10.16.2013

If squirrels could talk....

Hey you,
I'm up here, over to the left...
do you see me?
 
You do?
Oh, good good!
 
You see
I'm in sort of a predicament here.
 
If you could by chance make some noise.
Like clap your hands, yell, slam the door real hard,
let the cat out,
or maybe knock on the windows real hard...
You know,
sort of like you do when I'm doing up-side-down acrobats
from your bird feeders?
I would be forever grateful to you,
and maybe the guy over there to your lower right
would take a hike...
 
This squirrel owes me big.
I saved his little furry be-hind,
but,
 not before moving in closer to the hawk
and snapping a few pictures.
 
 
I'm not that familiar with birds of prey...a Coopers Hawk, Sharp-Shinned Hawk?
His coloring is quite handsome against the crisp-clear blue autumn sky.
 
 
You would think that a squirrel and a hawk in the same photo would not be a good thing,
if you were the squirrel.  
  Truthfully,
 it was the photographer here
that was in more of a panic,
 then the squirrel. 
 The said photographer
couldn't bear seeing squirrel smorgasbord
in her back yard.
The squirrel was probably safer in the tree then on the ground. 
No?
Can hawks make a kill in a tree?
I'm guessing no, their wingspan wouldn't allow it.
Any bird of prey experts? 
Please weigh in,
inquiring squirrel minds
 want to know!
 
 
 
Have a good evening,
Brenda
 
 
 
 

 

11 comments:

linda said...

Is the hawk a kestrel? I'm thinking the squirrel may be too big as prey, but I'm no expert! Nice photos!

rosek1870 said...

A hawk could get the squirrel (one got a rabbit in my back yard) but I think they would have trouble as long as he stayed in the tree.

Phyllis said...

Not sure what kind it is..maybe a red tailed hawk. My dh feeds the birds and he says they will usually go after young squirrels and probably not when they are in a tree. The hawks we have around here get the mourning doves and occasionally a blue jay and redbird.

Ann in PA said...

Looks like a young (streaky breast) Sharpie or Cooper's...tail looks rounded so it could be a Coop. That said- I enjoy birds but I'm not an expert! :) Search Cornell Birds for good info. Great photos!

Mouse said...

ohhh dear that wasn't good ... while he was probably more safer in the tree as the bird couldn't have got to him as well as if he was on the ground ...
lovely shot of the bird he looks a bit like our Kestrels / sparrow hawks ... but I would have to have looked him up for sure :) love mouse xxxxx

lisa said...

Looks similar to the Sharp-shinned that likes to stalk our feeders. They are smaller than the big hawks that you see out in the big open fields like the Red-tailed. I don't think he will bother the squirrel- just looking for some poor unsuspecting little song-bird eating your bird seed. I always make noise and chase them away when I see them lurking nearby. On atleast two occasions I have been too late and witness the mayhem- not good :(

KC said...

Hi Brenda,

Last fall looking in my neighbor's yard; in a blink of an eye....a squirrel was scurrying around and out of no where a hawk swooped in from the tree above pounced on the squirrel and took him off. Nature is amazing. Poor squirrel but what a magnificent hawk - you know he will let nothing go to waste!

Penny said...

What a fun post - especially good for the squirrel (and you for photographic reasons). Thanks.

Angie said...

I've seen mother nature's amazing and cruel display on this topic. The other day though I saw something I had never seen....my seven year old semi feral outside mama cat challenged a smaller hawk for his early dinner...and won

Danice G said...

Nature is so beautiful, yet sometimes seems cruel to us as humans when predator stalks prey. The chain of life. Great photos you took. Both are awesome animals :)

KijkDaarIs said...

Its a beautifull picture!!!!