Bunny for Breakfast! (And Dinner!)

[Onomea]

So sitting in my living room having our morning coffee my wife notices a commotion in our backyard, visible through the big picture windows.

Turns out a hawk* has caught the rabbit that we think lives under the deck and who eats my wife's roses despite me occasionally successfully nailing himmer in the butt with my trusty Daisy pump action.

It's not a big hawk, though, and it is a pretty fat rabbit so there is a fair amount of flopping going on with the hawk tenaciously hanging onto hizzer prize. After about 20 minutes or so, the rabbit finally expires and the hawk drags it under some bushes and gets to it:





Apologies for the ******, blown up iPhone pix.

The hawk spent a couple of hours at its meal, and is now, noticeably fatter, taking a break and maybe a nap in a tree by the little pond in the yard. My guess is it will go back to feeding once it digests a bit.

We've been careful not to disturb it. Nature, red in tooth and claw. (AKA everybody's gotta eat!)

*We looked the bird up. We think a Sharp Shinned Hawk, but might also be a Coopers Hawk.

[tt66]

Nature is beautiful and often brutal.

We woke up one morning several years and there was a Bald Eagle enjoying breakfast at our pond. Didn't really think much about it and went on to work. When I got home that afternoon I walked down to see how big of a bass it was.

Unfortunately, it was an older Maltese type dog that had wondered off from a neighbors house the night before. I image the eagle drowned it then had breakfast.

[ladder13]

Send that hawk over here we have plenty of those pests in the hood.

[wuluf]

Sat at breakfast table one morning, wondering why it was raining dove feathers. Mr. redtail in a tree feeding .

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

[s&wchad]

Originally Posted by Onomea

... After about 20 minutes or so, the rabbit finally expires and the hawk drags it under some bushes and gets to it...

Originally Posted by wuluf

Sat at breakfast table one morning, wondering why it was raining dove feathers. Mr. redtail in a tree feeding.

That reminds me...

Mrs Chad fed birds, until the rodents caused problems and I put a stop to it. Hawks have always cruised the subdivision looking for an easy meal and bird feeders are their favorite bait piles.

I was outside one morning and saw a large pile of blue/grey feathers in the front yard. My neighbors son was outside, so I called him over. He was about 7 years old at the time and he's now in his 3rd year at MSU studying civil engineering. Time flies... I showed him the pile and asked if he knew what kind of bird it was. He replied; Blue bird?

I told him that was a good guess, but it was a dove. Ahhh! He had seen me processing deer in my garage before and knew I was a hunter. I asked him if he knew what killed the dove and he replied; You did?

About 5 years ago, another neighbor found the remains of a mostly eaten turkey in the front yard one morning and called me over. That urban dweller apparently wasn't smart enough to roost and provided a good meal for a coyote.

Mother nature doesn't take pity on the weak or dumb...

[RobertJ.]

Sad for the rabbit...

But I'm happy for the hawk!

It's the food chain in action!

[vt_shooter]

Pound for pound, birds are tough animals. A Cassowary bird might weigh 160 pounds, and no human would want to tangle with it.

[Rustyt1953]

Marlin: "Here's Jim about to crawl into the Giant Condor's nest to count the eggs".

"Here's the mother Condor unexpectedly returning to the nest."

"The Giant Condor has amazing lift capabilities."

"We'll be right back after this message from our sponsor."

[soFlaNative]

Red shouldered and kestrels are common and do well around here on doves. I keep hoping they'll eventually get hungry enough to start on the iguanas.

[pharmer]

I haven't seen a tree rat in over a week. Nesting season for the Red tailed hawks in the neighborhood. Lotsa hungry youngsters in the nest waiting on squirrelsnacks. Joe

[Alpo]

This is what I thought of when I saw the title.

[Onomea]

We went out for a couple of hours midday, and upon our return no sign of the hawk. I figured he/she was most likely gone for good, and contemplated shoveling up the bunny remains from under the bush at the edge of the garden, bagging them and putting them in the trash. Then I thought, "Maybe s/he will come back for dinner..."

Sure enough, my wife just spotted himmer from the kitchen window back at it under the bush. Bunny for dinner, too! Waste not, want not.

Wonder if s/he'll be back again for breakfast...

[arjay]

We had herons raiding the goldfish pond at one point lol. They’re big! They couldn’t get to the koi pond luckily. A few years ago I was standing at the kitchen sink watching a pigeon strutting on the porch roof a few feet away when wham! A red tail hawk nailed him. I think I jumped a foot lol

[Rudi]

Yummy, yummy bunny.

[Onomea]

The hawk, finishing dinner, took off.

But before s/he did, she dragged the bunny carcass from the edge of the garden out into the lawn and toward the kitchen. My wife says s/he looked directly at my wife, into her eyes, while she was watching from the kitchen window, as if presenting the carcass like a pet cat with a mouse to its owner. My wife says she gazed back for a while, the bird immobile, before rejoining me in the living room for a glass of wine.

When we next looked out the kitchen window, the carcass was displayed on a small bump/hill in the yard, next to our BBQ — coincidence? — the most prominent, open place it could be, after being dragged again some 15 feet or so.

Maybe the hawk is bragging? Maybe the hawk is offering to share? Maybe the hawk is expressing appreciation for our not harassing it? My wife is speculating about it and having fun doing so.

(So I'll not say that I think she is anthropomorphizing, which I do. I'm thinking the hawk is just doing its hawk thing. I am curious to see if it's back again for breakfast though.)

It's been a fun experience, the hawk today.

[Rudi]

Animals know what they are doing. They don't think, but they know.

[Golddollar]

I had a bunny for breakfast at my house. A big wild rabbit decided to lounge on my lawn and chow down on the grass.

[steelslaver]

I heard a story about a fancy San Fransisco restaurant on a small inlet, you could see these wonderful seals right there beside the windows. Along comes a pod of "orcas" and then blood and gut all over the outside and unfinished meals inside. LMAO

[ladder13]

Originally Posted by Onomea

We went out for a couple of hours midday, and upon our return no sign of the hawk. I figured he/she was most likely gone for good, and contemplated shoveling up the bunny remains from under the bush at the edge of the garden, bagging them and putting them in the trash. Then I thought, "Maybe s/he will come back for dinner..."

Sure enough, my wife just spotted himmer from the kitchen window back at it under the bush. Bunny for dinner, too! Waste not, want not.

Wonder if s/he'll be back again for breakfast...

Good boy

[dockmurgw]

Originally Posted by steelslaver

I heard a story about a fancy San Fransisco restaurant on a small inlet, you could see these wonderful seals right there beside the windows. Along comes a pod of "orcas" and then blood and gut all over the outside and unfinished meals inside. LMAO

Now that is hilarious!!!

[jeffrefrig]

Just think of the hundreds of children, grandchildren, great grandchildren, and so on, that won't be eating your flowers because of that one hawk vs rabbit incident!
Reminds me of a joke that I can't repeat here...

[30-30remchester]

Living with wildlife is a way of life where I live. This was our uninvited guest yesterday morning. Picture taken from our livingroom window.

[yaktamer]

Originally Posted by Rustyt1953

Marlin: "Here's Jim about to crawl into the Giant Condor's nest to count the eggs".

"Here's the mother Condor unexpectedly returning to the nest."

"The Giant Condor has amazing lift capabilities."

"We'll be right back after this message from our sponsor."

"And now we will watch Jim wrestle the man-eating crocodile while I sit at this desk and drink another martini. Go get him, Jim!"

[Onomea]

And this morning the prominently displayed rabbit carcass is gone. No carcass, no hawk, no nothin'. Maybe load lightened, the hawk flew off with it? Coyote? Bobcat? Neighbor's dog? Deviant Canada goose or duck?

I went out for a closer look, but the lawn, flowerbeds, and under the perimeter bushes are clean as a whistle.

Nuthin' to see here folks!

i appreciate this as I was not looking forward to cleaning the mess up.

Yesterday, throughout the day, we noted the absence of the usual songbirds in the garden, and of the squirrels that habitually run along the top of the fences — knowing I won't blast 'em with my BB gun if they stay out of my yard — and into the neighbors' trees

I bet they venture back today.

[SMSgt]

All my tree-hugging, bunny-loving, urban-northern-reject neighbors would be screaming bloody hell about getting rid of the hawk. I had one destroy a duck in my back yard. Too bad for the duck, but like mentioned above, hawk's gotta eat too.

[Nevada Ed]

Many years ago, we had a hen mallard make a nest in out back yard
at the base of a rose bush.

I had to add some "Lumber" around it to keep the dogs away from the nest
but it did not stop them from keeping an eye out for her.

She ended up having eight chicks.

[DWalt]

Even though they are not predators, buzzards are excellent eaters. impressive to watch a flock of buzzards make short work of a road kill deer.

[Onomea]

My wife commented that the hawk was such a fastidious, tidy eater. No mess left at all. Not even fur or hair. (As noted above, maybe something else retrieved what remained of the carcass.) If it'd been crows, the yard would've been trashed.

[Thiokol]

Despite perching on one of my feeders and on my rear deck, these guys keep the rodent population down but don't seem to affect the bird population too much.

[Rustyt1953]

I live close to the Great Miami River. The county and city have done well in curbing over development along its banks. There are many wooded parks and preserves that give sanctuary to birds of prey.

To date I have seen few squirrels and no rabbits.

[Jack Flash]

Nature is not a Disney Movie.

[SMSgt]

Originally Posted by DWalt

Even though they are not predators, buzzards are excellent eaters. impressive to watch a flock of buzzards make short work of a road kill deer.

Yet they won't touch a dead buzzard.

[Peak53]

Originally Posted by Jack Flash

Nature is not a Disney Movie.

Well...remember what happened to Bambi's pa

[soFlaNative]

Originally Posted by arjay

We had herons raiding the goldfish pond

Descended from dinosaurs? I can believe it, birds are brutal.
Impressive watching a heron stalking the shallows, very deliberate until the lightning strike. I watched a great white gobble a couple ducklings after softening them up by flinging them into the rip rap shoreline.

Originally Posted by Jack Flash

Nature is not a Disney Movie.