On Friday, or maybe the day before, I was sitting in the car waiting for Tommy to come out of the house. I saw a hawk land on his neighbor's chain link fence. A red-tailed hawk, searching for prey. I watched it for a long time, but it left when Tommy came in sight.
At my house, I often saw chicken hawks circling around the skies over the back yard. However, I have not seen a hawk here and have not looked up to see. My chickens usually alerted me by squawking and running under a tree or bush. Or, the bench.
Finally, the hawk flew into Tommy's neighbor's yard and caught something on the ground, attacked, and appeared to be tearing whatever it was apart.
From now on I will look up for them. We see them in trees and on telephone lines and poles elsewhere. The people around here don't even have cats as prey for hawks. I suppose they are not predators, either.
Today, Friday, as we were driving in a residential neighborhood, we saw an interaction between a larger hawk and a squirrel. We stopped and watched for about ten minutes. It appeared that the hawk was going to get the squirrel. But, the hawk did not. He either changed his mind or did not intend to catch the squirrel. We finally lost sight of it when it flew to a low perch in the trees.
I am amazed we have only this week seen hawks hunting. I wonder if they are young hawks staying close to the ground. It was rather incongruous seeing them on low chain link fences. In our mind, the hunters should be on wooden fences in less populated areas.
The first night I read A Painted House, I read 160 pages. Last night, I read over 100 pages. I didn't stay up late last night. I went to bed early so I could read. That is the way I should read, not watch TV all night and then read.
Do you see hawks hunting? Do you live in a country situation or a city? Do you lose chickens or cats like my neighbors and I did? Are the mice plentiful where you are?
