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Eye opening experience

JAileen

Veteran

My friend came over this morning with her dachshund. We were sitting on the deck, visiting, and her dog and my two dogs, a 28 pound Scottie and a 15 pound Jack Russell were running around. We kept hearing bird noises. There were two Cooper's hawks talking to each other in the neighbor's tree. We think it might have been an adult and a juvenile. However, one of them swooped down on the Jack Russell, trying to scare him or possibly pick him up, while he was running on the lawn. I don't think he touched him. This really shocked me. If you have a really small dog, this could be a genuine danger.

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30 replies

Latest reply was from JAileen

Meredith

Veteran

Scary, isn't it? I recall reading a story about someone recording hawk nests and finding animal collars inside. Apparently coyotes get the bad reputation when the birds are just as dangerous. When we lived in Colorado we regularly had hawks and owls in our backyard. The owl swooped for the dogs more than once. It's nice to live in a place where I feel safe letting them out without supervision. Glad all the doggies are okay!

JAileen

Veteran

Meredith, hearing of collars in the nests makes me sad.

SW Ann

Veteran

I live in Tucson AZ--small dogs, out alone in the backyard have been scooped up by hawks.....unfortunately. We all have large block walls around our homes, but the neighbors dog was gotten by a bobcat....small pets need to be kept indoors if no one is there to supervise (Ie scare off predators)....It makes me sad because I am a pet lover, but many are surprised by the savage nature of ....nature...for potential food.

JAileen

Veteran

I saw a coyote on our street, two doors down. I know they're everywhere. I didn't think a 15 pound dog was particularly small. I guess that's what shocked me.

Style Fan

Veteran

I live in an area that is very close to the woods. Bears, deer, coyotes and even wolves have come up our ravine. We have some owls that live in our ravine. It is their ravine too. In our neighbourhood small dogs have been picked up by coyotes. Cats that are roaming free get picked up by owls and coyotes.
Sophie wants to sleep outside at night but I will not let her because of the animals.

JAileen

Veteran

OMG - wolves?!!! They are scarier than bears.

It's better to be safe than sorry.

Anonymous

That's why we keep our cats indoors. There are coyotes and owls around here. I think a fox was spotted, too.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

Happens all the time out here where I live - not just hawks (and we have HUGE hawks and osprey, etc.) but also owls in the evening and early morning hours. Nature can be ruthless.

JAileen

Veteran

BC, very smart with your cats.

Texstyle, you're in the Hill Country, aren't you? That's pretty wild out there.

JAileen

Veteran

My husband, a real birder, thought the hawk was not trying to pick up our dog, but trying to shoo him away from the juvenile. I still don't have a great feeling about this whole thing.

cindysmith

Veteran

We have coyotes, hawks, owls, and bobcats in addition to the feral pig population. There are also red wolves here (Texoma region), reintroduced by texas parks & wildlife (into Caddo national grassland). DH has actually hunted feral pigs side by side with a red wolf in the underbrush on his hunting lease. (not on purpose. they recognized each other as fellow hunters rather than threats and went about their business stalking the feral pigs.) I'm pretty sure some of the birds of prey around here have gotten one of our cats and a chicken too.

rachylou

Veteran

Oh, you have to worry. Those birds of prey take hares; they certainly can and do take dogs.

I worry about Lilypup. When I moved up to the East Bay from the South Bay, I thought, Plenty of places to walk! Then I was reminded by a big sign about the mountain lions and to keep your dog close on leash...

Style Fan

Veteran

I was walking Christie (Sophie`s predecessor) and we were coming down the driveway. A wolf appeared from the ravine, crossed right in front of us, and went up the hill. He/she was clearly busy with something other than us and acted like we were not there. (Thank goodness!)

JAileen

Veteran

Cindy, Rachy, Style Fan, you guys are brave around wolves and mountain lions. They are the real deal. Style Fan, I would have turned around and cancelled the day's walk, and shaken in my boots for a couple hours!!

Laura G

Veteran

We lost two cats on the farm before we caught on. Hawks, owls, coyotes...

JAileen

Veteran

Laura, I'm sorry you lost your pet cats.

Gigi

Veteran

How sad! I knew someone who had a pet killed by a coyote while she was at work. She was devastated.

JAileen

Veteran

That is very sad, indeed.

Anonymous

Smaller dogs can be very high maintenance in the danger department, even from each other!
It's probably not best to leave them outdoors unsupervised and out of view for long but in this instance it's also possible that the hawk was sizing up hunting ground competition. I've had hawks swoop down between myself and my dog many times as though to frighten us off.
The collars could have been empty when the birds found them, I see lost ones all the time,

JAileen

Veteran

Isabel, that's interesting that you've experienced this. Do you know what kind of hawks? How big was your dog?

The hawks were in our neighbors' tree. The neighbors have two much smaller dogs, both Bichon Frise. I think they weigh about 10 pounds.

My husband was just outside and said there were two juveniles and two adults.

Julie

My dad once saw a hawk pick a hat off his friend's head while they were out golfing!

Julie

Also we occassionally get moose wandering around our neighborhood or the campus. Very exciting! Not particularly a problem for cats and dogs though, i don't think. I worry about the coyotes.

JAileen

Veteran

Coyotes are very dangerous. But, wait, there are moose in SLC? I had no idea! I know moose are dangerous, but they are fascinating. Someone described them as an animal designed by committee.

Years and years ago, we were eating at a restaurant on SF Bay, and a gull swooped down and grabbed the bun of my dad's hamburger!

Anonymous

Where we were, Coopers and Red Tailed are the most common. It happened first when he was a puppy but he's 27lbs now and they still track him when he's off leash.
A Coopers hawk that I must have startled flew down once inches from my head with it's wings open so that all I could see for an instant was a domed ceiling of perfectly arranged feathers. I wondered if any of their prey ever just die of awe.

Sara L.

Veteran

I technically live in the middle of Albuquerque but there are irrigation ditches close by that drain to the Rio Grande that act as highways for wildlife. We see coyotes and raccoons regularly and outside cats don't last long in my neighborhood. I occasionally hear about small dogs (Yorkies, chihuahuas, teacup poodles) getting taken by hawks.

JAileen

Veteran

Isabel, your dog is probably safe now, thank goodness. Your Coopers Hawk experience sounds amazing. My husband and I had a similar experience with a golden eagle. It flew 3-4 feet over our heads, caught a coot, and then ate it. Mother Nature in action.

Sara, we have irrigation ditches, too. The houses across the street back up to one. A year or two ago we had bears (a mother and two cubs) come down from the mountains and ravage people's yards, even tearing down branches from their apple trees to eat the apples. The wildlife people tried to catch them, but never did.

Echo

Veteran

Near the end of the school year, we saw a crow take a baby bunny. I'd never seen crows actively hunt before, just take carrion. But we live rurally, and we have seen owls, hawks, turkey vultures, coyotes, wolves, foxes and even a bear once (along with countless other non-predator species) at our home. Oh, we have raccoons, too, which will take kittens who are not well hidden. Small dogs and cats (and chickens for those who keep them) are often meals for these animals. Given that most native prey keeps to the underbrush and is harder to track, domesticated animals who spend their time in the short grass or driveway/patio areas of a home are tempting and relatively easy prey. Still, a dog that size would be fairly large for an average hawk, so perhaps the juvenile was just testing his abilities. Either way, it is a good reminder that we often live on a predator's home turf, not vice versa.

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Yowza!

I remember eating my breakfast at my parents', watching the Juncos and Downies and whatever at the birdfeeders/suet. Something flew into view very fast. It dove right underneath the Junipers and came out with a sparrow. Too fast to tell on the way in, when it came out we saw that it was a Coopers Hawk. It sat right there, 10' from the window, and ate every bit of that sparrow, except its beak and feet. Cool to watch, because the sparrow wasn't my pet.

Echo, good point.

Brooklyn

Veteran

That is awful. I really want a small dog - I have been at my husband about it for a long time. But we visit the country a lot and he is concerned that it could get taken by a hawk. I don't think I would ever get over that.
For an Australian perspective, kangaroos are known to be able to lure dogs into dams and then drown them. They are very powerful creatures.

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