I saw a hawk. Should I worry about my dog?

Factual Questions
21

[QUOTE=Zsofia]
So, if the hawk is not a risk to my dog, is there anything I can do to encourage it to stick around, eat some squirrels, save my crocuses?
[/QUOTE]

Get a pump gun and pellets to shoot the squirrels. It might take a man’s strength to pump the rifle. I know my wife wouldn’t even consider it. (I assume Zsofia that you’re not a Zman, but a Zwoman.)

I think squirrels might be too quick for a bird of prey to bother with. The hawk in my neighborhood just sat in a tree waiting for me to kill the squirrels, then he’d drop in for lunch. This was a red shouldered hawk, I think, and he had a helluva time lifting the squirrels to fly to a more secluded spot (maybe 10 feet away) to dine in privacy.

22

Is it illegal to kill squirrels out of hunting season?

23

[QUOTE=carnivorousplant]
Is it illegal to kill squirrels out of hunting season?
[/QUOTE]

I don’t know, but if the law’s going to get you, it’ll more likely be for discharging a weapon within city limits.

But in years of plinking squirrels from my den window, nobody’s complained. I don’t do it too much now. I cut the population of squirrels to a non-nuisance level. a couple of years ago.

24

[QUOTE=BarnOwl]
Get a pump gun and pellets to shoot the squirrels. It might take a man’s strength to pump the rifle. I know my wife wouldn’t even consider it. (I assume Zsofia that you’re not a Zman, but a Zwoman.)

I think squirrels might be too quick for a bird of prey to bother with. The hawk in my neighborhood just sat in a tree waiting for me to kill the squirrels, then he’d drop in for lunch. This was a red shouldered hawk, I think, and he had a helluva time lifting the squirrels to fly to a more secluded spot (maybe 10 feet away) to dine in privacy.
[/QUOTE]

See, then the damned dog would eat them. (Plus, I live down the block from the police station, and they do take shooting firearms in the city limits pretty seriously around here. I know 'cause I called the cops on the people across the street once, one assumes they’d do the same for me with glee.)

25

[QUOTE=mks57]
From the BBC:

Eagle to patrol Italian airport

It’s a golden eagle that can lift 40lb. That puts many dogs at risk. The airport bought the eagle to deal with a fox problem.
[/QUOTE]

You can’t believe everything you see in print.

There’s a huge difference between what a raptor can kill, and what it can carry away. The realities of physics and aerodynamics prevent these birds from carrying much more than about half their body weight.

A large female golden eagle might weigh 15 pounds, so anything larger than at most eight or ten pounds might be killed then dragged along the ground, but not carried away. Forty pounds is clearly an exageration.

The harpy eagle Colibri mentions might max out at 20 pounds, and apparently routinely preys upon sloths in the 10 pound range. She can pick one out of a tree, and carry it to a perch to consume it. But at that extreme size range, the resulting flight will be mostly lateral, and slightly downward-- not up, up, and away.

Golden eagles are sometimes flown by falconers on game up to the size of (small) deer. Again, their ability to kill something is not nearly matched by an ability to carry it away.

Regardless, attacks by various raptors on domestic animals remain quite rare. They (the cats and dogs) just don’t fit the proper prey profile.

BarnOwl, I would hardly think that shooting squirrels to appease the appetite of a bird of prey would confer much protection on your dog. Instead, you’ll end up with an habituated raptor who focuses on a specific and highly productive hunting territory. Your yard. What do you think is going to happen when the supply of squirrels dries up?

Squirrels are the upper size limit for red shouldered hawks (smaller than red tailed hawks). The red shoulder would patiently sit in your tree for hours, awaiting just the right chance to ambush a squirrel that momentarily drops its guard. It would not involve itself in any lengthy chase scenario, going round and round the tree or otherwise making its intentions obvious. But actively hunting by ambush for a squirrel that is alert and wary is quite different from accepting an opportunity to immediately take one that is injured and crippled by intervention of your pellet gun.

26

If I wuz a hawk I’d eat your doggone dog. :stuck_out_tongue:

27

[QUOTE=CannyDan]
The harpy eagle Colibri mentions might max out at 20 pounds, and apparently routinely preys upon sloths in the 10 pound range. She can pick one out of a tree, and carry it to a perch to consume it. But at that extreme size range, the resulting flight will be mostly lateral, and slightly downward-- not up, up, and away.

Golden eagles are sometimes flown by falconers on game up to the size of (small) deer. Again, their ability to kill something is not nearly matched by an ability to carry it away.

[/QUOTE]

We had a radio-tagged young male Harpy (males are smaller than females) here in Panama that killed deer fawns a couple of times. (These were brocket deer, which are much smaller than White-tails.) Although he was able to kill them, he was unable to carry them away. I beleive he just ate from them on the ground, but he may have been able to carry away a leg or other part.

28

[QUOTE=CannyDan]
wevets, some (few) such reports are confirmed by eye witnesses and the presence of talon punctures. It certainly does occur, but apparently quite rarely.

However, there is no question that a raptor the size of a redtail could rather easily kill an animal in this size range. The power of the feet and talons is something you would not believe unless you experienced it. Remember, these are “foot killers”-- the beak is only for removing swallow-sized pieces.
[/quote]

Thanks, CannyDan! I’ve never seen a red tail kill anything bigger than a western grebe, so I wasn’t sure what their limitations were. I had no idea whether it was media hype or not, but I appreciate your informing me on this. :smiley:

29

I can say with certainty they can do about $800 damage to a cat.

30

all I have to say is if you even have to think about a bird eating your dog you should get a real dog :wink:

it can and does happen but like people have said its pretty rare overall. some friends of mine lost a cat that way. I think it was an owl though.

31

If you love your dog, wouldn’t you rather err on the side of caution? Yes, it is possible. Is it probable? Depends how much you’re willing to gamble with your family pet.