Red Tail Hawk Lunches On Madison Isthmus
The crows circling the neighborhood, and making a most loud point of displeasure is what first caught the attention of our neighbor. Knowing we like to see wildlife in action she rang our doorbell, and told us to come out and see what was up. We grabbed the camera and slipped on shoes to help locate the reason so much commotion was taking place on a mild but cloudy Saturday afternoon. Soon the culprit was located in a huge tree.
A most beautiful red tail hawk.
The crows were feeling threatened and were trying to scare it off. But the hawk knew precisely what it wanted. With massive wing span it lifted off with grace for the pine tree that was no more than three car lengths away. Another neighbor who came along to see what was happening spotted it at once.
Lunch time was a squirrel. The hawk and the treasure stayed in the tree for several minutes.
Now thankfully lunch was soon carted off by the hawk to some safer haven along the lake. But before it left the hawk posed for a few snap shots. Given the lack of great lighting, or the lack of camera skills from yours truly, these are the best that can be posted.
All in all a rather exciting lunchtime. Well, not so much for the squirrel.
Utterly anthropomorphic.
Hawks eat by spotting, then grabbing, furry critters on the ground. They are solitary hunters. They work alone to get a meal, then try to eat it in peace.
Crows are typically a bunch that also need to eat (don’t we all?), also need to dive-bomb (in a nicely-coordinated group) their prey.
Hawks, after the hunt, take their prey to high branches, trying to get something down the hatch before the other hungry folk (typically referred to as a “murder of crows”) arrive–hungry and extremely pushy in the food line. The crows work together to get the hawk to drop his happy meal and provide them with their own meal.
Who’s to say which one is more deserving of the limited sustenance?
The crows dive-bomb the hawk. The hawk keeps working to get from one inaccessably high perch to another, all the while eating on-the-run, trying to keep from having to share (drop) his catch.
The caffeinated politico thinks the hawk is the bold, heroic, self-reliant loner. He thinks the crows–a noisy, nattering, bothersome bunch–are the turds in the punchbowl of life.
Me? I’ m with the bunch that works together.