# New hawk in town!



## ZEROPILOT (Feb 7, 2015)

The last couple of weeks I've seen a large hawk circling our block and landing in a tree in my back yard. He appears to be feeding on doves drawn in by my wife's bird feeder. The bird feeder STAYS. My concern is that the hawk may turn is attention towards my torts not far away in open topped pens. Can anyone recommend some kind of netting or hawk proofing?


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## Yvonne G (Feb 7, 2015)

I'm not a hawk expert, but I'm thinking that a hawk that eats birds, eats birds.


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## G-stars (Feb 7, 2015)

Hawks are predators and will eat what's available and easy to catch. Birds, rodents, etc... Small tortoises can be on that list. Better to be safe than sorry. It also depends how big your tortoises are and how big that hawk is.


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## sunshyne621 (Feb 7, 2015)

As someone who has done raptor rehab before, a bird that eats birds is usually part of the accipiter or falcon family. And as long as you keep the feeder he's sticking around, unless he is migrating through. I highly doubt it would go after tortoises too.


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## Jodie (Feb 7, 2015)

This would make me very nervous too. My husband built a lightweight frame that we stretched chicken wire type fence over for my little ones enclosure. It is on a pulley to lift one end up for access. I suppose it depends on how big your enclosure is what your options might be.


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## Odin's Gma (Feb 7, 2015)

How much do your torts weigh and do you know what kind of hawk it is? We have a lot of eagles and several different types of hawks and owls, and from what I have heard and read full grown eagles can fairly easily lift off and carry critters in the 2-5 pound range, but anything heavier gets progressively tougher and depends on a lot of factors (like flight speed). I believe the limit is like 1/2-2/3rds of there body weight?
Our neighbors had a Chihuahua for a short time.....


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## Dizisdalife (Feb 7, 2015)

ZEROPILOT said:


> The last couple of weeks I've seen a large hawk circling our block and landing in a tree in my back yard. He appears to be feeding on doves drawn in by my wife's bird feeder. The bird feeder STAYS. My concern is that the hawk may turn is attention towards my torts not far away in open topped pens. Can anyone recommend some kind of netting or hawk proofing?


I had the same situation when my sulcata was about a year old. Bird feeder in the yard and a couple of Coopers Hawks stopping by to get food to go. Even though I knew that a Coopers was a bird eater I was concerned that he may find my small tortoise too easy to pass on. So I covered his pen with panels of hardware cloth. I think it was 1/4" mesh but it may have been 1/2" mesh. The hawk never did show any interest in the tortoise.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 7, 2015)

Thanks folks. I'll take a trip to Home Depot. If I place a chicken wire roof about seven feet up, would a hawk swoop under the thing or would it stop him? Do they always dive down? Maybe I'm thinking of FALCONS . No, I don't know the hawks type. He's very large. Not a Red Tail for sure.


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## dmmj (Feb 7, 2015)

Well sucks to be a dove around your house. Hawks carry their prey away right, they usually don't eat them there, so tortoises are awfully hard to carry away in bird claws. I would imagine your tort is quite afe, but if it makes you feel better to screen the area off some, no harm in doing so.


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## Yvonne G (Feb 7, 2015)

Maybe some pond mesh? They make a plastic mesh that you hang over a pond to keep birds from "fishing." I think a hawk would want to swoop, grab then continue the flight. I don't think they land, grab then take off.


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## G-stars (Feb 7, 2015)

I personally have all of mine protected under wire mesh. At least until they are ~6".

Whether it be hawks, falcons, domestic cats, feral cats, bobcats, dogs, coyotes, raccoons, possums....

You get my point. I've seen supposed nocturnal animals around my home at 10am. So even if I bring them in at night To avoid certain animals getting to them. Id just rather be safe than sorry when dealing with small tortoises.


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## Dizisdalife (Feb 12, 2015)

The hawks in my yard always swoop in. Sometimes they hide in the lower branches of a tree. Or in the bushes. Once I saw one sitting on the tortoise house surveying the yard.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 12, 2015)

Dizisdalife said:


> The hawks in my yard always swoop in. Sometimes they hide in the lower branches of a tree. Or in the bushes. Once I saw one sitting on the tortoise house surveying the yard.


Oh, Crap.


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## HLogic (Feb 12, 2015)

I have oodles of hawks of various description and owls here but have never seen any of them show any interest in the torts.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 12, 2015)

Me neither, but my being paranoid has helped me in the past. I bought a bunch of lumber to enclose the whole area with a lattice top. But now Valentines expenses have slowed it down. Gotta make the missus happy first.


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## HLogic (Feb 12, 2015)

Truer words! If momma ain't happy, nobody's happy!! Anything to foil the bird's path will work. Look into the netting used over fruit trees to keep birds out. It's relatively inexpensive - much less than chicken wire. The downside is you may have to liberate a rather perturbed hawk tangled in the netting...but only once per hawk!


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## Tom (Feb 12, 2015)

Zero, lets get a pic of your Hawk. Once we have and ID, that will give us a better idea of its eating habits. We have a lot of Cooper's hawks in my area. These are typically a bird eater, but all raptors are opportunistic to some degree. I once had a Coopers land in my outdoor pen and try to figure out how to pick up a 6" sulcata. The tortoise probably weighed three times the hawks weight, but he was trying. I also once found a Cooper's hawk sitting on top of the wire covering of my hatchling sulcatas soaking tub outside. He was trying to figure out how to grab at the tasty morsels crawling around in the water under him.

We have lots of red-tails too, but they have never showed any interest in any of my tortoises. I study them whenever I see them. I'm an apprentice falconer right now and birds of prey have always been a source of fascination for me. Shoulda got my license two decades ago...


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## Dizisdalife (Feb 12, 2015)

ZEROPILOT said:


> Me neither, but my being paranoid has helped me in the past.


Me too. At least 95% of the things I worry about never happen. It must work. Right?


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 12, 2015)

Tom, I'll try to get a photo. The thing is that even though my phone takes detailed photos, it has no zoom.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 17, 2015)

An update: I have begun the task of closing in my largest tortoise pen. I'm making it Hawk proof and cat resistant. (Raccoons are another story.) Pictures to follow. This will be 8' wide and 18' long with a 7' height. My 9" male, Julio and my 6" female Shelly live out there when it is warm. There are three dens. One with heat and two pools.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 20, 2015)

Update with 1" plastic mesh roof.


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## bouaboua (Feb 20, 2015)

This is what I build for my Hermanni..


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 20, 2015)

I like that low to the ground look. Tortoises really don't need 6'5" of head room.
I can bring a chair and hang out with them.
I framed the areas around the house windows, etc. I also placed 2x4s across the top and HD stapled mesh that was cut to get everything to within 2 inches. I also wanted to keep out neighborhood cats and an occasional Muscovy duck.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 20, 2015)

Two separate chambers. Or leave the door open to the girlfriends apartment.....


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## bouaboua (Feb 20, 2015)

ZEROPILOT said:


> Two separate chambers. Or leave the door open to the girlfriends apartment.....


Very thoughtful.....Hahaha! ! !


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## newCH (Feb 20, 2015)

Glad to read your update. We have always had a few hawks around. But with the cooler weather lately I have seen even more. They are brave. I have seen 2 sitting on my back fence & one flew about 5 feet over my head. I looked up to hear the swoosh-swoosh of his wings. They might have been scopping out my rabbits, but they are well protected. Please protect your torts from all sides.


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## Team Gomberg (Feb 20, 2015)

Dizisdalife said:


> Me too. At least 95% of the things I worry about never happen. It must work. Right?


Hahaha..... This was hilarious


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## Donna/Turbo (Feb 26, 2015)

I spent an hour at Lowe's today trying to picture what I want to build for an outdoor enclosure. Wish I could see pics of everyones and what works and doesn't work. I would rather do it right the first time. I have lots of hawks and have seen several stray cats in the neighborhood. I wont be leaving him alone outside for years, but I want to make something that will last for a long long time. I like the picture above, but I think a cat could move those screens. I saw cement block caps at the store that I could use to secure the screens. Has anyone used plexiglass over part of the enclosure?? Is that a bad idea??


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## G-stars (Feb 26, 2015)

Donna Wicks said:


> I spent an hour at Lowe's today trying to picture what I want to build for an outdoor enclosure. Wish I could see pics of everyones and what works and doesn't work. I would rather do it right the first time. I have lots of hawks and have seen several stray cats in the neighborhood. I wont be leaving him alone outside for years, but I want to make something that will last for a long long time. I like the picture above, but I think a cat could move those screens. I saw cement block caps at the store that I could use to secure the screens. Has anyone used plexiglass over part of the enclosure?? Is that a bad idea??



Don't use plexiglass, defeats the whole purpose of being outdoors. The natural sun's rays. How big is your tortoise? You could use a kiddie pool with chicken wire over it, until he's big enough to have an open enclosure.


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## Donna/Turbo (Feb 26, 2015)

I have thought about using a kiddie pool but the concrete blocks are so cheap at Lowe's and they said I could paint them. They have the nice cap also. I think I am going to go that route with some sort of chicken fence on top. I went to the gallery of out door enclosures and got some great ideas!! I am glad to see people really love their animals here!!


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## G-stars (Feb 26, 2015)

I like using bricks too. You can always expand or make it smaller according to your needs.


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## ZEROPILOT (Feb 27, 2015)

Cats roaming around are common. Stories about cats harming tortoises are very Un common.


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## Donna/Turbo (Feb 27, 2015)

Oh good. I still won't leave him alone for a while.


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## Tidgy's Dad (Jun 18, 2015)

In Morocco, we have the Bearded Vulture which picks up tortoises and drops them from a great height, then coming down to feed on the remains.
Someone in England once told me a crow had made off with a baby tortoise, so it's wise to be cautious, I think.


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## ZEROPILOT (Jun 18, 2015)

The hawk has moved on.
It ended up not being interested in tortoise for breakfast.
On the plus side, that pen is now almost any pest resistant.


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## awesomecs (Sep 4, 2015)

Yvonne G said:


> I'm not a hawk expert, but I'm thinking that a hawk that eats birds, eats birds.




hawks eat small bird small lizards and they can even kill a adult Russian tortoise and If they cant crack there shell they'll drop it from the sky and the shell will bust also they eat small mammals so don't take this lightly if you have a open outdoor enclosure make sure your tortoises are 100% safe


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## awesomecs (Sep 4, 2015)

ZEROPILOT said:


> An update: I have begun the task of closing in my largest tortoise pen. I'm making it Hawk proof and cat resistant. (Raccoons are another story.) Pictures to follow. This will be 8' wide and 18' long with a 7' height. My 9" male, Julio and my 6" female Shelly live out there when it is warm. There are three dens. One with heat and two pools.





dude I have stray cats and hawks I don't think there hawks thoe they go around in a circle whenever I bring tory outside THERE AFTER MY BABY and that's why I always have a huge stick in my hand just in case =]


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