Grrrrr

[~T~]

I finally get to see a bird of prey (think it was a female sparrow hawk) take down a pigeon in the middle of Glasgow town centre and some idiot comes and scares it off its kill, which flew off apparently unhurt. Some people eh?

[thunder]

Originally Posted by ~T~

I finally get to see a bird of prey (think it was a female sparrow hawk) take down a pigeon in the middle of Glasgow town centre and some idiot comes and scares it off its kill, which flew off apparently unhurt. Some people eh?

No doubt on some forum somewhere somebody has posted

"I saw a poor pigeon attacked by a nasty hawk today in the middle of Glasgow. Fortunately I managed to scare the hawk off and the pigeon escaped apparently unhurt. And someone was just standing there doing nothing. Some people, eh? "

It all depends on your point of view

henrya

[Acipiter]

Did you explain politely to the lady, what the consequences now are.

[Deb London]

That is true actually. Strange but true.

I was running once, and I saved a squirrel from a cat. Actually I think there are too many squirrels and they do too much damage, so ordinarily I'd be in favour of a quick death at the hands of an expert. But for some reason I intervened. Not a good example from the point of view of wildlife, really. But it serves to show that in some cases one might feel an urge to be 'compassionate' , even if common sense dictates otherwise. Going against these instincts can require education and/or a fair amount of discipline.

[solus]

Did the person deliberately scare the bird or were they just going about their lawful business walking along the street and accidentally disturbed it?

[larachmor]

Originally Posted by ~T~

I finally get to see a bird of prey (think it was a female sparrow hawk) take down a pigeon in the middle of Glasgow town centre and some idiot comes and scares it off its kill, which flew off apparently unhurt. Some people eh?

For the sparrowhawk she will learn that Glasgow city centre is not the ideal place to take down her prey. It's all part of the learning process. Perhaps she'll take it to a rooftop next time.
We get sparrowhawk in our garden on a regular basis (probably due to the number of feeders). Whenever we find traces of a kill, they're invariably taken to the quitest corners of the garden, rarely in the open. That's no coincidence - and I doubt she'll experience any shortage of prey in Glasgow city centre. Nice to see all the same!

[Acipiter]

Sparrowhawks do not think Larachmon, at least not like you or I, when an opportunity arises they take it, sometimes resulting in their own death. Also a female s/hawk can not lift a full grown pigeon, not up on to the top of a house anyway. Regards Acipiter.

[rossy]

makes me wonder if that was a cat with a bird, what would the person do ? probably think it was normal, and walk by, rossy.

[sunnydale]

Originally Posted by Deb London

That is true actually. Strange but true.

I was running once, and I saved a squirrel from a cat. Actually I think there are too many squirrels and they do too much damage, so ordinarily I'd be in favour of a quick death at the hands of an expert. But for some reason I intervened. Not a good example from the point of view of wildlife, really. But it serves to show that in some cases one might feel an urge to be 'compassionate' , even if common sense dictates otherwise. Going against these instincts can require education and/or a fair amount of discipline.

Gotta be careful how I respond here Debs.....but I think I'd rescue ANY animal from the clutches of a domestic cat!

Cats killing wildlife isn't really part of the natural order.....or at least, it shouldn't be. Perhaps that's why you intervened that time?

I don't see that you did anything wrong under the circumstances.

Tracey

[Fansler]

Originally Posted by sunnydale

Gotta be careful how I respond here Debs.....but I think I'd rescue ANY animal from the clutches of a domestic cat!

Cats killing wildlife isn't really part of the natural order.....or at least, it shouldn't be. Perhaps that's why you intervened that time?

I don't see that you did anything wrong under the circumstances.

Tracey

I agree in principle but was it a red or grey squirrel. I'd save a red but probably not the grey.