4# Yorkie survives Hawk Attack

[DBlain]

All these stories make me wonder if walking your dog is worth it, lucky for me Lola would prefer to play fetch indoors that go for a walk,

[wigglewomyn]

Originally Posted by DBlain

I shudder reading this, I know we have a few around here, we live on a lake and have a lot of wildlife. We also have tons of oak trees and our squirrel population is huge, everyday there are several sitting on our front lawn feasting and making a mess with the acorns. I always wonder if we had a lot of hawks would they be picking off the squirrels first. I wonder what a squirrel even weighs.

I don't know if we have hawks here but I do know we have lots of crows and bald eagles. Elliot is 4.5 lbs and Duncan is 8 lbs. I just order a gate to go across my driveway so the whole yard would be enclosed and I could put them out in the yard without being on leashes but after reading these posts, I wonder if I should even spend the money.

Does anyone know if crows carry off little animals? We have a lot of squirrels around the yards and I have never seen one carried off by the eagles.

I am really worried now about putting them outside without me being right there with them. They love being outside though to run and play in the yard even to the extent of telling me they have to go out when they don't just so they can play. Duncan really loves zooming around the yard.

[BorderKelpie]

Just a note from personal experience. I enclosed and covered a small area for my 'Littles' to safely romp, or so I thought. I do sit out with them (my excuse to continue smoking - I have a table, lights, a freezer, etc under a roof wrapped in a fence so I can play on the computer and chill with the dogs outside).

I will never forget getting that being watched feeling and seeing the dogs alerting (strangley quietly) to something. I turned around to see a young hawk sitting on the gate less than 6 feet away from where I was sitting and talking to the dogs. He was watching the dogs. I have since been told that young, inexperienced raptors will attempt stupid stunts like that. Just being there with your dog on a leash may not be enough. I now run the little dogs with my large breed since Coulter seems to scare away the predators. Just be careful running big dogs with little dogs. It's sort of a no win situation.

The things we do to protect our loved ones, huh?

[Yoshismom1969]

I had a close call with my Chihuahua when we moved here and have had friends that have had their Chi's and Yorkies taken by Hawks, Owls and Coyotes so I am crazy protective of mine. This summer I am making a predator free zone for my guys. I bought some aviary netting and wire and am putting this over our 25 x 50 foot dog kennel in the back. It is supposed to be strong enough to keep deer and coyote out so we should be good.

[Jake1605]

I always make sure Ranger is protected wherever he goes. A few months back a rot tried to jump the fence until he heard a waring shot.

[yorkiemini]

[crystalsmom]

So glad Cali made it. Brave little darling.

I found this VERY interesting.

Birds Of Prey - Answers.com

[lettuelady]

We have ravens (larger than crown by a bit) here and a student of mine (grade 4) told me that a raven took his baby bunny. I dont trust any wildlife.

[crystalsmom]

Originally Posted by lettuelady

We have ravens (larger than crown by a bit) here and a student of mine (grade 4) told me that a raven took his baby bunny. I dont trust any wildlife.

Welcome to YorkieTalk, it's so nice to have you with us. I tend to agree!

[lettuelady]

Thank you

[JuliannaB]

Originally Posted by mimimomo

Pets: The animals in our lives.


By Linda Wilson Fuoco / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

A very large hawk swooped down, dug its talons into a tiny Yorkshire terrier and lifted the dog 15 feet into the air, right in front of its owner, Lori Timczyk, who screamed and screamed. Then it dropped the 4-pound dog on the rear deck of the Timczyk home in Green Tree.

Rocky, 7, almost bled to death but was saved by the quick thinking — and driving — of his family, the navigational help of Siri, the know-it-all voice on an Apple mobile phone, and really good treatment at an emergency veterinary clinic.

Around 9 a.m. Jan. 4, Rocky was in his front yard, taking “his morning constitutional.” Just as Mrs. Timczyk opened the front door to call Rocky inside, the hawk grabbed the dog and carried him away.

Albert Timczyk, a corporate pilot who had been packing for an out-of-town trip, came running when he heard his wife screaming. The couple think their screams made the hawk drop their dog.

“There was blood everywhere. It was horrendous,” Mrs. Timczyk said.

Rocky wasn’t crying or making any noise. He was conscious but “seemed to be in shock.”

“If I hadn’t opened the door exactly when I did,” Rocky would have been gone, Mrs. Timczyk said.

The hawk’s talons had punctured an artery. Mr. Timczyk applied pressure, trying to stop the bleeding. His wife ran for a first-aid kit and her iPhone, and they screamed to wake up Jessica, their 15-year-old daughter.

They ran to the car, Mr. Timczyk in boxer underwear, his wife without shoes and their daughter in pajamas. Jessica asked Siri for the closest emergency veterinary clinic, and Siri gave them VCA Castle Shannon Animal Hospital. Jessica was the navigator, giving her parents driving directions.

Castle Shannon veterinarian Jennifer Lopez said they got there just in time. Rocky’s gums were white, which can indicate shock or internal bleeding. He had almost “bled out,” she said.

“They used pressure bandages, but they had a hard time stopping the bleeding,” Mrs. Timczyk said. There were deep puncture wounds on Rocky’s chest, upper back and a leg, and there were scrapes on his forehead.

Rocky was able to come home at 9 p.m. that evening, but three days later he stopped eating and drinking and had to spend another night at the Castle Shannon hospital. He was given fluids so he wouldn’t dehydrate and was monitored for infections and liver damage. Rocky is now eating, drinking and healing. The bruising is subsiding, and at a vet visit Tuesday his liver readings were approaching the normal range.

“I’m not sure I can describe adequately the trauma Lori, Jessica and I went through,” Mr. Timczyk said in an email. “We almost lost a member of our family.”

“We don’t want this to ever happen to any pet,” said Mrs. Timczyk, adding that Rocky will never again be outside without a family member.

Hospital staff suggested the family share their story through the media; a spokesman said hospital staff have never seen a family pet mauled by a hawk before.

Rocky does not appear to be traumatized and is cheerfully going out into the yard where the attack occurred.

“He’s back to normal,” Mrs. Timczyk said.

The attack was highly unusual, and the bird was undoubtedly a red-tailed hawk, according to spokesmen at the National Aviary on the North Side and the Pennsylvania Game Commission. That’s the largest hawk that lives and flies in close proximity to houses and people, they said. They have never heard of a wild hawk carrying off a small pet.

“Four pounds would be the absolute upper limit” of what a large red-tailed hawk could carry, said Bob Mulvihill, ornithologist at the National Aviary. “That was an ambitious attack, and I don’t think the hawk will do it again.”

Red-tailed hawks generally eat mice, moles, voles, small rabbits and, in warm months, a snake or two. They steer clear of people, although they might exhibit threatening behavior in the spring if people come close to their nests, Mr. Mulvihill said.

The screams of Rocky’s owners may have made the hawk drop the dog, or it might have been because the dog was too heavy, he said.

Rocky got another break: Red-tailed hawks usually kill their prey on the ground and then carry them away, Mr. Mulvihill said. Mrs. Timczyk’s screams might have prevented the kill.

Tom Fazi, information and education supervisor for the Game Commission’s southwest region, said red-tailed hawks are plentiful thanks to a decades-long ban on many pesticides and because the birds have “protected” status, meaning no one’s allowed to shoot them.

Coyotes pose a bigger threat to small pets, and coyotes are “everywhere,” Mr. Fazi said, including the city and densely populated suburbs. His office has not received reports of coyotes killing pets, although they get occasional reports of coyotes killing livestock, generally small calves and lambs.

I just got this post. Thank you for posting it. It is good to know the weight a hawk can carry. I feel safer, but always have an eagle eye, open for any fowl above. SO glad that this has a happy ending!!

[yorkiemini]

Ye!meven the wild life folks that were involved in Cali's situation kept saying that it was unusual for a hawk to go after 3.5 pounds. But...I have heard of them taking rabbits that weighed that much, so who knows. From what I have learned - if they are hungry enough and especially if they have young, they will try anything. One ornithologist in my area said that some times if they can't lift the prey they will disable it with their talons and then just eat it on the spot rather than try to carry it away. Yuck!!! Anyway, I don't trust anything, any animal or any person around my baby any more. We got lucky once, I sure don't want a replay...and, Cali always watches what is above her now - birds, tall trucks on the highway, and people. She has developed what we call "the stance". The other day a blue jay kind of swooped at her to get her away from the bird feeder and she whirled around and assumed "the stance" And we all commented on it. Of course she does not get to go out by herself any more so we were right there. Funny thing was, she did not run to me when the bluejay swooped and I did not like that - I had to call her to me.

Soooo, long story short , don't pay any attention to those stories of your dog is too big for a hawk and all that - keep your eyes on them!!!!

[DaveD345]

At 11 lbs I hope my Gracie is too large for a hawk to consider flying away with but we do have hawks, eagles and vultures who circle in the area, mostly, I think, because of our high rabbit population. The possibility has crossed my mind, however...

[Piddle Place]

OMG! that's terrible. We have coyotes that have attached dogs in our neighborhood. I would never have thought to look to the sky for danger. Thank you.

[matese]

When I walk Cody my eyes are searching the woods and the sky, we have several predator birds, I see them flying from my back yard, due to 150 ft high Oak trees that form a canopy over the yard they can't swoop down, so we are safe, but on walks there is no tree coverage so I am vigilant, does not make walking him enjoyable but he needs to know where he lives if EVER he should get loose from the house and is good for keeping his nails trimmed. Cody weighs 12 lbs, but still I won't take a chance some crazy bird won't try it, their talons alone can kill or severally injure a small dog. Everyone should just be careful when out in their yard or walking their babies.