This morning I looked outside at the chicken run to see a very skinny bird sitting on a roost and struggling against the wire. At first I thought it was one of our chickens half plucked. Then I realized to my horror that it was a small hawk, INSIDE the chicken run!
I threw my boots on over my pajamas, rushed out there, grabbed a rake, and opened the door, (how did that guy get in?). He was easy to pin against the wall with the rake. Brad was right behind me, and I yelled for him to get the camera, but we missed our shot. The hawk wiggled out around the rake and flew out the open door. If I had been brave enough to pick him up, I could have had an awesome picture. Or I could have lost a finger I guess.
Man, I am so sick of predators. Even though this guy was little (about the size of a really big pigeon), I imagine that he might have been able to wound a chicken. The M.O. of these Cooper’s Hawks is to run chickens into brush, trap them there and stab them with their talons. Yeech!
In other news, it is snowing here. Super pretty. My chickens seem a bit cold, and even though they looked at me with despair, I am keeping them IN today. No free ranging when the predators are about.
One Comment, Comment or Ping
Ingrid, do you know – your name is so distinctive that it bubbled back up out of my subconscious after I knew you for probably 2 weeks, the summer between 7th & 8th grades, at the UofO Summer Camp for the Criminally Intelligent? I remember thinking you were pretty cool. I was from Pendleton.
Anyway – I’m glad it occurred to me to googlestalk you, and I’m glad to see you seem to have survived to adulthood and kept the coolness going too.
Regards,
Ruth
ex-Pendleton, formerly associated with the criminally intelligent, etc.
December 16th, 2008
Reply to “Cooper, come get your bird!”