PUPPEN and the BIG BIRD!!

[Puppen]

A couple of weeks ago the weather was warm and we had been working outside, I always just prop the screen door open and they go in and out as they please all day long. on this day I was making a pitcher of iced tea and heard this awful screaming sort of noise outside. I went rushing to the window and there was puppen standing calmly on the patio staring at the biggest hawk I've ever seen Who was Trying to get under the patio roof to get to Puppen!! Thank God it's wings were to wide and it hit the posts, and the edge of the roof. I let out a shriek to match the god awful bird :scared1: and it flew away, I ran out and grabbed Puppen and secured the door. Believe me I will NOT be letting them lounge in the yard without me being right there again. All the while all I could think about was this story I heard last summer about a lady out walking her poodle and a bird swooping down and stealing her dog. UGH!! I didn't really believe it all that much since I haven't seen the story anywhere but the person that told me about it Insisted that they saw it on the news and how upset the woman was, but after that little incident I think I changed my mind!!

[LexieLuvr]

Yes - where I live there are chicken hawks, eagles, owls, etc. that will carry off small pets. Luckily mine weigh between 16 and 18 pounds, but I still check on them very often when they're outside!

[Puppen]

It's so scary! Oddly though, we live in North Eastern Colorado on the plains. Lots of snow in the winter and nice warm summers. The past two years in a row we have had 6 big ol buzzards that moved into a pine tree across the street from our house! I always thought that buzzards were prone to desert areas?? I got some good video of them on tape and am hoping to get some with the digital soon.

[JuneyTrixie]

This is just what I have been going through since I moved into my new house in Iowa. I have to keep a sharp eye on any potential hawks, since several have attempted to come too close to Juney and Trixie.

I always go outside with them and stand really close to them. I also am looking into the trees for hawks. Sometimes, I don't see them, though, and they are really quick at getting their prey.

My girls will bark their heads off. If Puppen had barked then the bird might have been scared away. Time to teach "speak"! :D

[oceangirls]

YIKES!!! We have large shorebirds (egrets?) in our yard sometimes... but they don't seem interested in dogs - luckily! :faint:

[Tex]

Wowzers! That does sound scary! Glad Puppen is ok!

[Teddysmom]

OMGosh!!!! How scary!! We have some huge turkey buzzard type birds or hawks around here that like to venture into our development because we live right next to a good sized patch of wooded land. We had one IN our yard the other day and I didn't see it before Teddy took off after it and chased it away - scared the bejeezus outta me but Teddy was just protecting his territory! He does NOT go outside without me anymore. ITA with time to be teaching "speak". The barking may chase the birds away before they get a snack!

[areese]

It's so scary! Oddly though, we live in North Eastern Colorado on the plains. Lots of snow in the winter and nice warm summers. The past two years in a row we have had 6 big ol buzzards that moved into a pine tree across the street from our house! I always thought that buzzards were prone to desert areas?? I got some good video of them on tape and am hoping to get some with the digital soon.

Buzzards (vultures) live just about anywhere. We have turkey vultures here (spring, summer, fall only)-they are pretty big. Most large prey-type birds you see circling and circling high overhead are vultures. They don't kill things or grab live animals-they eat only dead things and their beaks aren't strong enough to eat flesh unless it is rotted (gross I know, sorry) Hawks will sit and watch from trees and poles and will watch something for quite sometime before going for it. So leaving your dogs out unattended for a long time might be dangerous...or if you ahve a set routine where they ALWAYS go out at a certain time... I've heard they can't carry more than 3-4 pounds though...I dunno. Owls are like that also and mainly eat what they can gulp down whole. But since Salsa is only 3 pounds I go out with her....we have Great Horned owls here and they are HUGE. But I find castings (the stuff they throw up that they can't digest) and I've never seen anything bigger than mouse bones in there...
I don't know how eagles hunt cuz we don't have them here...just see them once in a great while passing through to the upper pennisula (bald eagles)
Egrets, herons, cranes...they won't hurt a dog unless they were protecting a nest or something and they have a big beak! We have a lot of herons here but they are very shy and fly away at the least provocation. Most birds here are like that cuz they aren't acclimated to people so I think ones that hang around more populated areas might act a little differently.

[Lee Anne]

:holyshp: That sounds knarly! We have to worry about coyotes around here, but not birds in the city. Up in Ramona and in the outskirts they can get hawks and turkey vultures. I would just die if something got my babies like that!

[Puppen]

Oh so would I!! Been extra careful watching them when they are out. Last summer they were out for the bedtime potty time and Puppen was going nuts and barking into the dark, brave girl she is. I was watching and saw the classic yellow eyes flash in the dark and knew a coyote was in the yard about 200 feet away Then there were more flashes and there were 4 or 5 rumaging the garbage!!! One started towards our house so I snatched up the puppen and by this time Fawna and Emmers were back in the house wondering why I was Running and slamming the door. I called the police but by the time they got here (forEvEr LaTeR) they had moved on. Grrrrr. Will really have to watch this year, tempted to buy a shot gun.