# Huge Hawk



## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

People think that hawks only swoop down to get prey in open spaces. This huge Hawk was way bigger than my dogs . It was sitting on our fence. I took the picture through the window. I saw it swoop down and carry a chipmunk away. It could of easily carried Dewey or Laurel.


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## michellerobison (Dec 17, 2009)

I know we passed on on the road eating and I couldn't believe it..It was easily 2 ft..huge!


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## Matilda's mommy (Jun 1, 2005)

Now that's enough to keep our fluffs in doors. Thanks for reminding us, it only takes a moment and we would be without our babies


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## lydiatug (Feb 21, 2012)

So very scary! We have them too, so we're careful! And then you have the coyotes running the fence like at Hedy's...yikes!


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## Sylie (Apr 4, 2011)

I can't identify that hawk, because I don't know the hawks in your area. It looks like a red shouldered hawk to me. Deborah, in every area of life, knowledge overcomes fear. Identify the hawk through a site such as Cornell's birding pages. I very seriously doubt that this bird poses any threat at all to your dogs. There is no sense in being afraid of that which is not a threat. You are a sensible woman, never let a lack of knowledge feed irrational fear. There are very few birds of prey who are strong enough to take a dog. Great horned owls, eagles, a desperate red-tailed hawk might try, but would certainly loose. You are not a silly woman who is about to be scared silly by a bird that is in no way physically equipped to threatened your babies.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

I can understand your fear, Deb. I watch overhead each time I am out---have been there to see them take a rabbit---and felt threatened (and was stalked) myself a couple of times. I think being aware is important.


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

Sylie said:


> I can't identify that hawk, because I don't know the hawks in your area. It looks like a red shouldered hawk to me. Deborah, in every area of life, knowledge overcomes fear. Identify the hawk through a site such as Cornell's birding pages. I very seriously doubt that this bird poses any threat at all to your dogs. There is no sense in being afraid of that which is not a threat. You are a sensible woman, never let a lack of knowledge feed irrational fear. There are very few birds of prey who are strong enough to take a dog. Great horned owls, eagles, a desperate red-tailed hawk might try, but would certainly loose. You are not a silly woman who is about to be scared silly by a bird that is in no way physically equipped to threatened your babies.




I'm not afraid of hawks carrying off my fluffs because I never allow them out alone. 
This is either a red tailed or a Coopers Hawk. Both are carnivores and can carry off small pets. I have seen a rabbitt get carried off. 
This one was unusually larger than I 'm used to seeing around here.


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## Snuggle's Mom (Jan 3, 2008)

I too would be very careful and we never leave Chrissy and Snuggles out by themselves. Always on a leash even though we are fenced in (can get underneath some areas) backyard. We too have them here in our area. Thanks for sharing Deb!!


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## harrysmom (Sep 28, 2007)

Yikes, that is a large hawk! We have red-tailed hawks here, also, but I haven't seen one that large! Keep a close eye on those babies :wub:


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## sherry (Jan 4, 2013)

Holy Smokes! Mine are never allowed off the deck unless we are outside with them. Thankfully they are very content in their climate controlled house.


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## CorkieYorkie (Apr 10, 2012)

We have Hawks too but I've never seen one that big! Mine are allowed off leash since we have a fence but we are always out with them. I don't think they'd go for Ozzie since he's bigger at 7/8 lbs but lucky is 6.5 and looks more like a bunny... 

What worries me is if a hawk is dumb enough to try and snatch them it can kill them. Ive read about Hawks snatching small dogs and then dropping them somewhere and sometimes the claws do too much damage  

We just keep a careful eye out when we are out back. They love being outside SO much, so we let them enjoy it, we just try our best to keep a look out!


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## LOVE_BABY (May 5, 2015)

*Lions & Tigers & Bears {& Hawks} -oh no!*

:huh:I worry about birds of pray too. Even though I live in the suburbs close to NYC there are hawks here too. There is one that lives in our neighborhood & I see it flying in big circles only a few houses down from mine. Hawks do this when they're looking for / or have seen something that seems like prey to them. I worried a lot when Baby was a small puppy of 3.5 lbs. and still have some concern now that Baby is at his adult weight close to 7 lbs. I too have heard stories as well about small dogs being picked up and/or dropped. 'Just in case' it could happen I won't take a risk. I never leave Baby unsupervised in our yard. I'm always near him outside & glance up at the sky now & then to see if the hawk is nearby. Nothing bad involving a hawk or any other animal has ever happened to us, but I'd rather err on the side of caution. I worry even more about birds of Prey & other predators when I bring Baby with me to visit my parents when they summer in the mountains where wild things abound.


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## CorkieYorkie (Apr 10, 2012)

I'm in the Chicago suburbs and we have Hawks and coyotes. We have tons of forest preserver nearby. We used to live in a heavily wooded area and I used to be terrified and paranoid about coyotes trying to take my dogs even when I had them on a leash based on stories I've read about brazen coyotes. Now that we have a 6' privacy fence I feel better since they can't see in. We also have raccoons so we are always on alert. 

Get this - my in laws live in a rural area of northern IL in the woods and my MIL is convinced they have a mountain lion in their woods... Imagine my paranoia taking the pups there...! No fence so they're always on leash.


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## Furbabies mom (Jul 25, 2011)

CorkieYorkie said:


> I'm in the Chicago suburbs and we have Hawks and coyotes. We have tons of forest preserver nearby. We used to live in a heavily wooded area and I used to be terrified and paranoid about coyotes trying to take my dogs even when I had them on a leash based on stories I've read about brazen coyotes. Now that we have a 6' privacy fence I feel better since they can't see in. We also have raccoons so we are always on alert.
> 
> Get this - my in laws live in a rural area of northern IL in the woods and my MIL is convinced they have a mountain lion in their woods... Imagine my paranoia taking the pups there...! No fence so they're always on leash.


We too are in the suburbs of Columbus. 
We have deer, raccoons, opossums,skunks hawks and occasionally a coyote is spotted in our neighborhood. I've lived here for 20 years with either Yories or Maltese, and I'm more afraid of big dogs in our neighborhood than of the wildlife.


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## Dominic (Nov 4, 2012)

That's a huge one! We have them here too Debbie, I think they are beautiful and wouldn't try to get our dogs only because we don't let them go outside unsupervised. The Owls and Hawks better look for rabbits somewhere else!


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

My brother is an an avid outdoorsman - I am always concerning my fears regarding hawks and owls etc. He said a hawk would never swoop down when there is a human close, and very unlikely ever would try and land on a deck railing attached to a home where the deck was not very large in size etc. I guess they have a pretty wide wing span. ugh... With that being said, I still would never take a chance on every letting your fluff outside unattended. I get so paranoid even when I am outside alone I am always looking up to see if there are any lingering birds of prey around.


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## edelweiss (Apr 23, 2010)

We actually did have a hawk swoop down just over our heads in Austin last year. It also happened where there were lots of woods, trees behind the condo where we were staying on the walking trail. He came out of nowhere, flew just over our heads & landed in a tree behind us. My DH walks w/a golf club so he waved it around yelling "kowabunga" but the hawk wasn't impressed in the least. :HistericalSmiley: He just sat there staring at us. We went home with dogs in arms.


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## Malt Shoppe (Jul 20, 2011)

Chardy said:


> My brother is an an avid outdoorsman - I am always concerning my fears regarding hawks and owls etc. He said a hawk would never swoop down when there is a human close, and very unlikely ever would try and land on a deck railing attached to a home where the deck was not very large in size etc. I guess they have a pretty wide wing span. ugh... With that being said, I still would never take a chance on every letting your fluff outside unattended. I get so paranoid even when I am outside alone I am always looking up to see if there are any lingering birds of prey around.


Carol, I have to dispute your brother on the hawk not swooping with humans around. I've heard of Maltese & Yorkie owners having their little dogs snatched by birds even on leashes held by humans.

Also, many people think their dogs are too big to be picked up by birds, but they have been known to pick up small DEER!

Last year there was a Bald Eagle sitting in my yard. There were about a dozen black birds sitting around him and when he took off to a neighbor's tree, they went with him, like they were his Secret Service!


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

Malt Shoppe said:


> Carol, I have to dispute your brother on the hawk not swooping with humans around. I've heard of Maltese & Yorkie owners having their little dogs snatched by birds even on leashes held by humans.
> 
> Also, many people think their dogs are too big to be picked up by birds, but they have been known to pick up small DEER!
> 
> Last year there was a Bald Eagle sitting in my yard. There were about a dozen black birds sitting around him and when he took off to a neighbor's tree, they went with him, like they were his Secret Service!


I probably should have made referenced to what type of hawk he was referring to me when I asked him. It was a Red Hawk... which is very common in our neck of the woods. He is employed by Cornell at the cooperative extension, and is involved with birds of prey rehab. (ugh) I am sure anything could attack a small dog/animal but it would not be able to fly away with it. They usually don't kill prey that they can't remain in a spot to eat so that is why it would be less likely that they would try and do while we are in sight- I have seen them kill a pigeon and carry it off to the top of a street light to eat.. It made me sick to my stomach. I guess I would not be a good hunter, nor do I like to watch Lion and Tigers chasing after their prey and will quickly turn the channel before they do! 

Maybe I should read up on the Red Hawk, nevertheless, I would never take anyones word for granted and even when my brother assured me, no way I would ever chance leaving them outside alone. Heck, we don't even walk on the grass here because I don't like fleas or ticks. We don't have sidewalks, and I cannot trust what we will meet when walking in the road, so We love our carriage!


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## Chardy (Oct 30, 2008)

Here' the link if you want to read about the RED HAWK... Read Backyard tips!!

Red-tailed Hawk, Identification, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology


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## glo77 (Feb 10, 2015)

Even if they could not pick it up and carry it off they could certainly leave terrible talon punctures in the process of trying. I too would be very careful. My dog is never out of my site outside. For me it is more a fear of someone stealing her or a stupid person opening the gate and leaving it opened.


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## Pooh's mommy (Aug 31, 2014)

Oh My ! That would surely frighten me if I saw him in my yard. He is huge!!
My vet said that the hawks in our area are a real threat especially if they have young and it is feeding time. He said that my Pooh could easily be carried off because there are rabbits that weigh more than she does at 5 pound 4 oz. He also said that the talons and the beak are the real threat because when they swoop... they come in fast and they go in for the kill (the spinal cord area or the gut) so that they can cripple their prey and easily carry it off without it struggling.
Sorry to be so graphic and horrific just wanted others to know that he said that just because your fluff may be on the larger size does not mean that it is necessarily safe.

If I have Pooh out and about and hear them or see them in the area I quickly pick her up and carry her inside. They scare me to death. We currently now have 3 that stay in a wooded area behind our house.


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## Trisha (Aug 8, 2014)

We also have woods behind our home, although we live in a subdivision in the city. We have several hawks that I see on a daily basis. I never let Maggie out alone, always with her and she is on a leash close by me at all times.
Once I was in the driveway speaking to a landscape guy and a very large hawk flew right over our heads very low & close as I was holding Maggie.
And I was told a few years a go that a lady in our area was outside planting plants with her Yorkie nearby and a hawk swooped down grabbed the dog but then dropped it. The dog didn't survive.
Just this week I got online reading about hawks and read many stories about how owners lost their dogs to a hawk and read some of the same things that Cindy's Vet shared with her.

Keep your babies close to you at all times!


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