Enemy of my Yorkie -- Hungry Hawk

[MaggiesDaddy]

I post this under emergencies as if you were calmly waiting for your baby to do her business in the yard and then see a shadow quickly get bigger and as you look up you see your baby in the clutches of a huge bird now flying away to never be seen again. Yes this is a very real reality I have almost faced last week. I live in the country with a 18 acre open front yard overlooking a lake. The tall trees nearby are perfect perches for predator hawks. When my neighbor told me his 6 cats disappeared over 2 weeks he assumed a differtent type of predator coming in at night, cototes maybe. Then he say the hawk come down in a flash and swoop away with his momma cat weighing 13 lbs. So of course I became a paranoid daddy keeping my beautiful best friend 3 year old Maggie who weighs 4 lbs with flowing silky fur. After watching for a month it finally happend, the hawk was circling my house eyeballing my Maggie for two days. Think of it!! To helplessly watch your little best friend be carried away to some nest and dismembered alive beginning with the eyeballs!! Yes the ultimate Nightmare!! I have had nightmares over and over ever since my neighbor told me his experience. I decided to take action and obtained a long barrel shotgun. After the hawk flew down in the deadly approach I was spotted so it landed about 40' away in the top of a tree. Later that evening I saw it circling the house and I knew it would not let up until it got my Maggie so I patiently waited to end this once and for all. It was flying chasing a buzzard right on its tail for some reason about 100' away along the tree line. I aimed about 4' in front of him and pulled the trigger. Bang!! He instantly fell in a spiral and landed in the woods. I ran to look and he was just sitting there staring at me with it's wings spread wide. No blood, no feathers, he was perfectly fine. Well what do I do now? I had a serious decision to make. I am face to face 5' away from a healthy Hawk with a 4' wingspan. His eyes blinking at me and wings wide I knew he was created by God to kill and eat small animals. It was him or my baby so I made my decision. I hit him on the head a few times with the barrel of my gun thinking I killed him. I walked back to the garage and got my dog leash to lasso his feet and carry him off to bury. Well as I lassoed his razor sharp claws suddenly he jumped up and was perfectly fine again. I was scared to freakin death!! Now I have a hawk on a dog leash flying around my head like a living kite. I did not know what to do so I ran and ran and ran until I got to my house. I tied the leash to my porch column and went and got my wife. Do we call the law? Now we realize it is probably illegal to hurt a hawk. But come on, what if they take it and just let it go. We will never have any peace not knowing if we he will fly back to his nest nearby. My wife was so distraught and said to me, "If that bird kills our child I will never forgive you." I did not hesitate, it was a fathers duty to protect his child no matter the cost. I thought it more humane to use a .22. I thought a small hole through the brain with a high velocity bullet would cause the brain to explode and liquify without any mess. Was I ever WRONG!! I put the barrel to the birds head, pulled the trigger, and what resulted was a flopping slinging blood mess covering everything within a 5' diameter. After the quick death I felt the claws --- literally sharp as needles. The beak -- literally designed to rip, tear, break bones, and pick every bit of flesh from a living being. I sat down contemplated my actions. I was so torn between right and wrong, was I right or wrong? It took me a few days to firmly conclude I did what had to be done. I had no choice. I am a grown man who made a decision that was best for me and our baby. We cannot trust our law enforcement agencies with every little thing. They would possibly save the life of the bird but I would never have the matter settled and know that I know the creature who chose to target Maggie could Never make the possibility a tragedy come about. I hear they travel in pairs so I will still be keeping an eye to the sky. I am not asking anyone their opinion of if what I did was right or wrong. But I am asking you to keep your eyes open to predators who stalk and wait for small animals no matter how cute or how much you love them. Just ask my neighbor who lost a total of 7 beloved cats and now lives with the nightmare of actually seeing his baby fly away screaming to its miserable and slow torturous death. If you dont live in the city like I, the very real possibility is hiding and waiting for your little precious.

[AlicetheYorkie]

WOW that's one heck of a story! My husband has been telling me to make sure I keep a look out when I have my little 4 lb. Alice outside because he's been seeing a lot of hawks and turkey buzzards the last month or so. We have HUGE turkey buzzards here and while they are usually more scavengers (I wrench when I see them "taking care of" a deer on the side of the road) they have been occasionaly known to pick up small pets out of desperation along with the hawks. It is illegal what you did, but definalty can't say I wouldn't have had my husband do the same thing if one was really stalking my Yorkie for days like that. Yikes that was a hard desission to make.

[107barney]

Yep it's illegal by federal law and most state laws to kill or harass hawks.

[sganow]

Well, I think you did the right thing. The law wouldn't care if your baby was killed. You did the only thing you could have done in my opinion. Sometimes you have a hard decision to make. Actually, after shooting at it the first time and then being face to face with it, I would have shot it again at closer range and made sure it was over. Then of course I would dispose of the carcass so nobody would find it. Your little Maggie (I have a Maggie too, her pic in my avatar) would have had no chance against that size bird.

[chachi]

I wouldnt have killed the hawk its illegal. I just wouldnt have let my yorkie out without me being on the other end of the leash. It could have been a big dog or a coyote. You cant just kill any potential preditor. It is sad your neighbor lost his cats but he took that and other risks when he allowed them to roam outside

[moshes_human]

I love all of Gods creatures...

BUT

If something was stalking one of my babies...heck yeah I'd use anything at my disposal to defend them (skin or fur).

[107barney]

By the way, even an owl can't lift 13 lbs so your neighbor is a liar.

[megansmomma]

I for one do not believe your story and think this is nothing except a very TALL tail. If by some slim chance this is a factual tale my suggestion to you is to pray that the DNR does not come knocking at your door. The killing of a protected species is a very serious crime punishable by time spent behind bars. If you were that unwise to have blown a hawks head off while on the end of a Yorkie leash I would be very concerned about that next knock at your door. Hope you have found YorkieTalk lived up yo all of your expectations.

[111lily222]

Originally Posted by megansmomma

I for one do not believe your story and think this is nothing except a very TALL tail. If by some slim chance this is a factual tale my suggestion to you is to pray that the DNR does not come knocking at your door. The killing of a protected species is a very serious crime punishable by time spent behind bars. If you were that unwise to have blown a hawks head off while on the end of a Yorkie leash I would be very concerned about that next knock at your door. Hope you have found YorkieTalk lived up yo all of your expectations.

Totally agree!

[susan lynn]

I live on 5 acres and see Hawks all the time, fortunately they aren't as big as the one you encountered. I always have my 4 on a leash if we are outside. I know it is against the law to kill a Hawk this is why I try to protect my babies. So I won't go to jail.

[Princess10]

True or False, Not a post I, in particular, wanted to read on Earth Day.

[jencar98]

Wow.....MaggiesDaddy...what a post for your very first one on YT.

If you know the hawk is a federally protected bird, why would you come on a public forum and admit to breaking the law?

It seems to me you could have come up with a better solution. This isn't the ONLY hawk in your area, are you going to go on a killing spree now? You know owls are just as likely to carry off a pup, are you going to eradicate your area of those also?

Hopefully, after you've killed off the hawk population you won't be plagued by rats, mice, snakes and other vermin the hawks keep populations of in check.

I would and do, protect my pups too, but if at all possible it would not have been at the expense of the life of the bird.

[megansmomma]

I can't believe it! Look what I found in my backyard.

[maggiesmom_2007]

Better advice instead of killing a hawk for doing what is natural for them would be to get branches or sticks and rig up fishing line criss crossed across an area big enough for your baby to potty and get a little exercise.

[Grendel]

Maybe it was an eagle. Hawk or eagle you have just posted that you killed a federally protected bird on the internet. Are you not too swift, or are you fishing here for others who might have?