Hawk!

[Jstpssng]

I was out picking my dry beans just now, my chickens were scratching about 40 feet away with my dog between us. When the hens started squacking I turned, expecting to yell at Ruger (again ) to leave them alone; only to see him chasing a hawk across the field; meanwhile everyone except one rooster scrambled for cover.
It must have been hungry to attack when we were so close; and each of my birds is bigger than the raptor.

 

[davesl708]

I would agree. Not common for hawks to get that close with a dog near. Lucky chickens.

 

[oosik]

For sure - the hawk was either quite hungry or young & inexperienced. We have very large red tailed hawks around here and I've seen them dive on turkeys. Never seen one get a turkey nor will they attempt it when the turkeys are in the yard.

 

[Egon]

In a time long ago Horned Owls would make short work of a twenty five pound roosting Turkey. That was on the farm where I grew up.

 

[oosik]

You know, Egon - I'm surprised that there hasn't been a kill made by either Great Horned or the even bigger - Barn Owl - in my immediate area. We certainly have plenty of both. A Barn Owl silhouetted against the fading light of a sunset, sitting on a branch in one of my large pines, is a truly awesome sight.

Many years ago, as the wife & I were walking the driveway just after dusk - a Great Horned Owl swooped down very near the wife. She always liked to say the owl was going after her stocking cap. I think it was going after a mouse or something and just happened to "buzz" her. In any case, it sure made for a thrilling few moments.

 

[Egon]

The Horned Owls look big but there is a long neck and lots of feathers all puffed out. When out at the Lake it's pretty common to hear them Hooting at night. At first they would return my Hoots but then they caught on.

 

[teejk]

In NY a few years ago people were reporting headless turkeys. There was speculation of some sort of Satanist cult being involved but it turned out to be great horned owls. Why they only took the heads is a mystery. Btw, any turkey hunter can relate to what happens in the woods when an owl hoots.

 

[Jstpssng]

The Horned Owls look big but there is a long neck and lots of feathers all puffed out. When out at the Lake it's pretty common to hear them Hooting at night. At first they would return my Hoots but then they caught on.

My last lab was virtually fearless... in 14 years, the only time I ever saw her spook was when we spent the night in a tent on my property and the owls started hooting. They're rather impressive when they take off with that huge wingspan.

 

[buckeyefarmer]

Was using the rotory mower in my woods a few yrs ago, looked up and there was a large barn owl just sitting in the tree above me. Scared the c... out of me, that thing was huge. Went back to the house to get a camera, but it was gone when I returned.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

Long ago and far away, my good friend and I were out one night with a predator call, trying to call up a coyote. We got a HUGE owl instead; it came silently swooping in on top of us and I nearly wet my pants. I thought it was Mothman at first.

 

[dmccarty]

I used to own some land that had a beaver problem. Real mess with the neighbors and home owner association. Lots of lies, people putting their noses in other people's business, etc.

The beavers had made a dam across a stream that was part of my property line and flooded about good 1/3 of the lot. The beaver pond ended up killing hundreds of trees and the beavers were killing some very large trees by eating the bark. I think I saved some of the big trees by using chicken wire but I sold the place to get out of the h.... hole... One of these trees was about 36 inches in diameter. I hope it lived.

Anywho, one evening I went down to the pond to see what the beavers were up too. I had on a dark green heavy wool coat and I sat down next to the 36 inch diameter tree which happened to have an old mound of dirt from a tree that had fallen and long ago rotted. The old root ball mound mostly hid me from the waters and thus the beavers. I sat there in the cold as the sun went down and eventually the beavers came out to play. The were kinda interesting to watch and I sat there for quite some time observing them. After some more time had passed, for some reason, I don't know if I heard something or just somehow sensed something, I looked up over my head and there was this HUGE, HORRIBLE, BLACK WINGED ANGLE OF DEATH swooping down on me! :shocked::shocked::shocked:

It was the biggest danged owl I had ever see landing on a limb about 10 feet over my head. About had to change my underwear. I swear the wings were 20-30 feet long!!!!!!! :laughing::laughing::laughing: Pretty sure I muttered something and the owl realized I was below it so it left. Thankfully, it left me behind. :thumbsup::laughing::laughing::laughing:

Years later we had sold that place and bought our current property. One day I went out to burn a burn pile. I wait for rain to happen before I burn and for a period of rain after I burn before I light the wood on fire. The pile of wood had compacted a bit and it was soaking wet. It took quite a few more hours than usual and every bit of flammable fluids I had to get the pile started. I used some old gas and boy was that fun but that is another story...

The pile finally starts burning but I have lost most of the day getting it burning. Towards evening, I call up the wifey and tell her that I am going to have to watch the fire all night to let it burn down. I asked her to bring me some more water, some food, more clothes and a sleeping bag. The wifey gets there well after dark with our oldest kid who is about 3 and we sit around the fire eating, talking and enjoying the fire and quiet. Then it happened....

An owl landed in a tree right behind us, maybe 10-15 feet away and maybe that high off the ground. The owl let off a HOOOOOOOOOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT! The wife and kid jumped and came close to needing underwear. :laughing::laughing::laughing:

We now live on the place and the owls are still there. We have even seen them just at sun down and if we had not seen them flying we would never have noticed them sitting in a tree. They blind in perfectly to the tree bark and if you don't know they are there, good luck seeing them. I hear them hooting and screeching from time to time and it never gets old. A real treat to hear them. Last week we heard one screeching in the septic field. Makes you jump a bit and it does sound rather horrible. :shocked: We heard screeching and hooting from that spot over the next week or so. We also heard a different sound that I can't describe from the same area. I walked off the porch to see if I can "see" or better locate where the sound was coming from but the owl saw me and shut up. I think it was on a much closer tree and it could see me but I sure could not see it.

Owls are cool.

Later,
Dan

 

[DrRod]

There's a real fuss going on in Bethesda, MD. Apparently, there's a highly aggressive owl attacking joggers in the early morning hours along a trail through the town. Bethesda is a dense near-in suburb of DC and this is highly disturbing to the residents. They've even posted signs and told people to cover pony tails in order to be safe.

 

[Egon]

We've come a long ways, haven't we? A lot of people don't understand that not so long ago we were competing with other predators, and to lose out to them literally meant starving to death.

They was catching some turkeys and chickens.

 

[2LaneCruzer]

The Georgia Kites have a bad reputation here, for dive-bombing folks that stray too close to their nests. I understand they are a protected species, but they are taking their lives in their own hands...er, claws, when they go messin' with the kids.

 

[nybirdman]

Twice I have been dive bombed while sitting in a tree stand and all camouflaged up.Of course the only thing moving was my head so that's what they went for.Both times were hawks and you don't hear them coming.