Look at my new hawk!

[Brian D. Bray]

I have a hawk story that I guess might fit here. Sorry if I’m hijacking your post.
When I was in college I had a job cutting grass. Well every few months we had to bush hog this giant field about 200 acres or so. Well I was cutting away and getting to the last few strips and on every pass a little baby rabbit would bust out of the tall grass in front of me and shoot around and run back into the tall grass behind me. Well it came to my last pass and when I got close to him I got off the tractor. I walked and jumped the rabbit and chased him way out into the field so I would not run him over. I must have run him 200 feet from the tractor so I figured he was safe, and out of harm’s way. As I was getting back on the tractor I glanced over my shoulder to make sure he was still out there. What I saw was a big old red tailed hawk beginning lunch. Seems I ran his lunch right to him I felt terrible the rest of the day for that one

Keith

Nice of you.  I can remember a good number of rabbits made footless while mowing the hay field.  Come haying season the hawks would set on the fence posts like vultures.

[Keith13]

Brian,
 the hawks did the same thing here, except they would sit on the street lights and watch

Keith

[mtman1849]

Can any of you guys that know a lot about hawks tell me what I can do to attract them closer to my area  I hear them all the time but I would really like to have them closer.  Since they like to hunt squirrels and I have so many of them in my yard and can't hunt them.

[Understudy]

Hawks!!!

Were hiding.



Sincerely,
Brendhan

[danno]

Even large redtails have a hard time with squirrels and can be permently injured by loosing a toe to there bite.  Unlike rabbits and mice, they fight back.  In the wild if a bird has a ideal opportuity and makes a kill they will forever be a squirrel killer.  When we hunt squirrels we put thick cowhide chaps on the birds that cover there legs and toes.  Anyways to answer your question you need big trees for them to nest and hunt in with alot of rodents and rabbits

[JP]

The hawks in my area are very fond of doves, I have a friend that lives less than a mile from me that has hawks nesting in a tree of his and almost every day there are various bird carcasses in the yard under a certain tree.


...JP


Oh, and Keith, you know how in the fall the trees along I-10 from Laplace to Baton Rouge lose their leaves, you can really see the hawks perched along the interstate then, its like that every yr.

[Keith13]

Oh, and Keith, you know how in the fall the trees along I-10 from Laplace to Baton Rouge lose their leaves, you can really see the hawks perched along the interstate then, its like that every yr.

JP

I remember as a kid my mom and I would count them as we drove along the interstate. Never knew as a kid that the hawks actually migrate down here. Some are residents others are not

Also driving up from Houma yesterday back to Baton Rouge I saw a bald Eagle, darn near ran off the road looking back over my shoulder

Keith

[JP]

"Also driving up from Houma yesterday back to Baton Rouge I saw a bald Eagle, darn near ran off the road looking back over my shoulder"

Keith


Yrs ago we were coming back from Ms and just when we  got on 51 we saw one, my first, and it paraleled 51 for several miles it was quite a sight to behold, they are truly huge and majestic.

Since then I see them in Lake Salvadore flying and nesting there.


...JP

[Brian D. Bray]

I had just let my racing team out to fly around the loft and shooed the breeding pairs out into the fly pen so I could modify a few nest boxes and all of a sudden I have pigeons coming into the lofts i n a big SWOOSH.  I also hear a TWING out in the fly pen.  A Peregrine Falcon had hit the poultry netting on the fly pen so had it bounced up in the air and landed on the ground.  It got up, shook its head a few times and flew off. 

We had 2 pair of Peregrine Falcons nesting on Mt Erie this summer and they've obviously been living off the feral pigeon population (along with so of mine) and came by for lunch.