poor dog flys off khuk in pursuit

[ghorka]

this isant supposed to be funny, butttt
this afternoon my wifes sisters dog, a tiny chiwowa-x-miniiture fox terrier, was in the back field on her 150 acre hobby farm,
the wifes sister and husband were mending a fence, the little dog was runnin round chasin, mice an such,when whoosh,a bloody great hawk swooped down and grabbed the dog,and with great flappin of wings, slowly flew of with the poor dog in tow.
sisterinlaw lets out a horrified shriek,brotherinlaw who normaly has a shotgun with him,had nothing but a khuk i gave him,he whips it out an lets fly,missed by a bloody mile,looked like a boomerang whizzing through the air, an no it didant come back.
the poor old dog and hawk dissapered out of sight.
took sisterinlaw 2hrs to find khuk,they dont come back.
meanwhile brotherinlaw and son,
went in his utility in the direction the hawk went hopin it may drop the dog, or when it gets to the nest it might manage to escape.
that is if the dog is still alive.
that was about 4 hrs ago now, they are still out lookin.
the khuk wasant a hi one it was an indian ww2.
sure hope he gets the dog back but sheeesh dont hold much hope.
who would have thought a hawk takin off with a dog.

 

[Bill Martino]

Not much a fella can do in a situation like this.

 

[SkagSig40]

I saw the whole thing in my head! It was funny in a way and sad in another.

 

[redvenom]

They grow the birds pretty big in your part of the world...

Andrew Limsk

 

[ghorka]

yeah redvenom thjey do, the large hawk would have had a wingspan of approx 4ft, another bird of prey very common here is the wedgetail eagle,approx6-7 ft wingspan , farmers dont like em, always carrying of lambs.
the little dog in question probably wieghed no more tan 1.5- 2lbs
if that , was smaller than a rabbit, which makes me wonder if thats what the hawk thought it was??.
unfortunatly it hasent been found.

are there such cases like this happen in other countrys i wonder. ??

regards ghorka

 

[BillTheCat]

I worked for 3 months on an alfalfa farm in central Oregon (high desert), back in '95. The owls in that area growl quite large. They perch atop telephone poles, awaiting prey and the chance to swoop down. Many, many domestic/farm cats are lost this way ...last seen in the talons of an departing owl Apparently the feathers/wings of an owl are constructed in such a way as to be almost silent in routine flight. Save for that moment of furious beating to gain enough uplift while carrying off prey. At night, they RULE the skies!

The coyotes are a whole other matter. You can tell alot about an animal by studying it's feces. These coyotes are under/malnourished, parasite infested, lean, hungry and mean. A favorite ploy of the pack, is to send a female in close to a farmhouse in order to entice the domestic dog to play (especially effective if she's an 'cydog'). Once the dog is close to the brush cover, the rest of the pack rips it apart and feeds.

 

[ghorka]

talk about sneaky, an i thought cayotes an such were harmless , only preying on small rodents an such.

i been thinkin about the poor dog i reckon she was probably dead as soon as she was hit by the hawk ??.
i seem to remember reading somewhere that the preys neck or spine gets broken by the force of impact, please correct me if i am wrong. regards ghorka

 

[not2sharp]

It sounds like an opportunity for a little varmit hunting.

n2s

P.S. the dog was probably gone with the initial strike. The most lethal part of a raptor is it's claws.

 

[mjjbecker]

The dog probably was killed outright on contact.

Here's some general information regarding birds of prey from the San Diego Zoo:

http://www.sandiegozoo.org/wildideas/animal/birds_of_prey.html

Notice the bit about how a bald eagle can hit with twice the force of a bullet and that some harpy eagles have talons as long as a grizzly bear Look at what some of them hunt as well...

 

[Brendan]

My girlfriends chihuaha was taken by a kite - like a big hawk !! The little pup was killed instantly - not even a yelp or anything. Heard a crack dont know what it was. Not a nice memory though !!

 

[Raindog]

Yes those dang hawks can be nasty. My Dad was on holiday in Scotland and had his wig snatched by an eagle....last seen flying east....he wasn't pleased, especially when he examined his scalp and found claw marks down the back.
He resorted to glue after that, and barring a couple of misadventures where he couldn't get it off and had to visit the chemist he was safe from the dreaded Eagle (couldn't have been a Bald Eagle??).
Maybe it made a nest out of it


Jeff.

 

[Brendan]

This was when i was living in south africa. These kites can take kids if the wanted to !!

 

[Ferrous Wheel]

....kinda like an arrow. Slower moving, heavy projectile.

Keith
En Ferro Veritas