All this talk about hawks... guesss what happened
 

All this talk about hawks had me worried. Well today I stopped by my vets to drop something off and there was a sign on the door reading that a 6 lb yorkie is missing. Carried off by a hawk but thinking that it was dropped and is now injuried. This occured about 1 mile from my home. I feel so bad for these people. Today my son was outside and ran in to tell me there were 5 circling above our home. I never let my little ones out without me but I think I will be keeping them in until the activity around here slows down.

Imperez
 

I too am seeing more hawks around....I am always cautious with my little ones..yes keep going out to keep an eye...coyotes are dangerous too...keep good vibes going...Ruaga:(:(

Stories like this bring back the memory of when I was in HS and my BFF (;)) had her little 5 lb yorkie carried of by a hawk. My husband told me the other day when he was in the yard with all 4 of ours that he saw a great big hawk sitting in out tree. Poor Truman would have a chance :(

Its so scary to think about.... definitely makes you want to be especially observant.

I can't even imagine what those poor pepole must be feeling. knowing a hawk took your baby then dropped but have no idea where to start looking. At least the people where I live are pretty good about finding the owners of lost pets.
i just hope that the yorkie was not to badly injuried and he will be returned home soon. I am sure they put these flyers up all over. Makes me want to hold on tight to my little ones.

That poor baby is likely dead...the talons dig into the spinal area and can cause fatal injury. They don't all die from the talons though and I pray this little one is not injured badly and someone is keeping him safe and warm until the rightful owners are found. I suppose it also depends on how far he was dropped from. That poor baby. Good idea to keep your little ones in for the time being. Those birds can swoop down without you even seeing or hearing it coming. I feel so bad for that yorkie's owner.

So Sad!
 

This is exactly what I've been fearing and why I wrote in the other day. I do not leave Phoebe alone outside, but you know there are times when you want to run in very quickly because the phone is ringing, bathroom break, etc. Guess my paranoia is realistic!

That poor baby:cry: I hope he'll be found safe, but it doesn't look good:(

We had some kind of big bird circling our house for a few days last year. My girls didn't get to go outside for about a week or so, until I felt the bird had moved on. Any time I tried to take them out in those few days, the bird would start circling our backyard:eek: I'd scoop them up and go right back in! Thank goodness for pee pads!

Ugh this is just awful to hear. There are sooo many predatory birds that live in Yorba Regional park. I have a customer that told me his neighbors dog was taken by a huge owl. soo sad.

Oh how horrible and sad! We have had our yorkie 3 weeks today, and I had no idea this could happen until I saw the mention of hawks a few weeks ago on yorkie talk. I'm so glad I saw it, because there is a hawk that circles above our yard all the time. I stay with Sunny every time she is out, because I saw the warning here (among other warnings.) I hope this little one is o.k, but it does sound doubtful.

Pam P.

Hawks and coyotes attack and carry off toy breed dogs all too often.

All this Talk about hawks
 

Hawks terrify me. Tucker is four and a half pounds. He is always on a leasn when he goes out. My husband and I have taken him out in the backyard a few times, and let him chase a ball, but only if weare both out there. The last time we were out with him, I heard a hawk.( They havr a very distinctieve cry.). We brought Tucker in, and haven't taken him out since. We walk him on a leash. It's a shame because he loves to run free. Tucker's Mom

Baxter stays on a leash at all times when outside for this very reason. That and some big dogs in our neighborhood. We also have huge owls.

My Tessie is 9 months old, when I got her at 13 weeks old she wighed 3.5 lbs. I would take her outside (with me) and let her play.We were in the house and a hawk landed on my husbands car and sat there for about 10 minutes before flying away. I always take her outside on a leash. We have 5 acres of land but coyotes have been seen in the neighborhood behind us. I pray for the people who may a lost their dog, this is definitely very traumatic. You have to be very careful with pets and children.

i literally just looked out the window a few hours ago, and saw a hawk sitting on the telephone wire out front. yikes! and i just live in suburbs. it's so weird to be seeing hawks so frequently now. i was more afraid for my old yorkie... he used to be chased by hawks on the farm he was on before i had him. he was smaller than Smokey. i'm hoping that no hawk decides to try it with my little man. i don't actually let him out alone, but mostly because he can crawl right under our fence and he wandered off the first morning we had him. eek.

it's such a nightmare. i used to let my bunnies run around in a play yard outside, but i don't anymore, i just don't want to risk it. let the hawk find a mouse or mole somewhere instead. ugh.

OMGosh...I saw a hawk today just sitting in the tree. It wasn't doing anything, just sitting there. Hawks scare me more than anything. Matty is only 4lbs and the puppies are 2lbs each. I don't let the puppies outside by themselves, but Matty LOVES it out there. I would die if a hawk took her, so now I have to stand out there with her in the cold while she runs around, which she enjoys so much.

Yea...all this talk is getting to me
 

I was telling my hubby about all the talk about hawks on here and what horrible things could happen to our babies. He said he saw one about a mile from our house on his way home yesterday!
He said he meant to tell me about it because it was so big, he backed up to look again to make sure it wasn't an eagle, which we don't have in our area. It was just so big. Our girls are closer to the 10 lb weight but he said it would have no problem snatching up either baby.:eek:

Predators Here, Too
 

There are so many predators to avoid, such as hawks, eagles, owls, fishers, pine martins, wolves, coyotes, and even cougars.

There has been an incident where I live with most of these predators, and I'm in Michigan. In one case, a woman was walking her Chihuahua on a leash and an owl swooped down, ever so silently, and took her dog up high in a tree.

In another case, a woman was sitting on her deck watching her two dogs near her in the yard and an owl took her pug.

Another instance, a woman watched as a wolf took off with her toy breed in her backyard.

Just being near your Yorkie isn't enough. Please make sure you hold tight on their leashes and never leave them outside alone. Stay close to them. It's just too scary and sad to think what could happen.

dangerous hawks
 

We live in Minnesota by a lake where there are not only hawks but eagles and coyotes. My Miniature Schnauzer had eagles buzz her a few times. We never let her out alone afer that. Now with Belle being 6 pounds she never goes out off leash even then our 85 pound lab goes with. He watches her so closely. It's sad that they can't run free but that's the way nature is. Even if you are out with your babies, be careful, some birds make no sound at all when coming in on prey. We also have to watch for coyotes here. I don't think they would ever challange our lab but you never know. There was an article about a lady walking her baby in the stroller and a man came up to her and asked her if she had seen that animal walking right next to the stroller. She said she sees it often on her walks and it must be a neighbors German Shepherd. The man told her it was not a Shepherd it was a coyote and they have been known to snatch babies out of strollers. The poor mom was terrified, guess even if it had been a Shepherd I would have been scared if ti showed that much interest in my baby:eek: In the last place we lived in in Minn. out in the country I had just let my Schnauzer and Lab out when the phone rang, I made then come back in with me. When I shut the patio door I turned around to find 2 black bears coming toward the house. Oh my God, both of my dogs would have tried to go after them! Then there's me who got a good scolding from DH as instead of staying away from the door, I ran to get the camera and went out to follow them and get pictures:rolleyes: About half way to them I realized that was pretty dumb and ran back in the house.EVERBODY PLEASE WATCH YOUR BABIES... THESE PREATORY BIRDS ARE MOVING CLOSER TO HOUSING AREAS ALL THE TIME.

That's exactly the way I feel. I'm afraid to even let Harley out in the backyard at all. He loves to play but he can run so fast that I can't be on top of him all the time. He hops like a little bunny which I know looks real tasty to a hawk. We actually have a pair of hawks with a nest across the street. We've fed the birds for years. Last year I saw the hawk swoop down and pounce on a bluebird. Now I'm scared to death. I've always trained my babies to potty outside. I'm rethinking that now. We may use puppypads from now on. It's a shame he can't run and play outside.

I know my neighbors probably think I'm crazy, but I take Sunny out on her leash in our backyard. It's a big backyard (about 3/4 of an acre I guess.) We just walk the yard a few times, several times a day. I'd love to let her run free, but we have a hawk that circles our yard, so I'm thinking I may be walking her forever. We do run some, when she wants to. She has fun anyway!

where are these hawks beings seen? I would like to know b/c my doggies like to run around in the back yard, and just want to make sure that they are safe ... :)

We live in Georgia on 5 acres of land but have a school and subdivisions around us. We have hawks and coyotes, also every other wildlife. My 3 are always on a leash when we go outside.

If it was me I'd start looking under where the 5 were circling. Hawks don't usually tolerate others in their hunting area, so they might have been turkey vultures. There are a lot of those around here and they sometimes don't even move off the road if they have something laying at their feet.

I had that simular problem this summer and it was bad when the Hawks had babies they were always on the hunt for food .Andy is always with me outside . I don't know I'm just very protective of him .

they only thing i have is peregrine falcons from downtown i thought they wear too small to carry off my baby who is five pounds but dose anyone know for sure i think ill look it up

We are in the southern suburbs of St. Louis. We have a small patch of woods and a creek behind us. We've seen river otters back there, and I know there are some coyotes back there somewhere (we saw the pups a couple of times!) We hear an owl sometimes. The hawk freaks me out.

okay i did look it up and hawks rarely carry off more then 8 pounds and that is the big ones falcons almost entirely eat small birds and rodents. eagles and owls are the thing to watch out for they WILL carry off small dogs and cats but owls are only a danger at night and at dawn from what i read
hope this helps ease some minds

It's not unusual for my dogs to wake me at 4AM to go outside. It doesn't happen often, but it happens. I don't like owls - I think they're creepy.

Sorry and I don't want people to worry but many of these birds (hawks, owls, etc) will come to ground and slit the throats of larger animals with their talons. I lived in Arizona for over 10 years and I watched them do this with the desert rabbits.

People should never leave their dogs/cats out alone because they are on the lower end of the food chain for many meat eating critters. It could happen to you and how awful would that be. Coyotes are every where also and love these little ones.