Here in mid-Atlantic, we have many red tail hawks. Very common to see them in flight with their "catch" in tow. Fortunately our outdoor cats weigh far too much to be lifted off of the ground.

Wow, warnings about pets! Where we live now we have bald eagles and red shoulder hawks. I've seen the eagles take over a hawks' nest one Spring which ticked me off since the hawks had raised their family in the same nest for several years until the bald eagles decided to settle and devour the hawklings before raising their eaglets. Nature can be harsh.

When we lived in Chicago a dozen years ago, there were peregrine falcons near the lake. I imagine the falcons are still there and, if so, I'm sure the pigeon population is kept in checked.

On a happier note, more special (at least to me) were the colonies of wild green parrots that had become climatized to the Midwest's severe winters and managed to live for years in huge nests.

Fortunately our outdoor cats weigh far too much to be lifted off of the ground.

Don't be so sure. Just last week a hawk almost got away with a 10 pound dachshund near here.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dog owner saves pet from hawk's claws

We have red tailed hawks here (TN). In fact, last year or year before we had one that nested very near our back property. When their little one was born we saw the male quite often, then the 3 of them when the little one started flying. An awesome sight, but they are a bit scary to our wildlife. We quite feeding birds in the back because we found the remains of several (just feathers, etc.) and were afraid the hawk was targeting them. We have since found innards from a couple of rabbits (we think) that were probably dropped by a hawk. I do watch if our pup (right @ 10 lbs.) is out there. If one of us is out also they don't come near, but we have seen them circling when the pup was out alone. I don't feed the birds or squirrels anymore as not to attract the hawk to them.

I did ask a wildlife and fisheries specialist at my work about the hawks and he said that my pup was probably a little big for a hawk, but even if the hawk was unable to actually pick up a pet that size, they could do great damage just trying with their talons.

tina

Around here we don't worry about hawks taking our small pets. Coyotes on the other hand...

When I leave our house for an extended period, I put our lab on the screened lanai with the screen door open to the back yard. Within the last 4 months we've had 3 birds enter the lanai and not be able to find their way out.

One was Just a little sparrow type bird, one a small owl and the last one was a young hawk.

We've lived here 30 years, never had a bird fly in before this year. Weird.

We were able to catch and free all our feathered friends.

When I would drive to where I grew up with college friends 20+ years ago I would warn them about deer on the road and I would get a certain amount of eye rolling until they actually saw them for themselves. Now they are so common even in the suburbs that people are used to it.

Now, we have to watch for Elk, although they don't tend to go on the road too often. When I was young we would see them far out, mingling with people's cows. In the last three months I have seen them standing, in herds of 6-8 no less, in people's yards right along the road.

In suburban Tampa my sister's friend's cockatoo was snatched right after it had jumped off his shoulder to the driveway, and my niece witnessed the snatching of a teacup chihuahua.

Pal that is so cool about the Elk!! We don't have them around here other than some protected herds released near our national park. I'm in a rural area, many farms around here and we sometimes have a problem with deer (getting hit by cars). They come into our yard to eat the acorns.

tina

Here in the mountains of New Mexico, we have a double walled kennel for our dogs to relieve themselves in, but we still ALWAYS have to go out there with our 11-pound Tibetan Spaniel. The kennel, with it's outside wall being a tall coyote fence, will keep the coyotes and wild dogs out, but not the mountain lions or bobcats. And, hawks, eagles and owls can easily attack from the air. People around here have lost many, many cats and small-to-medium sized dogs to all of the above. In fact, we NEVER take our Tibbie for a walk without also taking along our 100-lb Doberman, because coyotes, etc., have actually grabbed small dogs off their leads right in front of their owners. A friend has started naming her barn cats "OB"; not for Obi-Wan Kanobi, from the Star Wars movies, but OB, short for Owl Bait. . . she loses that many of them! I'm now strongly pushing for DH to add a chicken wire "roof" on our dog run.
Lynn

South-central Texas here. Deer, coyotes, red-tailed hawks, foxes, bobcats, snakes, owls. A friend's Pomeranian puppy was carried away by an owl a few years ago and never seen again--happened right outside their front door, seconds after being let out. I'd never have a tiny dog here. Our cats have all been indoor cats. Otherwise, they are easy prey for the coyotes. Our Pyr sits and watches our red-tailed hawk through the window. I think he thinks it's part of his herd. They have stared at each other for long periods. The six month old dog weighs 80 lbs., though, so I'm not so worried about him.

Another side effect of what led to the housing crisis. Massive amounts of new residential development throughout the country have resulted in relocation of animals in nature.

Lynn,
Everyone here is advised to have fence or other "roofs" on their dog runs, too. Even raccoons can be terribly aggressive and brutal to small pets.

Good point, Kitchendetective. I'll definitely mention that to DH in my continuing argument/bid for a completely secure dog run. Well, secure except for rattlers that can slither in, I guess :~#
When we were initially looking at different breeds of small dogs to consider, I talked with a breeder in the Dallas area about his Papillons. He told me that he recommends that they be kitty litter trained, so that they're completely house dogs for their own safety.

Pal, being that close to a hawk would have me covering my head! Those beaks and talons look painful.

Have not seen any changes in hawk behavior in my area. In the last few years there has been a resurgence of bald eagles in my area though. We have had the pleasure in seeing a few fly over the house.
A rafter of turkeys (or is that a gobble of turkeys?) have been hanging out down the road for the last month or so too.

My SIL is terrified of coyotes getting to her dogs. She watches them like a hawk when they are out.

A few months ago we heard a commotion in the big tree next to our house. There was a crow chewing out a medium sized red tail hawk. Next thing we knew, the hawk came flying over the house with a squirrel in it's claws. DH yelled at it and it dropped the squirrel (it ran off to safety). We're in a suburban area not far from farms so seeing the hawks isn't unusual. We also have a ton of raccoons, possums & other rodentia.

Urban development into wildlife areas is to blame for the rising incidents of deer, cougar, bear and raptors in backyards. Recently a couple was attacked & hurt by a deer while walking their dog. It was during rut season & animals are very aggressive at that time. Who would think a harmless deer could put you in the hospital?!

Was that last line intentional, deedee? :)

And *completely* agreed, patser. I just hope the predatory birds/mammals aren't demonized.

fly, when I wrote it, no. When I previewed I noticed it:)

pesky, I once had a big buck in a local forest preserve stamp its foot, shake its head with steam billowing out of its nose (nostrils?) while it snorted at me.
I was looking for the nearest tree! Have never looked at those gentle creatures the same since.

Once I heard something hit the house really hard. I looked outside and a hawk must have chased a pigeon so that it flew into the house. The pigeon clearly had a broken wing and was trying to walk away but the hawk was slowly following it. Later there was a pile of pigeon feathers in the corner of the yard.

Another time I was sitting outside and I realized it was almost completely silent - no bird noises. I thought hmm, that's odd and looked up to see birds flying into all the bushes. Just then, a big hawk swoped into my yard, perched on a branch for a few moments and then took off. A minute later all the birds in the bushes were raising such a racket. All I could think was they were telling each other "Did you see that? We almost died!"

My sister had an outdoor cat in Phoenix. The neighbors referred to cats as coyote bait. That cat was one tough cookie and survived 13 years there. She's still alive at 17+ years old but now she stays indoors in her new home in another state. If she had any fights with a hawk, she won.

Oh, I just remembered another hawk story. A couple months ago DH & DS were working in the garage and had the bay door open. They heard a loud THUMP and looked out to the driveway. They saw feathers floating to the ground, and a hawk stumbling over the top of my truck. Apparently it must have been after something and misjudged and hit the side of my truck. DH said it flew off, but must have gone without lunch that day.

I love watching the hawks who frequent our suburban yard. I've been able to identify Cooper's Hawk, Sharp Shinned, and Red Tail so far. For the first time yesterday I saw 2 Cooper's hawks swooping down trying to catch birds. Neither were successful but it was rather exciting to see all those little birds scatter while the hawks swooped around them. Several birds flew into the bare burning bushes but one hawk flew right inside after them.

I'd rather they snatch some of the squirrels or chipmunks who are such pests around here. They tend to grab the doves who are much slower.

Due to the bird feeder, the hawks come by fairly often. I have seen mostly Coopers, but have occasionally seen a Red Tail.

I rarely see the hawks catch anything. I do notice when one is in the area. Suddenly the feeder goes silent and if you lok around, you'll see the hawk on one of the trees. I have seen the cooper take down a brown bird of some kind, and a pigeon during using ambush. My neighbor also found a pair of wings in his yard.

What's weird is that the local squirrels totally ignored the cooper hawks. One squirrel was sitting on the same tree branch 5 feet from the hawk munching away on a nut unconcerned. They do however make a run for it when the red tails hawk show up.

Paul