Looks like a Harris Hawk. Small yorkie fits just about perfect into their prey profile - they’re fond of rabbits. Las Vegas is a bit north of their natural range, but with the jesses it looks like a falconer’s bird and falconers are big fans of the Harris Hawk, including in such far afield places as the UK.
I thought I had already lived through the worst while living on Kodiak. I literally had to wave big sticks and holler to chase off the bald eagles who were trying to pick off my Pomeranians that my kids had on leashes in the yard. I did lose a cat to a bald eagle whose nest was just a few yards away from my house.
So far here in the great Pacific Northwest, in the little cowville town I graduated high school from, I have so far had a Coopers Hawk not just in my trees or perched menacingly on the tweety bird feeders, but actually on my deck looking around for anything that might be hiding amongst the planters! I’ve had all sorts of other raptors fly through, fortunately for the songbirds, there are plenty of crows sounding alarms in the big cherry tree, and lots of hiding places in my yard.
What I did not expect, one day while gazing out my window at my little bit of woodland I am creating in my backyard, was when all of a sudden a fully mature bald eagle swooped into my yard, snatched something and flew off. I went scrambling, hollering for my daughter to find the cats. The big old lazies were napping inside, as was my current Pomeranian. Lesson learned. I don’t let Smoochie (all 5 lbs of her!) out unless she is accompanied, and that includes at night, as we have owls quite close as well.
I thought I might SSS, but he left after I had a talk with my rooster one day. His name is Cluck Norris. He’s a bad ass. Ya don’t fuck with Cluck.
We sometimes watch a yorkie overnight for some friends. We have a fenced yard, but the yorkie, a very small one, avoids open areas, and likes to stay under trees. We never let him out by himself. We also have 2 70lb boxers who are very protective of their domain. If they see any bird on the ground, the charge it. My older boxer girl chased a fox right into a fence. The fox got thru, but my girl smashed into the fence, missing the fox by inches. I had shot at the fox 4 times previously, and threw a manure fork at it. Didn’t keep him away from my chickens. After being chased by the dog, it never came back. I think bullets whizzing by, and crazy guys throwing things are pretty abstract to a fox, but fear of a big fast dog is right in the dna.
I had one rooster that survived 4 fox attacks. He got his but kicked every time, I didn’t think he was going to survive a couple times. He would always defend his girls. He passed, and his replacement was much bigger, but worthless. That pussy ran for the coop right away!
You do this shit, too? My wife names all the critters some sort of stupid pun name.
Too deep in my cups to recall specific hilarious examples, except for ‘Anger-roo’. A particularly ill-tempered Marsupial.