2 red-tail hawks shot out of the sky on Whidbey Island

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 2 red-tail hawks shot out of the sky on Whidbey Island (Page 1 of 3)

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:31:30 PM EDT

dbags need shot

FREELAND, Wash. –– Two federally-protected red-tailed hawks have been shot out of the sky on Whidbey Island.

...

"I think it had been shot maybe 2 weeks before, and just got a bad infection and was starving and finally ended up in somebody's yard," said veterinarian David Parent

Parent says the wounds suggest the birds were hit by a pellet, or possibly a .22.

...

He says the birds were alive when they were brought to his clinic in Freeland, but the birds had to be put down.

...

In the meantime, The Department of Fish and Wildlife is investigating, and the Humane Society is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to an arrest.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:33:37 PM EDT

[#1]

Kid with a BB gun.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:35:43 PM EDT

[#2]

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:36:49 PM EDT

[#3]

"Shot out of the sky"––helluva pair of shots those were. Personally, I have my doubts.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:37:11 PM EDT

[#4]

They tasted like chicken.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:38:36 PM EDT

[#5]

Hawks are awesome creatures.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:41:18 PM EDT

[#6]

Poor choice of target, but every clear 2 acres has it's own hawk up here.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:41:48 PM EDT

[#7]

There are far too many grackles out there to need to shoot at any hawk or eagle.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:43:07 PM EDT

[#8]

Quoted:

There are far too many grackles out there to need to shoot at any hawk or eagle.

There aren't any grackles up here.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:43:19 PM EDT

[#9]

I prefer smoked Spotted Owl to fried Red Tail hawk myself.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:43:23 PM EDT

[#10]

We have plenty of the damned birds down here in Texas. Take about 10000 of ours. They eat too many quail.
I have no problem with the birds, but they are not an endangered species.
Jim

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:44:17 PM EDT

[#11]

Who gives a shit. Hawks are everywhere.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:45:36 PM EDT

[#12]

That high up is too much wind to hit them with a bb gun or .22 I bet they were shot in trees

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:45:55 PM EDT

[#13]

IBTTITET
In Before This Turns Into the Eagle Thread

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:47:05 PM EDT

[#14]

so when is some one going to say they will kill the person who shot these birds?

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:47:12 PM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:
We have plenty of the damned birds down here in Texas. Take about 10000 of ours. They eat too many quail.
I have no problem with the birds, but they are not an endangered species.
Jim

Quoted:
Who gives a shit. Hawks are everywhere.

Careful––that much truth is toxic here. The shrieks of outrage will begin in 3 . . .2 . . .1 . . .

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:48:19 PM EDT

[#16]

Yes, it's against Federal law to kill raptors, and yes hawks are pretty and it's messed up to kill them for no reason.

But they are everywhere. Chill out.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:48:28 PM EDT

[#17]

I hate hearing that.

Here's my buddy from my place. He gets field rats whenever I bushhog, and we are totally sympatico.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:51:41 PM EDT

[#18]

The arfcom wildlife management experts have spoken.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:51:55 PM EDT

[#19]

They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:53:57 PM EDT

[#20]

Quoted:
They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

OK, fine, but what's the point in killing them?

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:56:31 PM EDT

[#21]

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:57:10 PM EDT

[#22]

I am amazed at the stupidity of people in general, They shoot shit for the sake of just shooting shit. I dont have to kill something when I go shooting to have fun. I shoot a lot of paper, cans, steel, and have a hell of a lot of fun doing it.

Posted: 2/9/2010 6:57:12 PM EDT

[#23]

Quoted:

Quoted:
They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

OK, fine, but what's the point in killing them?

Save a quail, rabbit, pheasant, chukar––the list goes on and on. Of course, it IS illegal to kill them, so I don't do it, nor would I advocate doing so.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:00:24 PM EDT

[#24]

Quoted:

Quoted:
They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

OK, fine, but what's the point in killing them?

Stupid people do stupid things. There is no point other then they are idiots.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:00:42 PM EDT

[#25]

Quoted:

Quoted:
They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

OK, fine, but what's the point in killing them?

Save a quail, rabbit, pheasant, chukar––the list goes on and on. Of course, it IS illegal to kill them, so I don't do it, nor would I advocate doing so.

its the circle of life. No hawks then you get too many rabbits, mice, snakes etc

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:01:09 PM EDT

[#26]

Quoted:
I hate hearing that.

Here's my buddy from my place. He gets field rats whenever I bushhog, and we are totally sympatico.

http://www.dlaab.com/photo/RedTailHawk.jpg

Anything that eats songbirds and rats is welcome around me.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:01:38 PM EDT

[#27]

Quoted:

IBTTITET

In Before This Turns Into the Eagle Thread

Exactly what I was thinking before I posted.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:03:08 PM EDT

[#28]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I hate hearing that.

Here's my buddy from my place. He gets field rats whenever I bushhog, and we are totally sympatico.

http://www.dlaab.com/photo/RedTailHawk.jpg

Anything that eats songbirds and rats is welcome around me.

WTF!

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:04:16 PM EDT

[#29]

Quoted:

Quoted:
They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

OK, fine, but what's the point in killing them?

Save a quail, rabbit, pheasant, chukar––the list goes on and on. Of course, it IS illegal to kill them, so I don't do it, nor would I advocate doing so.

its the circle of life. No hawks then you get too many rabbits, mice, snakes etc

The "circle of life" is actually called the "boom and bust cycle"––and it runs in MUCH too long of periods to suit me. Think many decades. Life is too short as it is, and then made miserable by a lack of quail and bunnies to hunt.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:08:38 PM EDT

[#30]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I hate hearing that.

Here's my buddy from my place. He gets field rats whenever I bushhog, and we are totally sympatico.

http://www.dlaab.com/photo/RedTailHawk.jpg

Anything that eats songbirds and rats is welcome around me.

WTF!

They're like rats that can fly and shit all over everything.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:11:07 PM EDT

[#31]

In college it was explained to me that the downside to shooting hawks is that, where gamebirds are concerned, the birds of prey can actually end up helping you more than they hurt you - hawks eat rats/mice/etc, and where hawks wil eat birds sometimes, it's worth losing some birds to hawks in order to have them around controlling the rat populations - rats and mice eat bird eggs, decimating populations. It almost becomes an example of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' where hawks, as the enemy of rats, become a friend to quail.

Either way, I won't lose sleep over a dead hawk or two, but, really, you do NOT want to get caught shooting a hawk.

edit: where I live, the real hurdle for quail is a lack of brushy cover that sees regular disturbance by fire. We have small fencerows, huge ag fields, tons of CRP land that grows too thick to be used by quail......on our 150 acres, we tried for years to do habitat management for quail.....for a couple of years we saw results, and had birds staying on the place year-round, but it was expensive and just too much work to maintain.

I *really* miss quail hunting. We've got tons of rabbits, though.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:15:02 PM EDT

[#32]

Quoted:

Who gives a shit. Hawks are everywhere.

same here I see 4-5 red tails every morning on the way to work

and this coming from a guy that rescued a car struck red tail a couple years ago

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:19:09 PM EDT

[#33]

Quoted:

Quoted:

They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

OK, fine, but what's the point in killing them?

A fox can kill a rabbit or a pheasant or a grouse, or other game animal every day. Same with hawks.

At the end of the year you can have 365 beautiful game animals or one fox.

Neither are endangered in our part of the country....... in fact they are everywhere. But you can't find a ring neck if your life depended on it.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:24:02 PM EDT

[#34]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I hate hearing that.

Here's my buddy from my place. He gets field rats whenever I bushhog, and we are totally sympatico.

http://www.dlaab.com/photo/RedTailHawk.jpg

Anything that eats songbirds and rats is welcome around me.

WTF!

They're like rats that can fly and shit all over everything.

Point them to my house. There's a huge pile of sunflower seeds and corn in the back yard - and doves, cardinals, eastern phoebes, wrens, blue jays, a half-dozen squirrels, some goldfinches, an odd assortment of warblers, a dozen or more rufous-sided towhees, and all sorts of little birds that flit about too much to be easily identified. Your 'flying rats' will fit right in.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:26:34 PM EDT

[#35]

Quoted:

Quoted:

They should not be protected nor should fox or any other predator.

OK, fine, but what's the point in killing them?

Save a quail, rabbit, pheasant, chukar––the list goes on and on. Of course, it IS illegal to kill them, so I don't do it, nor would I advocate doing so.

its the circle of life. No hawks then you get too many rabbits, mice, snakes etc

The "circle of life" is actually called the "boom and bust cycle"––and it runs in MUCH too long of periods to suit me. Think many decades. Life is too short as it is, and then made miserable by a lack of quail and bunnies to hunt.

You should probably at least try to eliminate other factors in your quail and wabbit shortage. Red -tailed hawks are predominantly rodent eaters.

Anectdotaly, we've got a shitload of hawks in some parts of the state, those parts also have the most quail, way more quail and hawks than 20 years ago. Rabbits are scarce just about everywhere here, hawks or not.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:27:27 PM EDT

[#36]

Pheasant hunting is a boon to the local economy here, and the huge hawk population is hard on them. Hawks are everywhere. In the summer you cant travel 5 miles without seeing at least 4 or 5 of them. Not worth shooting though, IMHO. Penalties are pretty stiff.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:27:57 PM EDT

[#37]

bunnies are insane thick here

half dozen in my front yard at about any given moment

gives the dogs something to do

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:29:44 PM EDT

[#38]

Quail, the only ghey bird.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:31:13 PM EDT

[#39]

Quoted:
Quail, the only ghey bird.

I love quail - wild, on point, on a covey rise, whistling at daybreak, fried, grilled........

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:32:55 PM EDT

[#40]

Quoted:

Pheasant hunting is a boon to the local economy here, and the huge hawk population is hard on them. Hawks are everywhere. In the summer you cant travel 5 miles without seeing at least 4 or 5 of them. Not worth shooting though, IMHO. Penalties are pretty stiff.

So you've eliminated skunks, 'yotes, hunters, badgers, weasels, rattlesnakes, gopher snakes, owls, rats, and all the other fauna that can potentially prey on pheasants there and focused on a single species?

Of course, that is just in terms of predators, lots of other things could be causes.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:33:30 PM EDT

[#41]

Assholes!

If the aint shooting hawks, they are shooting cactus, trees, refrigerators, propane tanks.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:33:58 PM EDT

[#42]

We try, the ones that are legal anyway. I don't recall advocating eliminating hawks. They are awesome birds. They are also a far cry from endangered, and I will lose no sleep over a few dead ones.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:34:41 PM EDT

[#43]

Crows are a big killer of game birds in that they raid the nests before the eggs hatch.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:35:50 PM EDT

[#44]

they must have been pretty good shooters

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:37:29 PM EDT

[#45]

Quoted:
I hate hearing that.

Here's my buddy from my place. He gets field rats whenever I bushhog, and we are totally sympatico.

http://www.dlaab.com/photo/RedTailHawk.jpg

Nice pic-what camera did you use?

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:38:41 PM EDT

[#46]

My Grandparents live there....my Grandfather was the commander of Naval Air Station Whidbey back in the day. My fondest childhood memories are sitting there on the cold ass beach, watching the navy planes practice touch and goes. There's a pair of eagles that live right next to my Grandparents house, beautiful animals.

That island, and indeed the whole Puget Sound, is a fucking resource we should not squander. I was a stupid kid in my day, but I wasnt evil. These kids, or whoever shot the birds, are evil.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:39:19 PM EDT

[#47]

Quoted:

Quoted:
I hate hearing that.

Here's my buddy from my place. He gets field rats whenever I bushhog, and we are totally sympatico.

http://www.dlaab.com/photo/RedTailHawk.jpg

Anything that eats songbirds and rats is welcome around me.

WTF!

They're like rats that can fly and shit all over everything.

Point them to my house. There's a huge pile of sunflower seeds and corn in the back yard - and doves, cardinals, eastern phoebes, wrens, blue jays, a half-dozen squirrels, some goldfinches, an odd assortment of warblers, a dozen or more rufous-sided towhees, and all sorts of little birds that flit about too much to be easily identified. Your 'flying rats' will fit right in.

I like blue jays and squirrels. Finches, cardinals, grackles, and wood rats I could live without. Hawks either kill the nuisance animals or frighten them off. There's a pair that nest about 30 yards from my house for the last 3 years. That combined with my barn cats have significantly lowered the rat population.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:39:44 PM EDT

[#48]

Got to see a hawk get something today. Almost went off the road watching in awe.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:39:56 PM EDT

[#49]

Quoted:

Crows are a big killer of game birds in that they raid the nests before the eggs hatch.

My favorite sport.

Get an electronic game call and a case of shells.

Posted: 2/9/2010 7:41:02 PM EDT

[#50]

Quoted:

Either way, I won't lose sleep over a dead hawk or two, but, really, you do NOT want to get caught shooting a hawk.

.

true, but as an amateur taxidermist I've been tempted to pick up a roadkilled one and mount it myself-probably a good thing I've never seen one fresh enough or undamaged enough. Oddly, the one I have seen that would have been fresh enough had also been shot-entry wound in the back and BIG exit wound in the chest area.
ETA-I'm aware that taking and stuffing an already dead hawk is also illegal, part of the reason I didn't do a "partial" mount on the one fresh one I found. What pissed me off more than the hawk was the fact that the first great horned owl I had seen in over 10 years had been hit by a car. Lots of barred owls around, but I almost never see great horneds-since that dead one I've seen 2 alive though.

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 2 red-tail hawks shot out of the sky on Whidbey Island (Page 1 of 3)

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