Learn from my mistake

[Cherbear]

My husband and I set up a temporary enclosure out of some metal fencing for Leo my leopard tort. We're trying to get an idea where the best place for a permanent enclosure would be. So, this morning I took him out and put him in and went back in the house. About an hour later my husband and I were moving a piece of heavy furniture with glass in it outside. We were carrying it across the back porch when we heard a hawk crying out and landing right in my tortoise enclosure, right beside Leo. So we had that furniture in our hands so we couldn't do anything fast, but you should have heard us screaming and yelling at that bird. Luckly, it was enough to scare the hawk away.

Needless to say, my heart skipped a beat and little Leo came back inside. I will never let him outside again until his enclosure "with lid" is built or I'm out there to watch him. I don't know if that hawk would have been able to pick him up or not. Just yesterday one landed in our yard and I moved closer to see what it was doing and she grabbed a field mouse and flew away. I guess that should have been my first warning sign. After the fact, I think there might be a mother hawk hunting for her young because and can hear hawks crying in the woods.

I really got lucky because that enclosure has been set up for a few weeks now. I'm glad we were out there at that moment. I think I would have had a heart attack if she had carried him away.

 

[Missy]

Wow that was a close one. I am so glad you were there.

 

[coreyc]

Glad to hear nothing happened to him And most people say dont worry about bird's

 

[dmarcus]

Very close call, glad ya'll were able to scare it off...

 

[dmmj]

Good words of advice, the only thing I can say is that a hawk should be strong enough to lift one up, but the shape of the shell would make it harder to grab and hold, but it is always better to be safe then sorry.

 

[Jacqui]

Has your heart beat returned to normal yet?

 

[Cherbear]

That's what I said to my husband. Even if she had grabbed him and lifted him up, she probably would have dropped him. And yes, my heart is back to normal.

 

[CJSTorts]

Glad to hear he is ok, wow what a close call.

 

[jensgotfaith]

That's crazy, and I'm glad everyone is ok. Had to be scary though. It's one thing to see something like that in your yard, and another when you have someone in your yard being looked at as prey. Yikes.

 

[mctlong]

OMG! How scary!

Thank you for posting. Its a good reminder for all of us.

 

[Cherbear]

Yeah, that's why I posted it. I thought he'd be fine back there.

 

[Jacob]

Thats A Close Call, Iv Heard Of Hawks and Birds Taking Baby Torts :0
Great Thing You Were There To Save Your Young One!

 

[SnakeyeZ]

Glad to hear nothing happened to him And most people say dont worry about bird's

Well.... I would consider hawks raptors, lol.

You got lucky! I have yet to see a hawk in our area. Better safe than sorry though!

 

[Laura]

i think this is how people find them in weird places.. they get carried away and dropped... some survive that others do not..
build that top and get him back outside... !

 

[ChiKat]

So scary!! Glad little Leo is okay

 

[Cherbear]

We have a lot of hawks around here. Oddly enough, last year we had this young hawk land under a tree in our yard and just sat there for two days. On the third day he came down closer to the house and started crying. Two other hawks heard him at started flying around low and crying back. To make a long story short we ended up calling a rescue and we put him in a cat carrier and took him to the rescue. I never heard what happened to him, but was told they would keep him until he was able to be released. The rescue said he probably just left the nest and was either tired or just immature.

Here's a couple pictures we took of him. The enclosure he on is a really small one I used to have that I no longer use. He hopped on himself. You can see how close we were to him. You could actually touch him. It was very weird.

Btw, my husband said on his next days off we'll get started on something permanent.

 

[Zouave]

Beautiful Bird. I think it's a Red-Tailed or a Cooper's Hawk. Glad you were there to play traffic cop! Also, can i go camping in your backyard? Lovely!

 

[Angi]

I think hawks pick animals up and drop them so they are easier to eat. Does anyone know if that is right? We have lots of hawks here and other predator birds. I have heard people say they have seen them pick up big rabbits. I have only seen them flying with squirls, snakes and little critters. It would be awful to have one get your pet. So glad you were there to save your baby

 

[dmmj]

I personally have only seen them eat/grab small animals like mice rats and squirrels, but I have seen quite a few dropped, I don't know why they were dropped, I never saw them pick them up again, but I don't know what purpose dropping a larger animals would do besides killing it.

 

[DocNezzy]

That's crazy. Thanks for reminding me to protect against birds!