I'd been down in the bottom cutting trees and making cover for the birds and I'd come up to the barn and put all the stuff away and was just walking up to the house and I heard this scream of sorts and looked towards the house and seen what I thought was a robin being chased by a coopers hawk. I mean he was hot on his tail and the "robin" was doing all he could to evade the talons of the hawk. Well I looked around the barn just in time to see them both nose dive into my 4 acre field of Big Blue and Indian grass. I walked up to where I though they went down and took off at a dead run to flush the hawk. Sure enough I got about 10 feet or so from him and up he came empty handed. I looked around for feathers and didn't see any and was just about to go back to the house and took a few more steps and up came a Quail. He was unhurt and flying great!! Sure glad he made it. This was my first time ever witnessing a hawk chasing a Quail.
Seen something pretty neat today
- Thread starter jaytee
- Start date
OKIEGunner
New member
My friend & I were fortunate to watch a red-tailed hawk gracefully swoop down from the sky on a covey of quail that our dogs had pointed. We were walking up to the dogs on point, when the hawk came in for an easy meal. Took all my will power, not to pull the trigger!
M. R. Byrd
Well-known member
I have witnessed a redtail catch a 3/4 grown lesser prairie chicken in flight.
I also witnessed a snake taking down a redtail in flight.
I also witnessed a snake taking down a redtail in flight.
OKIEGunner
New member
M. R. Byrd
Well-known member
Actually both events occurred within an eighth mile of each other, but at different times. The LPC event happened when I was farming a patch of ground out in my pasture and as I came around the fence line to open the field there was a young hatch of LPC and one of them flushed when the hawk dove and was headed to a little patch of weeds in the corner of the field. In level flight you could see the strain on the hawk's face as it tried to close on the young chicken. I thought the chicken was going to make it to safety, but at the instant the chicken was about to dive into the cover the hawks talons reached out and snatched it from the air.
Just outside that little patch of farm ground, my wife and I were checking cattle when I saw a redtail high in the air carrying a snake. I told my wife to look and about that time the redtail goes cartwheeling head over heels to the ground. It was a long fall, but that year the grass was lush and tall. I figured it was a rattlesnake as that is the main snake in that part of the ranch. I drive over to where the pair fell and there in the tall grass lay the redtail on its side with a snake constricted around its neck. I could see that it was a big bull snake and I took a shovel and poked the snake. My wife had the camera and was taking pictures. The snake looked at me and decided it had better things to do and released the hawk and slithered off in the grass. I figured the hawk was dead, but gave it a little nudge with the shovel. After a few pokes, the hawk rocked up onto its feet like one of those old bottom weighted clowns I used to box. It was dazed and kept blinking its eyes. Finally, its sight must have cleared as it focused on me and with a loud squawk took to flight.
Just outside that little patch of farm ground, my wife and I were checking cattle when I saw a redtail high in the air carrying a snake. I told my wife to look and about that time the redtail goes cartwheeling head over heels to the ground. It was a long fall, but that year the grass was lush and tall. I figured it was a rattlesnake as that is the main snake in that part of the ranch. I drive over to where the pair fell and there in the tall grass lay the redtail on its side with a snake constricted around its neck. I could see that it was a big bull snake and I took a shovel and poked the snake. My wife had the camera and was taking pictures. The snake looked at me and decided it had better things to do and released the hawk and slithered off in the grass. I figured the hawk was dead, but gave it a little nudge with the shovel. After a few pokes, the hawk rocked up onto its feet like one of those old bottom weighted clowns I used to box. It was dazed and kept blinking its eyes. Finally, its sight must have cleared as it focused on me and with a loud squawk took to flight.
M. R. Byrd
Well-known member
I didn't see what happened to cause the pair to fall, but figure that the hawk must have been carrying the snake by the body(looks like some marks in the first photo) and the snake's head and upper body was free and it struck or some how became entangled with one of the hawks wings causing the hawk to fall from the sky.
OKIEGunner
New member
Uncle Buck
New member
Graet stuff!
M. R. Byrd
Well-known member
This year there would have not been a soft landing of lush grass and they both might have died from the impact on the pasture that was more like a slab of fuzzy concrete.