Or maybe Wild Kingdom... anyone remember that?
I used to explain the difference between the Southern Resident Killer Whales and the transient (Biggs) Killer Whales: the SRKWs are "the Disney Channel," the transients are "the Discovery Channel." Late this afternoon, it was the Discovery Channel.
Joan was out, Murphy and I were chilling... and then a loud "Whump!" that came from our bedroom, sounding like someone whacked a window with a baseball bat. We both went to the bedroom to see what was up... nothing. I went to the kitchen and looked out; saw this...
Looks like an adolescent hawk, and he didn't look steady on his feet. I decided to give him a couple minutes, assuming he was the one that hit the window - I didn't want to scare him if he was unsteady. When I looked out the patio door, that hawk was ripping on something, feathers flying like a scene from a pillow fight in a movie!
I stepped outside, and the hawk was ripping up a dove! I started towards him, he grabbed the dove and flew to the wall on the south side of our yard...
I moved towards him and he disappeared beyond the wall with his kill. I got a broom out of the shed, but the wind was out of the south at around 20 mph and gusting higher... trying to sweep up the feathers made the yard look like the inside of a snow globe.
Murph looked on from indoors, behind the patio door... "That's a big bird!" I assured him that it wouldn't be able to carry off his 12 1/2 pounds - "But, just in case, you probably don't want to get too close to that wall, huh?" ;-)
2 comments:
We have a number of red tailed hawks in our neighborhood. I've even seen a golden eagle or two flying around. I always explain to our outdoor kitties that they are not the apex predator, and need to be wary. Several times I have been sitting on the back porch and a kestrel flies past with some prey in its talons.
When we lived in Anchorage, a bald eagle liked to sit on the top of the streetlight in our front yard. I am really surprised that it never got our blue point Siamese cat, Sandy. She loved to go outside. But she lived to a ripe old age until cancer finally got her. : - (
It is our task as cat Dads to keep 'em safe. Murphy's eyes widened when he saw that hawk take off with the dove. Osprey were the ones to keep an eye on when we lived in Texas - fun to seem them swoop down into the water and come up with a fish, though. Izzy was the one who would go into hunter mode when there were birds of any size in her sights... "Yeah, I think we'll give that bald eagle a pass, girlie." ;-)
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