Birds of prey

[Denzilla]

Hey guys, I just wanted to warn eveyone of this. Last night an owl attempted to carry off my wife's friend's maltese Jake. He must have been to heavy for him because the owl got about 10 ft in the air and dropped him. Jake was a little shaken but otherwise he is O.K.They are taking him to the vet today to be sure. I did a little researh on the subject and while this problem is not real common it can happen especially with animals weighing less than 5 lbs.In one case wildlife athourities found a cat collar in an eagle's nest. I don't want to scare anyone just be mindful especially if you live in a rural area.

[JonlyCajunQueen]

Oh yes, I have seen a few hawks and owls in my back yard eyeing my little ones...it is so scary. I live in the city and they are here too!

[livingdustmops]

Sadly this happens to small dogs a lot more than people think. If you do a search on YT you will see this information has been posted time and time again. It is great you also are posting about it so people realize this can happen.

[Sweet Apple]

Glad you posted this, at this particular time, because as the weather gets colder, the predator birds do get more aggressive...My neighbor lost her cat (and not a really small cat) sleeping on top of her suv, to a hawk...We live in the suburbs, but still see hawks and owls, and hear the coyotos at night running through the easements...I don't think it's prudent to leave any pet, 10 lbs. or under out for even a few minutes...The consequences are just to unbearable...

[Cerise]

This does happen to small dogs, even in large cities, more than people realize. They look like small prey (just like rodents) to these flying creatures, which is the main reason why I would NEVER send my baby out to potty alone or play outside without my supervision. I probably won't go out in the dark to let her potty much, period! I am a big believer of indoor potty boxes lined with pee pads, for small dogs. Once these creatures see that your baby comes out often, they do begin to watch for the opportunity to snatch them.

[Denzilla]

I wonder if this could have happend to a missing yorkie that is currently on a seperate thread. I sure hope not.

[livingdustmops]

Originally Posted by Sweet Apple

Glad you posted this, at this particular time, because as the weather gets colder, the predator birds do get more aggressive...My neighbor lost her cat (and not a really small cat) sleeping on top of her suv, to a hawk...We live in the suburbs, but still see hawks and owls, and hear the coyotos at night running through the easements...I don't think it's prudent to leave any pet, 10 lbs. or under out for even a few minutes...The consequences are just to unbearable...

You even have to worry about dogs over 10lbs because the hawk/owl will treat it as a rabbit and slit its throat to kill it. I know you have to worry about the coyotes also.

[Cerise]

Originally Posted by Denzilla

I wonder if this could have happend to a missing yorkie that is currently on a seperate thread. I sure hope not.

Yes it could be the reason and that would be horrible I pray that it's not the case and that baby finds it's way back home. If I were in that position I'd rather my baby have been stollen by a greedy human than to be snatched by a predator for food. My heart goes out to everyone who has a missing furbaby.

[OwnedByJezebel]

This is my biggest fear. My pup LOVES going outside to play, and loves rolling around in the grass, but I don't let her go out alone. She is easily small enough to carry off right now, but I expect her to top out at around 7 lbs.

My father lives about 10 minutes away in a neighborhood with lots of trees, and several of his neighbors have had small pets go missing. I'm sure they were taken by birds of prey. One year, there was a hawk nesting high in one of his trees, then the next year a horned owl took up residence in the nest and raised some babies there. There were always feathers and "parts" of victim birds scattered on the ground under the tree when the owl lived there.

One day we were looking up in the tree and could make out the outline of the owl against the bright sky, "horns" sticking up on either side of the owls head. Hubby said it looked like a Yorkie sitting way up there, LOL.

[Denzilla]

I just got off the phone with my wife'e friend. Her maltese is fine. The vet said the owl probablly mistook him for a rabbit and when he realized he was'nt let him go. He also said that small dogs are probablly snatched by predators more than people realize because they are usually assumed stolen by a person.He recommended placing several mirrored gazing balls throughout your backyard. Raptors are territorial and if they see their reflection they will think it's another bird and will go look for new territory.Personally I never let Toby out by himself.I'm very protective of him.

[Cerise]

Originally Posted by Denzilla

He recommended placing several mirrored gazing balls throughout your backyard. Raptors are territorial and if they see their reflection they will think it's another bird and will go look for new territory.

Wow!!! I never new what they were for. I always thought of them as just back-yard decoration...LOL! This is good information, thanks! I'm glad her baby is okay

[jadabug]

We live in a rural area and in the last couple of weeks we have been hearing an owl at night if we are out on the sun porch. I am super overprotective of my little ones, so I never let them out alone. Our vet who lives just about 1/2 mile from us has two yorkies and he and his wife were out in the yard with them a couple of years ago, they saw a shadow on the ground where there little girl IZZY (5lbs) was playing and looked up and a hawk was already diving to get her!! Needless to say if they hadn't been out with her she would have been gone and they wouldn't have had a clue where she went. You can never be to cautious. DH has also seen bear tracks up near the hay barn this fall. I am even afraid to go out myself after dark.

[MI Yorkielover]

And besides the birds of prey there are other predators lurking about. I was surprised to see on the news the other night that while deer hunting some men filmed a cougar roaming in midwestern Michigan .

[Lil Tinkerbell]

OMG!! Something like this has happened to me lately, but the hawk never got to try to pick my little baby up. I was outside taking her potty, when I noticed this HUGE hawk, just chilling in the tree. I could tell that it was looking down at Tinkerbell as she was zooming around the backyard. She probably looked like a little bunny or something, she is only 1 pound right now. As soon as I saw that bird, play time was OVER!!!

[Lil Tinkerbell]

Originally Posted by MI Yorkielover

And besides the birds of prey there are other predators lurking about. I was surprised to see on the news the other night that while deer hunting some men filmed a cougar roaming in midwestern Michigan .

lol, something like this also happened over here in kentucky. There have been sightings of either a cougar/mountain lion, dunno, some type of BIG wild cat roaming around. My neighbor called the animal control because he said he saw it laying by the pond in his backyard, but by the time they got there, it was gone. The weird thing is, supposedly it has been seen wearing a collar. So it has to be someone's pet, but the animal control lady said it is illegal here. So far hasnt been caught, just a little scary that it is out there prowling around.