I might have already said this here but the other day I was out watering the peonies and I noticed something out the corner of my eye and it was a hawk sitting on top of the pergola. He was watching me but didn’t seem concerned. I’ve told Vince that even with Oscar on a leash, we need to watch out for hawks.
Yesterday I was taking Oscar out to the “playground”. He knows when I say that word, that we’re going out to throw the frisbee or ball and he loves doing it. I walk him out to the little fence on a leash, then I unhook him, throw the ball and then latch the gate while he’s after the ball.
Just as I started to unlatch his leash, I noticed a pile of feathers. There were lots of feathers . . nothing else. I walked Oscar over to the ball, still on the leash, retrieved the ball and we left. Vince was out working in the yard so we went over and I told him . . there’s a mess in the playground . . would you clean it up? He wanted to know what so I said “Come see”. We all three walked over and Vince looked at it and said “That was a massacre!” Not sure who the feathers belonged to or what got it but it wasn’t a small bird.
Vince cleaned it all up and sprinkled sand over it. I’m hoping it will rain a good bit tonight and wash away whatever is left there.
I never take my eyes off Oscar when we’re outside but I’m guessing a hawk is quicker than I am.
montanaclarks says
For what it’s worth a friend sent me a chart after Emmi had her run in with a hawk and I must have deleted it. The chart stated that a hawk would not try to pick up something weighing more than it did–and a hawk weighs 3-4 pounds if I remember right. We both said, “the hawk might not be able to pick up Emmi but it sure could hurt and even kill her if the hawk grabbed her in the right spot! We have Golden and Bald Eagles here as well as great horned owls–those are the birds I worry about!!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Yes, I doubt a hawk could pick Oscar up but they can do enough damage to kill them pretty quickly.
Kat in Tamale Land says
We have lots of bald eagles here on Toledo Bend. There is also a nest right behind my house. When we first moved to the lake I was very concerned about my outside cat. Since there was not really anything I could do about it I finally just got over the worrying. My sweet little cat turned 15 on April 1. I think with all the other options (fish and squirrels) cat is probably not on the preferred menu. Hoping the hawk feels that same way about small dogs!
Tracy says
– A friend of mine has a special harness for her Jack Russel Terrier. It has plastic spikes to deter anything from grabbing it and is quick release, so if something does grab the dog, all it gets is the harness. This is similar to what she has https://www.coyotevest.com
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I’ve seen those. I may get one because I was concerned about hawks before but now after something got totally eaten inside his play yard, I’m really concerned. Of course, it will probably scare Oscar to death when we put it on him since he’s so afraid of everything.