Hawk attack

Rickshaw · Posted: Wed Jan 05, 2005 5:55 pm

While I was out on a trail run up through the canyons today, I came across something unexpected. Rounding a turn in the trail, I was suddenly nearly face-to-face with a hawk in the midst of thrashing a squirrel. When it saw me, the hawk dropped the squirrel and took off to the branches of a nearby tree, while the limp body of the squirrel rolled down the hill towards me and off into the bushes. This hawk was huge, certainly the largest bird I've ever seen so close outside of a zoo. It's wingspan was probably as big as my arm span, I'd estimate five feet or more tip to tip. What a beautiful bird to see in flight. I'm just glad I didn't end up as its next meal!