Daily Musings - page 19

I always have hawks around here. Eagles are around also. Like to nest near the Hudson.

ngam:

I once watched a red-shoulder hawk (?) swoop down and take a mourning dove right from the ground under the birdfeeder. It was amazing! For me ~ not for the poor dove.

Same here. A hawk cake down and caught some bird right in front of my LR window. Other times they have landed and sat on my pool fence.

Oh my! That's nature for ya.

Were you in the pool at the time?

No - in the house. When I used to have a solid cover for the pool, I would get ducks in it quite often. I'm sure he was looking for Daffy.

My poodle is 14 lbs. Ya think he's too big for a hawk? Now I don't want to worry.

I'd be more worried about a coyote.

The poor mourning doves are not the brightest of our feathered friends on this good green earth. When the hawks are calling like you say it is quiet and when they come swooping in all the birds fly back into the woods for cover, except the MD who fly away across the open backyard. If the hawk gets a bead on them they haven't got a chance. I watched a hawk circling way the heck up there, you could hardly see him then diving down so fast, I thought he was going to get one of the birds or chipmunks then he hit the stone wall with his feet and was flying up again. I thought that he had made a big miss , but then there in his claw was a snake wiggling for all it was worth. How he saw that snake in the stone wall with all the shrubby undergrowth out there is beyond me. Truly amazing predators. I'm glad we are not on their menu.

He's in a six foot tall fenced in space. Coyotes can get in there? I've heard coyotes have been getting problematic for small pets... gulp!

Wish I had eyesight like that ngam!!

Don't know how high they jump or if they climb well. I want to see some around here - great for the deer.

Coyotes are as limber and as athletic as say, a German Shepherd. If a dog can climb it, a coyote can climb it.

oh, crud.

Have you had coyote sightings near you, Harper?

Call on the Roadrunner!

No, not that I know of, but I'm still going to check into it. I live on a busy road just off the main road through town. Deer have come up to my border. There's a huge undeveloped woods about 1/4 mile away from me.

Isn't that the truth. I don't think I would totally rely on a fence to be coyote proof, they can dig under it. I would not leave any small animal out there for too long a time without watching. They got my poor little cat. My two I have now are indoor only for that reason. The animal control told me they work together and study a situation for several days before they act. They learn the routine when a cat or small dog is outside.Changing the time of day is a good idea. One will chase an animal in the direction of the rest of the pack. They are very smart, not like the poor mourning doves.

This message was edited Sep 15, 2007 8:15 PM

Jeepers! We had coyote go through our yard all the time, and we lived next to an airport!

Sorry about your cat, ngam. I never have let my cats out.

This is bad, bad, bad. Maybe I'll get a pit bull too.

Yeah, me too. Sorry about your cat.

I agree, ngam.

All of our cats and dogs are indoor creatures.

It's a good idea to keep cats inside for many reasons. Ticks, fleas, predators and they won't kill birds. Also for population control if they have not been neutered / spayed.

I have not seen any coyotes around for a while now, hence the monster bunny. I did not have any rabbits around here for years and years. I still see the fox trotting up and down my garden path. Have you ever heard foxes cry while they are getting amorous? Blood curdling sound, like something is being torn to shreds. Just awful.

This message was edited Sep 15, 2007 8:22 PM

Ugh, like cats in heat? I think DH would run me to the hospital if I made that noise.

We had neighbors like that.

It must be attractive to them, they keep making little foxes. ;)

Funny Victor. I could talk for a day about some neighbors I've had!

I've always liked foxes.

LOL Victor, how about those thin hotel room walls. Wooo!

When I was planning my last vacation I was reading reviews of popular resorts. One woman described the horror of having a screaming woman next to her. She said it went on for hours! The vacation was a gift to her mother, who shared the room with her.

Victor, the tall, redhead foxes? Oh wait, no. Brunette, right?

Variety is always nice.

Never read that magazine.

Ha ha - cute.

Geeee, you laughed at ME? I might get a big head. I'm not that funny.

I think you're funny Harper!

Awwww, shuks.

Candyce.....what a riot about the California raisin! It must be pretty valuable if I didn't even miss it! LOL

We passed through your neck of the woods today taking our little grandson to see the big tractors at an antique tractor show in Greenfield, NH. We had to hussle to get there before they all went home. They had too very cool oxen there. What a lovely area of the state you live in!!

Way to go, Harper.....Victor needs some competition to keep him sharp!

I cannot compete with Victor! I forefeit!