Today, I heard the guineas sound the alarm. They make this crazy sound that echoes off the trees. I hear they make better watch dogs than roosters! Sure enough, I found half my chickens under a bush in my backyard and the rest nowhere to be found. I called my chickens, "Chick, chick!" Nothing. Usually they come running to me! I searched the yard and the chicken coop. Nothing. I looked in the carport and under the other bush. Nothing. Now I was starting to worry. What happened to the rest of my chickens? I scanned the trees and saw:
Okaaay...so it's a little hawk. One third the size of one of my chickens. It was probably scavenging the scraps that we tossed to the chickens earlier. What's the big deal? I did find the rest of the chickens under the turkey house, in a space barely high enough to crawl under. I went back inside and showed IJ the hawk.
An hour later, I tried to put D down for a nap. I looked out the window and saw that the hawk was still there! And the chickens STILL hadn't come out of hiding. This time I found the camera and got some good shots of it...and came across the still warm body of one of the Americaunas.
I couldn't believe a tiny little hawk could take out a chicken. But the evidence pointed up. I brought Pathetic Doberman out to see if she would pick up a scent trail. Usually, she picks up coyote and raccoon and is gone chasing them. But this time she ran around in a circle, looked around confusedly, and chased a cat. A coyote or an eagle would carry their prey off. A raccoon pulls the head off. The chicken had a broken neck and the wing bone was exposed. The hawk stayed on the branch, watching us, until M disposed of the body. Then it flew off.
