Zoe and I were walking back from the playground today, when I happened to glance up into a tree. An injured squirrel was sitting on a branch, close to the trunk, about 12 feet off the ground. Some sort of injury to his leg - he didn't look good at all. And large red-tailed hawk had noticed, and was sitting on the same branch, trying to decide whether or not this was easy prey.
Every few minutes, the hawk would lunge at the squirrel, and the squirrel would scoot around the tree trunk. The hawk followed, hopping from branch to branch. And every once in a while, another bird would harrass the hawk. A blue jay kept swiping at the hawks head. The hawk ignored it. A robin and a cardinal sat on some outer branches, squawking their opinions.
Once the hawk got close enough to the squirrel to knock it off the branch. Poor thing fell to the ground, then climbed right back up to the tree and climbed back on the same branch with the hawk.
This went on for about 20 minutes, when the hawk finally decided the whole thing was too much like work and flew off.
I felt bad for the squirrel, but I think his days are numbered anyway. And the whole drama was fascinating. I only wish I'd had a video camera with me - that's just not something you see every day.
No comments:
Post a Comment