Any of you wilderness buffs know how to keep Red Tail Hawks from menacing my pet ducks in my back yard? One of the little ducks was seconds away from being a meal when I RUSHED into my back yard with some pretty impressive Delta Force maneuvers, scaring it off. Sure, I could just shoot all of them, but that is not my first choice. Plus I'd have to live in a blind in my back yard. Building a silencer for my .22 and being a back yard Hawk Assassinator is not my calling in life. Scarecrow? Scare-hawk? Owl decoy? Al Gore likeness? Landmines? There has to be something they "don't like" to keep them away..... Thanks, Bob C.
haha Yeah Matt, but if push comes to shove, and I must randomly exterminate these majestic creatures for the benefit of my helpless ducks.... I need to do it quietly!!!! Unless you have a source for silenced bottle rockets that have the capability to bring down a 26" Red Tail. Good advice though : ) I'll keep it in mind! Bob
.............loaded with C4. Mais ya, das how us cajuns does it!!:laugh: The difference between a northern zoo and southern zoo is the northern zoo has name plaques that describe the animal. The southern zoo has the name plaques that describe the animal PLUS a recipe!!
Bob, As a GA native, you need to know what will happen if you are caught injuring or killing one. It isn't good.. Probably 1-2 years in jail, 5000 dollar fine to go with it. You could probably do it, but there is that one neighbor who will see you and turn you in. I have a buddy who did what you are describing to a seagull ( no-good bird) and was lucky to avoid jail time. I think he paid an 800.00 fine. And that was in 1985. o No: Russ Waters
1 or 2 years and $5000 fine. That is still cheaper than those dang gopher torteses (turtles) or red headed woodpeckers you have there in georgia
try this try this if you can- protect your ducks for the time being. pen them up if you can. the hawk may move on if it is migratory. if it is breeding , it may live nearby and routinely cruise your ducks waiting for right moment to strike. even if it is not breeding it may be hanging around your area. you could try relocating the hawk. giving up ducks. or moveing some were else where there are no hawks. red tails will keep hanging around like clock work if they like the taste of your duck. i keep flying pigeons and every year at this time hawks are a worry. later paul
No Worries Russ.. no intention of killing one unless it decides to rob my house. Actually, I checked with the local game people and they mentioned that there are statutes for "protection of self and personal property" when it comes to killing protected animals such as Hawks, Eagles, Owls and even Alligators...... although if it's anything like the "that gator better be attached to your leg when you shoot it" thumb rule, I'm sure the statutes do not cover a couple of vulnerable ducks and a hungry hawk who is just doing what a hawk does best. I've heard a lot of differing information about the relationship between them and the Great Horned Owls... It seems that in general, they do not invade eachothers hunting territory and have been known to duke it out on occasion. (Im told, surprisingly enough, that the Owls are significantly better at self defense, and speed-bag the hawks pretty easily) So on a whim I bought a couple cheap fake ones and we'll see what happens. The Owl decoy people say it will at least keep other Great Horned Owls as well as every other predator away ....with a possible exception of Red Tail Hawks, of course. If they don't work, it will make a fine hood ornament on my GS. Another interesting thing some bird expert emailed me was to hang up some shiny-noisy items such as disposable pie-pans in a couple locations in the yard. Apparently the hawks don't like shiny things or the noise. Perhaps I could invite the hawk for a ride in my GS.. let him drive it even. That should scare him plenty. later bob
Hey Bob, It's a tough call. Nature's way is tough to change. Two short stories here with birds of prey. During the clean up at the Twin Towers we were also pulling the remains search duty at the Fresh Kill Land Fill in Staten Island, NY. The most depressing part was seeing remains a couple of feet in front, only to have a darn nasty sea gull swoop in and snatch it up! They were so brazen we were actually kicking the birds away. And there were a ton of them. So what to do? They brought in the sound cannons from the airport along with bottle rockets and other noise makers and for about a week it worked. The Sanitation guys that worked there knew this what a waste of timea were laughing about it. So the birds wouldn't leave or get scared. So in comes natures solution. They set up two roosting nests of Falcons. Problem solved! The bird problem was down to nill along with two most likely fat falcons! True story! I was there. Another is at my old house a neighbor was raising pigions. They decided to perch on a tree limb over my kids swing set crapping all over it. So I bought a fake owl. Nothing! I bought a pellet gun and started taking care of them. Just too many and my kids hated that idea. Then one afternoon while raking leaves a pigion came crashing down in the yard DOA. I looked up and saw a Sparrow Hawk circling above. Needless to say that bird found a short term home with a good food supply. My pigion problem was history soon after. I guess he was passing through and saw a good food supply and decided to stay in the general area. With your duck problem I think maybe you should research the bird see if it's passing through or making a home. If it's on migration then at this time of the year I would get an enclosed pen for your duck. Or maybe the local game reserve may want to trap the bird tag it and re-release it elsewhere. First try the advise you got from the local game people. Lastly get that yellow Yugo in the yard:jd: That would scare off anything! Good luck, Rick
When I was growing up on a farm in south GA, we had a female red-tailed hawk that stayed on the property for years. I don't think they are migratory and with eyesight and claws that are among the best of the animal world, they just don't leave when they can catch prey so easily. I read that this particular hawk has eyesight so good, it can spot a mouse moving 1/4 mile away!!! The owl story is interesting. A few months back, we were on a golf course right at the point where you just can't see the ball fly away ( 30 minutes after sunset) and we noticed a large object in the fairway up ahead. We walked up to it, and it was a Big-horned owl. HUGE!!! As it flew by us, it's wings made no noise at all. A real efficient killer, and much larger than the hawks. Good luck, and let us know how it works out. Russ Waters
