Attack on the Poshranch!

Bird of prey: a carnivorous bird (such as a hawk, eagle, vulture, or owl) that feeds wholly or chiefly on meat taken by hunting or on carrion (Macmillan online dictionary).

A couple of nights ago we were sitting at one of our new favorite breweries (https://accomplicebeer.com/) (Great place by the way, food and beer!), and my husband, Neal, started talking about the hawk that he encountered in our BACKYARD. The hawk apparently was circling around and all of a sudden started to sort of dive-bomb him, screeching the whole time. Again, he was in our backyard. Ultimately the hawk flew away, but we started a discussion about how to protect yourself from a hawk attack. When we were thinking about moving I was thinking about rattlesnakes, snow, cows….never once did being attacked by a bird cross my mind.

I mean, it’s a bird. How bad can a bird be? Well I got schooled. Just a few days prior to this malicious (🤣) bird attack I had read a post on our neighborhood Facebook page discussing a family who had a nest in a tree outside their front door. This man had apparently been actually attacked by a hawk due to the nest being so close. He actually had to seek medical attention due to the attack. OMG….He eventually called the wildlife people and they relocated the hawk and stated the babies would eventually transition to another location (apparently they were old enough??). Disclaimer: No hawks were harmed in the making of this blog….

I was reminded of this hawk attack post when we were at Accomplice Beer Company enjoying our brews and food outside….where we could potentially be accosted by birds. Alfred Hitchcock, anyone??

Also around this same time I was talking to a friend of mine who does cat rescue (you know who you are…) and she stated she has actually seen small dogs carried off by owls and other birds of prey. Can you imagine watching your beloved pooch being carried off by a bird??? Fortunately our dogs are likely too large for the hawk to carry off. However, they are not out of the woods completely. After this near-miss hawk attack on my husband I started doing a little bit of research on hawks.

I also found out that even if a hawk or other bird of prey cannot carry off an animal because of its size, it can also ‘slay’ the animal (or human???) and attack it on the ground. Wow, that’s a grim vision. I understand it’s the circle of life. And we have lots of birds who tweet (not THAT kind of tweet) and chirp in our trees and it’s amazing. It just isn’t something I thought I’d ever have to worry about.

Check out this guy who saved his chihuahua from a hawk who tried to carry it away (https://www.mynews13.com/fl/orlando/news/2020/01/10/man-saves-chihuahua-from-large-hawk-s-clutches#).

Here’s another story about a suburban family being subjected to a hawk attack: (https://www.boston25news.com/news/local/backyard-battle-zone-hawk-attacks-kingston-man-twice/WRZER5KTSJDVXM2NAXV5LNPQYU/)

Ok, I love animals. And hawks are majestic, amazing animals, but I really don’t want them attacking us in our backyard. Just leave us alone and we won’t bother you either.

I’ve also heard through the grapevine that the coyotes are becoming more bold and appearing in the middle of the day in more domesticated areas….

That’s a topic for another blog, perhaps, but hopefully I won’t have to actually see coyotes in our backyard in the middle of the day….or ever.

If you want to learn more about hawks, check out this website about hawks of Wyoming (https://tetonraptorcenter.org/our-work/education/all-about-raptors/hawks/)

Thanks for reading!

Until next time…