Hawk eyeballing my dogs-HELP!!! - Page 2

Any type of large birds will target you small pets in your yard, Hawks, Ravens, Buzzards, ect...be aware of all of these large birds.
Two Moon: You can not tell her that her dogs are not at risk of being targets because they are. What is a picture of the bird going to tell you??? You think she posted this thread because she has a sparrow in her back yard?? The bigger the bird the bigger the pray and these wild animals will attack and Fly off with you small dog or cat. The best thing for her to do is to keep them indoors or have a non see thru top on the kennel outside they will still be a threat with chicken wire on the top on the kennel . My sister lost her small dog by one of these large birds last winter and by the way they are  around all year long, they do not go away as long as they find food in the area.. IMO it is better to be safe then sorry.....  

k9chess,
You seem to know little about birds of prey and scavengers.
Knowing what kind of bird it is will tell volumes about habits and possible prey.
Actually small mammals are fair game for most, thats just the way it is, knowing more about the species involved might help a lot.  Some have very specific diets.
Chicken wire can protect pets and poultry from these birds if used correctly.
Although I have seen owls reach through cages and grab a bird off its roost, I have much experience with this.
I'd love to know what kitkat has in her back yard, pictures would help if you could really tell what your looking at.
She could probably find one of Peterson's field guides in a library and easily identify the bird in question.

Sorry for your sisters loss, I have lost much over the years to the wild life here.
Each time you learn something new.

Moons.

Here is a pic of our resident Red Tail hawk.  He comes back every year with his mate...he has had 2 different ones that we know of.  When he first came I noticed him "eyeballing" some puppies through an open garage window.......I had to close the screen ASAP as I HAVE lost puppies to owls!



He is a very bold bird and isn't affraid of people.  He has cut down our squirl population tremendously and will snatch a squirl off the ground even if it is 10 feet from you!  He also has eaten most of my neighbors Wedding/Funeral Doves!  Neighbor gave up on that venture!!!  LOL!

Vickie
www.PowerHausKennels.com

I have a couple Redtails here. There's a bald eagle pair nesting about 1/2 mile away. I see them flying every now and then. Ospreys are very common and I see one or two of those every month. There's also a pair of little screech owls about but I've never seen them. The eagles and ospreys don't bother anything. The redtails decimate the ducklings every year especially when the young are learning to fly and hunt. Sometimes take a full grown bird and they have snatched my neighbors chickens. Between me and the hawks hunting them, squirrels are scarce around the house.

LOL Vickie!
I decided to raise quail one year. I have no idea why, just did it. I built this huge chicken wire and 2x4 pen and got 500 baby quail. A redtail started raiding that thing and I lost every single one of those quail. I'd fox-proofed the thing but never could find out how the hawk was getting the quail out of there. I gave up on that venture too!

 That is really a neat picture, Vicki! It looks like it should be in your state's conservation magazine or an encyclopedia. 

Any idea what this is?  I saw it taking rabbits in my fields and once about 20 feet from me.  Very impressive hunter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3NkJN1ircQ&feature=fvw

I have lost more to owls than anything else, but the hawks were very hard on my pigeons during the daytime.
If they can spook their prey into flying into the wire of your cage, they can grab them through it, they can eat parts of them through the wire as well.

Diane,
It would be hard to know what that is in your picture.  There is nothing to reference size and the picture is too blurry to see detailed markings.

Perhaps a Red Tail, but thats only a guess.

Thats a good shot from Vickie.

 Moons, I do not know much about birds of prey-would like to learn more. They are fascinating. I do know that my macaws have extremely powerful beaks and claws and have dismantled chain link fencing. Dogs fear them. They also make some intimidating noises. Chicken wire would be a joke to them. I might be wrong, but am sure it is the same for the birds of prey. 

I'm not sure I know what dismantle a chain link fence means, but Macaws are also fascinating, beautiful, very intelligent.
I've never seen any hawk or owl rip through wire with their claws or beak.   A Macaw can open doors, not to mention tearing open fruits and nuts, perhaps one could break the weaker (chicken wire) if the motive to do so was there, I dunno.
I have always had a thing for birds ever since my first memories of climbing tree's to look at bird eggs.   Fell out of a couple of those trees.
I was introduced to Falconry in my early teens, about the same time I had been raising pigeons and about the same time I saw my first Bald Eagle in the flesh, caught my first owl in the pigeon loft, a Screech owl.
I can't remember ever spending time indoors, I was in the barn or my loft, or the chicken coop which also housed our Rabbits, or in the woods, usually on my horse.
No matter what you read, seeing and watching birds, or any wild creature in their natural habitat doing what they do is more enlightening and far more rewarding.    After a while you learn things you didn't know you knew.
I've seen a Great Horned owl feed and hunt for its injured mate for at least the year that I was aware of them.
I've seen Macaws get so emotionally depressed over the loss of another bird companion that it almost died.
I had a Silver Pheasant once who would follow me everywhere around the yard and try to come in the house when it could.
I dunno, I have as many bird stories as anything else I guess.
Your never too old to learn something new.

Moons.