Originally Posted by matese  I just had some experience with a falcon. I live in a very heavily wooded area. I have a lot of very tall (150 feet high) oak trees that form a canopy that covers my entire yard making it impossible for a prey bird to swoop, snatch and carry off my boy. This spring 3 neighbors to my right moved, new owners took down the existing 6 foot high stockade fences. I have a 4 foot high wire fence, this I choose to not block my view of the wooded area that's behind my house. Several weeks ago I was on my deck when a falcon came from the right side were there was once those fences, it was flying 5 feet off the ground, any higher it would hit the oak tree branches, it now has a straight line since the fences are down. I was shocked when I saw this bird and in a panic because my boy runs that yard everyday, of course I am always outside with him, you know the mischief these lil guys will get into, so he is never outside unsupervised. Now I am flipping out, how can I protect him. Although my kid weighs 12 pounds, a prey bird may still grab him, realize the dog is to heavy and may release him, but, the damage those talons could cause , could kill him. I was wracking my brains thinking of a way to put netting up to cover the yard, for several weeks I had him on a leash always with eyes glued to the sky for this bird. Cody was not happy on the leash, he had his hunting areas that he couldn't stalk on leash. Then my brain kicked in lol. I had not yet set up my yard with my free standing umbrellas, I have 3 that I put in different areas of the yard where Cody hunts so I can be comfortable baby sitting him lol. I have several patio table umbrellas also. So I reorganized the 3 free standing umbrellas and 2 patio tables with umbrellas and put them in the one open area where this bird flew straight through, now the bird would have to fly higher to use this path, it cannot because of the oak tree branches. My boy got his freedom back and is happy again and I get the pleasure of watching a happy boy hunting. If you have the space to set out umbrellas this may work for you. I LOVE all diff. color umbrellas, I put several palm plants, many Boston ferns and tiki torches about the yard, I feel like I am in the Bahamas only things missing is the pool and the bar boy lol. Hope you find a solution and your fur kids can roam safely about their yard. |