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attack a cat or dog. The applicant also stated that the bird prefers to eat small rodents and quail. • Can the hawk ever be returned to the wild? The applicant stated the falconry supports the re-entry of birds into the wild and successfully survive after being released. This helps maintain the population and increase the survival rate of birds and has little impact on the bird's diet because they do not depend on the falconer for food. The narrative, Exhibit A, provides additional information for your reference. Falconry is an art requiring many hours of training to establish a bond of respect between the hawk and the falconer. The sport requires the hawk and falconer to be visible to each another in order to communicate the stages of hunting. It is conducted in areas that are flat without terrain or obstacles. In its preferred natural grassland habitat, hawks also prefer this open country but will take refuge in trees to rest. Their diet is typically small rodents, snakes, lizards, and rabbit with a preference for pheasant. As noted above, there is concern of attack on domestic animals. They do not attack small cats/dogs because release is never within a neighborhood where there is no line of site. Furthermore, hawks can't lift more than their weight into the air. Ared-tailed Hawk weighs 2 '/2 to 3 pounds and thus would not lift more than that. Many raptors are found around us in our Pleasanton neighborhoods, perched in trees or soaring above. Staff researched to determine if there have been hawk attacks locally towards domestic animals. None were found. We did find several articles under "hawk attacks" when googled that indicated free roaming birds did attack during times of nesting which engages a stronger territorial instinct and of course when these birds were antagonized. Attacks on pigeons appear common as noted in articles from Southern California and elsewhere where pigeon enthusiasts keep birds for homing and communication. Attacks on raptors in those areas have caused a decline of the hawk in that killing of up to 50 per year has been experienced due to misinformation and a desire to protect this other sport. See Exhibit I. In the San Francisco Marinwood area, The Golden Gate Raptor enthusiasts have been monitoring and recording the raptors in the Bay Area. There are about 14 species of raptor that live and nest locally. Another five species are only seen during the fall migration -- from mid-August to mid-December, maybe 25,000 to 35,000 raptors fly over the Bay Area. The rough-legged hawk that breeds in the Arctic migrates south all across the United States, and the entire population of Swainson's hawks migrates from Northern California and the Great Basin all the way to Argentina. There are about 250 volunteers who work every season collecting this data. These volunteers capture, band and catalog raptors in order to collect data. PAUP-4, Jennifer Hosterman /Hawk Planning Commission Page 8 of 15