These are several of the Red Tailed Hawks that were eying Stretch at the Appomattox Courthouse. There were more, I just couldn’t get ‘em all in the same frame. I had other things to do. They wanted to eat my dog…I had to scoop him up, because they were dive-bombing. I’m telling you…a Red-Tailed Hawk is a formidable opponent…they are a lot larger than you might think…five foot wingspan when mature, but the little ones are bad as well. To me, I thought I was under attack by a Pterodactyl. These birds are huge…when they get close, they can block the sun. I’m telling you, seeing a bird with a five foot, or so, wingspan diving at you will make you open your eyes.
Problem was…I did not have a shotgun. I didn’t even have a stick…I guess I could have thrown my camera at one of ‘em. All I could do was grab Stretch, and hope we were too large to attack. Seriously, we were ducking. They were so close, you could have probably popped one with a hand gun.
2 Comments
A hawk tried to get Jack when he was a puppy and would have if I hadn’t just stepped off of the porch as it was diving. It screamed all pissy and went up and then flew again at him five minutes later. They are magnificent creatures, but I don’t want them getting my pets. They can have the squirrels. And human babies.
You are correct indeed, they are magnificent creatures. Beautiful, but they have to eat, and they don’t care where they feed, and they are bold. I once saw one grab a dove not 10 feet from where I was sitting, enjoying my lunch. Didn’t hear a thing until it was too late. Hawk 1, dove dead.
When Stretch was a puppy, after a close call, I always went out with him. But, since these mature hawks have been hunting his full grown ass…I do keep an eye open.
You can tell…if there are birds flying around, no problem. If not, there are hawks in the neighborhood. The birds know. They hide. I’ve learned this through experience.
I’m telling you…hawks come out of nowhere, are silent, and deadly. I would compare this to a good poot, but I’ve never known anyone to die from a poot.
So, I have a lot of huge hungry Red Tails around here…seriously, gotta pay attention…gotta listen. No birds flying or chirping = Red Tail on patrol. Red Tail on patrol = something is going to die.