19 February 2010

Urban Hawk Attack

A few days ago, I was walking down Race Street with my son, when we saw a commotion that knocked a bunch of snow off the tree just in front of us. Then we heard a squeal as we saw a very large bird fly away and perch at the very top of a 60' tall tree in Washington Park. The bird was clearly a large hawk, but he had missed his meal. We knew this, because there was nothing in his beak, and the frightened squirrel was clinging to the side of the tree in front of us, continuing to make crying noises. Over the years I have seen the following wild animals in OTR: squirrels, rats, opossum, raccoons, locusts, praying mantis, and walking stick among the many interesting insects, a dozen bird species, and on one occasion, a deer. We don't live in the woods but still there is nature to see as long as you spend time outdoors and keep observant.

9 comments:

5chw4r7z said...

We had a hawk camp outside our apartment for a few days 2 years ago, from what I could dig up it was migratory.
A co-worker from Deerpark had deer in his backyard yesterday.
I read there are more wild animals in urban areas now that there are in the "wild"

Brad said...

About a year ago I was walking down 12th street and a bird of prey of some type wooshed by me going after a pigeon. Did not see that one coming.

Radarman said...

Sitting at the Spring Street breakfast table in the nineteen seventies I happened to look over to Pendleton Street where a large white goat wandered out of a basement and started munching on the weeds. Never saw him again. Great looking beast.

Unknown said...

I recently was driving my van down Ludlow Ave in between Clifton and Northside and out of nowhere comes a deer and it rolled accross my hood. I installed deer whistles since then to prevent such a thing from happening again. But really, in Clifton?

CityKin said...

I'd love to see some goats grazing the steep Fairview and Mt Auburn hillsides!

Dave said...

Was it a red, black or grey squirrel?

CityKin said...

all we have here are grey

Jeffrey Jakucyk said...

Deer in Clifton and Northside doesn't surprise me. Twice I saw a huge 10-point buck walking...no, strolling down Observatory Avenue near Hyde Park Square in the middle of the afternoon. There's even deer in Eden Park, within sight of downtown. Our rugged hillsides provide natural wildlife corridors that penetrate right into the heart of the city, they're really a huge asset to the whole region.

ThatDeborahGirl said...

Lucky squirrel. Geesh.

I lived in Avondale for a while and outside my back windows was all trees and bushes. I got in the habit of leaving bread and fruit out for the few squirrels.

If I didn't leave anything, they got so they'd tap on the window! They'd wait a respectful distance away until I got something and then they'd eat it sitting there if I closed the window.

One of my daughter's first words was "squilly".