18 ATTACHMENT 14 - Laserfiche WebLink

Hawk Attacks! ! Page 1 of 2 My First Hawk Attack Hawks are clearly able to visit suburbs of big cities like mine (Ottawa, Canada). My first hawk attack occurred in the middle of winter on the very first day the I released my pigeons. I was trying to get them accustom to my loft. The attack was against my white homers that I keep as pumpers and for their nice white plumage. Two of my birds were scared off by something earlier in the day, I don't know if they saw the hawk at that time. A little later in the day, the hawk dove into my backyard, it scared the heck out my 2 young white homers, this was their first time out ever, I had bought them as squeakers. Fortunately one dove under the loft and hid there. I was on my way back outside, I heard the ruckus through my open kitchen window. I saw the young Cooper's hawk leaving my small back yard....I was amazed that he would come onto my deck area, into my very small and crowded space to try to get to the pigeons. I am sure he would have gone into the loft if I hadn't come outside. These hawks are extremely aggressive and dangerous to pigeons and are not that afraid of man. I got a lot of advice from pigeon fancier friends on dealing with them: • Don't let your birds out in the winter, the-wi+~+ter} (see my second attack below). • Don't sacrifice birds thinking that the hawk can take a roller or a white homer and leave your prize winning stock to fly in peace. Once a hawk sees your loft as a food source he/she will be back. • Don't leave your traps open/unlocked when you are not around, several species of hawks will go inside your loft. • Look around before you let your birds out, • Let several birds out of your coop at the same time, they can watch out for each other and help see trouble coming. • Hawks are both migratory and territorial. You obviously can't really tell if the hawk you see is migrating or not, although it is safe to assume that migrations occur in the spring and fall with nesting often coinciding with the songbirds nesting. Young hawks may typically be fully fledged and starting to hunt when young song birds are just leaving the nest. • Hawks can target poor Flyers (contrasting behaviour) or contrasting colors..., but when it comes right down to it hawks aren't prejudiced they will take what they can catch. • Hawks are fast flyers, and many can fly horizontally as fast as a pigeon. They can also bank and make right angle turns around trees and other obstacles. • Watch out for hawks and read up on hawk trans if you have to trap one to protect your loft. (Cities do not permit shooting, and many birds of prey are protected anyways.) • If there is a hawk in your loft, and it is still alive, do not try to catch it by hand, even if you are wearing leather gloves. The hawk can bite through your gloves to the bone, and his claws are razor sharp. • In cities, a heavy net, burlap bags, and other materials to obfuscate a hawk are appropriate to protect your birds, remember hawks will kill pigeons in a second if they get a chance. Farmers and folks in the country have their own techniques for managing hawks. • I used to think that if you catch a hawk scaring it over a period of a few days in captivity may be an alternative to consider. Unfortunately this is silly as one fellow pointed out to me, hawks wouldn't associate this captivity with attacking your birds. Also, it is not legal in most provinces or states (Canada/US) to hold a hawk in captivity without the proper legal permission. Try noise, yelling and hosing the hawk down if it is not below freezing, but spraying with water is also silly, as I found hawks will always take off if they see you. The most a hawk was ever on the ground/fence in my yard was only about 10 seconds. • If you do scare a hawk from your yard, it may be gone for good if it was migrating. If it is a local bird it may associate your loft with fear of you and not come back in the immediate area. Your birds are still food, and hunger is a powerful motivator, so it might be back or ambush the birds if they are routing away from the loft. I found my birds were fairly "safe" once they are above the trees and wires in my back yard. Despite being a hawk "victim" I do like hawks and respect them. We need hawks in nature (and in the city), I just don't "need" them in my back yard and they know that when they see me watching my birds. As pigeon fanciers we will loose a percentage of your birds to hawks, its just part of life. Let's keep that percentage as low as possible through good pigeon management and vigilance, GOOD LUCK!! My Second Cooper's Hawk Attack February 26,2002 http://www.ni>¢eonnlanet.coln/hawk.html i ~i~i~nn~