hawks: December 2008 Archives

Hawks are beautiful creatures. But they also are birds of prey and some small pets can be in danger.

Karen Carpenter of Carson learned that lesson recently. Fortunately, this story has a happy ending.

Mrs. Carpenter lives in a culdesac near 220th Street and Wilmington Avenue in the south part of Carson.

For the past month, a hawk has been perching daily on a power pole overlooking her large, fenced-in backyard where her 7-pound, white miniature poodle Randy likes to play.

One day a few weeks ago, she was walking by a window in and heard Randy scream.

"I looked out and saw that the hawk had my dog (in his talons)," she said. Both were semi air-borne when Randy managed somehow to squirm free unharmed and take refuge under the pull-down slider blind covering Mrs. Carpenter's patio.

"The hawk sayed right outside the slider, looking down" as Randy poked his nose out.

The hawk continues to stalk, so Mrs. Carpenter is keeping her dogs -- since then her son and daughter-in-law gave her another white miniature poodle, GiGi, this one only 4 pounds and about a year old -- indoors. They only go outside with their owner on leash.

"They're so used to being outside, running and playing," she said. "It's heartbreaking I can't let them have that privilege."

But for now, it seems to be the best way to keep them safe. She wanted her story to go out as a warning to other owners of small pets.

I did a little online research and it turns out this isn't a unique problem.

Acccording to the Web site Hawks Aloft, raptor birds hunt a variety of prey, including rodents, birds, rabbits, snakes and insects.

From the web site: