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6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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Posted by sumak7 (My Page) on Mon, Jun 23, 08 at 18:34
| We have 6 Red Tail Hawks killing all the squirrels, bunnies, and birds in our residential neighborhood. No one seems to give a rip that the little creatures we enjoy feeding and to watch in our backyards are being eaten to oblivian. The Raptor Center can't do anything, the DNR can't do anything, yet at this rate, we are not going to have ANY local wildlife left except for the Hawks (who of course will move on when everything is gone). I'm worried about my toy poodle getting attacked (I don't care if they can't carry her because they could do enough damage to kill her or mame her). They seem to be working together. There are 6 of them! What can we do? |
Image link: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife! (30 k)
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| I just found out that my uncle experienced this same thing a few years ago in his neighborhood, and all the birds and squirrels are gone. They have never come back. It is just so sad. We've tried shooting off bottle rockets & they have already gotten used to them. If they come near our house, we grab the garden hose and that makes them take off. But, still there will not be any little critters for us to enjoy this summer - and possibly ever again. We've stopped feeding them. But, I think most of the damage is done. What I don't get is why a predatory bird is protected. The key word here is PREDATORY. Seems like I should be able to control whatever comes into my yard threatening my chosen way of life. It just seems all wrong. I know a lot of people don't care for squirrels or bunnies. That's fine. It's not like I have built a monument for them. It is one thing that makes me feel closer to nature, feeding the little things. My family moved to the city from a dairy farm 60+ years ago and I think I just like to have animals to take care of. Our neighbors just think "they're cool". Well, so are Siberian Tigers. Of course thats different because they go after humans. Well I bet if the Hawk could take out a human, it would. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| Hawks are part of nature, just like the bunnies and the squirrels. If there is an over abundance of prey, you will see more hawks. When there is less prey you will see less hawks. They do not thrill kill, they kill to eat. No different then most people. Only we hire out our killing to the people who slaughter cows and pigs. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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our critters will return when the hawks have eaten all they can easily catch.
I enjoyed 2 rabbit free summers because the owls moved in....but the owls moved on because the pickins became slim and I am now having my garden eaten....and I have no doubt that there will be more rabbits next fall.
I don't like the rabbits, because they eat my flowers, you don;'t like the hawks because they eat the rabbits.
The outdoors belongs to all, learn to enjoy all the critters.
Linda C |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| So it's all about you and your "way of life", huh? How about taking down your feeders for a while and stop attracting hawks. They are only doing what's natural to them. If you stop creating an artificial environment where there is a huge concentration of prey, then the hawks will move on. And FYI, all your pretty little cardinals, chickadees, hummingbirds, etc. are also predatory - they hunt bugs. But you want to pick and choose which predation happens in your yard, having your cake and eating it too? Give me a break! The only thing that's all wrong here is your attitude. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| gymell, that was uncalled for. It's the balance of nature, hon. Don't worry, bunnies and squirrels are not endangered, and they have probably just moved somewhere else until the hawks are gone. I had feral cats move into my neighborhood once, and it seemed all the birds were gone, so I assumed they were eaten. Not so. They just moved away. Once we had the cats caught and taken off, the birds came back. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| As junkyardgirl said, eventually the little animals that you enjoy feeding will come back. There is no reason to hate the hawks, as they are just finding food to stay alive. There are plenty of squirrels, rabbits, etc. and they know how to stay away from the hawks. However many critters you witnessed get eaten were only a small fraction of their population, and they are abundant throughout the country. You should learn to enjoy the Hawks while they are near you because it's not likely that they will stay there forever. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| We love our hawks. We have plenty of hawks and still have an over abundance of bunnies and squirrels. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| I don't think my comments were uncalled for at all. Strong statements on the part of the OP about chasing off hawks, shooting bottle rockets off to scare them away, expressing resentment that hawks are a protected species and viewing them as a creature "threatening my chosen way of life", when in fact it is the OP who is responsible for attracting them in the first place, calls for a strong reaction! I stand by my comments. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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Hawks have a very dfficult time surviving because their territory is large and any disruption by man adding houses, highways, shopping centers takes away from their food source. They might seem to eat everything thing in sight but that is not true.
Animals that you have "tamed" by setting out feeders are the very creatures who will be eaten first because they are easy targets. For every creature you see caught by a hawk there are hundreds more who have learned to not frequent the food you put out because it leads to death--animals are not stupid.
Hawks have their enemies--have you ever witnessed a mocking bird chasing off a hawk? They do it all the time. Crows which eat the same creatures that hawks like will work as a team to pin a hawk down so that it can't fly off.
In my yard the creatures get real quiet and still when they hear the hawk cry. I go inside so that I don't scare any creature into fleeing because of me!
What you saw was most likely parents with their offspring as hawks do not hunt in packs--they are solitary hunters coming together to mate.
To keep the cycle of life going we must learn that man's interference only makes things worse. Killing off the hawks would only allow too many rodents to reproduce which leads to homes being infested as food is used up and shelter becomes scarce. Too many robins leads to less of another species and on and on. It is survival of the fitest for a reason. It keeps the species strong and healthy.
If you want to attract wildlife, create places where they can escape when danger comes. Leave some shrubs unmanicured; have a pile of fallen tree limbs for creatures to hide in; plant trees and bushes that are a food source. Don't leave small pets unattended and don't offer so many feeders that you are the diner for birds of prey. Be happy that you have the wonder of life outside your door. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| I'd love to have 6 hawks in my back yard.And they wont eat every last bird or squirrel.When the food supply dwindles they will move on.I've been working at Cornell U on a construction project. There is a bird feeder that has 6 fat squirrels feeding at it almost all day long. There is also a large Red Tail hawk that flies over them several times a day.I've been working there for nearly 6 months and there are still 6 fat easy to catch squirrels there. As scdeb424 wrote. Make hideouts for birds and other tasty hawk treats.This is all part of nature. These birds and animals have been here for thousands of years and short of man killing them off. They'll be here for thousands more |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| Do you all have enough natural habitat to give the prey a chance to survive? I have a backyard with 18 feeders with a lot of shubs & trees. Merlins, Sharp-shinns, Coopers often visit but providing shelter is a responsible way for all birds,rabbits, ground hogs,flying squirrels and regular squirrels to still thrive. Donna in Kennett Square, PA |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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Glookmak - what do you mean "shelter". A sharp shinned hawk killed most of the small birds that visited my feeders last summer. I don't want another summer of "attacks". If there is anything I can do to protect the little birds I will.
Thanks Els |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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Shelter for small birds means shrubbery, thickets, a rose garden, a loose hedge as opposed to one trimmed so tightly a bird would have a hard time finding it's way in. And place your feeders near these shelter areas, so a bird doesn't have to fly more than 6 to 10 feet to hide where the hawk cant' get him.
Last year I had a sharpie working my feeders....and one day I saw him make an attack and the birds scattered squaking like mad....they dove into the rose garden and that hawk followed, diving this way and that.....and came up empty. The little birds got in between the stems of the roses and the hawk couldn't get them.
Plant shrubbery!
Linda C |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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I am still trying to figure out the 6 working together. IIRC, red tails mate for life and are not social in the sense of multiple pairs working together. They, like most raptors are territorial. What area of the country do you live in? I am in the Sonoran Desert and get many migrating raptors during the winter months. The area around me is open desert and typically you can see pairs on adjacent utility poles or on the same pole and then a space of about 3 poles before you see another. During the winter it is not unusual to see 30 or more raptors along a 10 mile stretch of road.
I wouldn't worry too much about the small wildlife disapearing entirely, at least not to raptor predation. The more likely suspect would be we who are the "keepers' of the orb we ride upon. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| Think of birds like the moon. Just because you don't see it all the time doesn't mean it is not there. So just because a hawk is in your backyard, and you "don't see anymore" songbirds or critters, does not mean there are no more songbirds or critters. You are not seeing the smarter ones, who know enough to hide and not be set out on a table by well-meaning homeowners for the bellies of predators. First off: the Red-tails the OP was complaining about were not a team, nor were they decimating the local wildlife. There is always more prey than predators. When that reverses, there will be fewer predators, and the prey population again increases. The only predator that "decimates" its prey is humans. Hawks do not, nor are they capable of that. Second: in June, when this was written, the land was flush with baby squirrels, baby chipmunks, baby rats, baby mice, baby voles. And there were a few baby hawks in the mix. The gang of six, mentioned in this post, were probably 2 parents and 4 chicks. The young hawks do indeed learn to hunt in their natal territory, but they are not always sucessful. So there goes the "working together" theory. Red tails don't work in teams. (Harris hawks, of the southwest, do.) If you worry about predators in your yard, remove the feeders, so you do not attract easy pickings for them. And just because you don't see them does not mean they are not there. But removing the feeders gives the prey a better chance. |
RE: 6 Red Tail Hawks Decimating Local Wildlife!
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| The hawks as stated will not eat all the little creatures.In traveling to work on the highway I have seen several hawks most pairs. In one spot west of Owego there is at least two pair of hawks working the same stretch of highway. Both pair sit within sight of each other eating day in day out.As I have said before I'd love to have them in my back yard. I have an unending supply of squirrels in my neighborhood. I can't feed the birds because they bring their tools and find a way into my squirrel proof feeders. I've live trapped them and taken them to other places. I see dead one weekly in the road and they keep coming and coming. Enjoy the hawks they have a job to do too. |
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