits. I found that tape, for the hawks here, did nothing. I didn't try CD's but I would think they'd have little effect on a seasoned hunter. I tried that easily torn regular bird netting and fishing line. This did deter bigger hawks like a redtail or goshawk and definitely eagles. It did nothing to deter male coopers hawks, peregrines or sharp shins, assuming they could find a tiny gap between pieces of netting. Now if you get the holes small enough with the fishing line, it could have an effect but a quickier and easier alternative would be the aviary bird netting. I bought some on amazon. It's very strong, and the holes are 2" x 2" which is too small for any hawk to enter. That did deter them, as long as the netting completely covers everywhere the prey animal is located. So basically, a barrier is needed since gadgets used to 'frighten' or 'confuse' don't usually work. A bigger hawk, like a redtail, could possibly go crashing into the netting and if it isn't stuck in it, it would not only ruin your set-up, it would probably kill the prey but redtails here tend to avoid netting. For smaller mammals like rabbits, I recommend burying the surface of a solid corrugated pipe at least a few inches deep from the surface, not in a low spot where water can sit and possibly get in an entrance, covering up with the soil and putting a brush pile over top. Hide entrances in shrubs if possible. Make sure the pipe is pretty long at least 12 feet but preferably 18 ft or longer as hawks will try to flush the rabbits and this is less likely if pipes are longer. If you have larger mature rabbits in the area, I'd recommend you buy 8" if offered, or split the 6" pipe (that's the only size pipe our stores offer) and open it up a bit before burying, to allow a bigger rabbit entry. If trying to protect a small dog or other small animal, I'd definitely go with chicken wire whenever possible but otherwise, the aviary bird netting is strong and on a strong frame, should deter most attacks. It's also black which makes it blend in much better than chicken wire. I've tried water guns, nerf guns, clapping and yelling. Yelling is very effective if you see a hawk chasing down prey. It distracts them for a moment and the prey gets away but given you'd have to be monitoring constantly, that's not practical. But if you see it, a great big 'hey!' usually is enough to break up the chase. Nerfs work but again, you have to be there constantly. Recordings of owls or a peregrine falcon will work but usually only on juvenile hawks. I've buried pipe but found the pipe wasn't long enough and wasn't hidden well enough. All the hawk has to do is be able to put a talon at the opening of the pipe and the rabbits or whatever small animal is hiding, will flush from cover that the hawk couldn't possibly have accessed. So best protect entrances with brush or a large stone. In conclusion, hawks will go where the food is. They are also capable of retaliation when they think you're trying to stop them (confirmed by a falconer and my own experiences) and will try that much harder to thwart you. The best thing is to not concentrate any animal or bird to avoid attracting them and if you do decide to feed, hide feeders or mammals/buried pipe under trees and shrubs before they discover it because once you get on their radar, it takes a couple of years for them to forget you....See MoreIs this a Cooper's Hawk?
Comments (2)It looks from here to be a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, as already stated. The tail on Accipiters is long with wide bands, and this bird has that. As for the differences between Accipiters, juvenile Cooper's Hawks have fine brown chest streaks that usually come short of the belly, and this bird has that. So, good call....See Moresowen18
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