The last several years red shouldered hawks have been living and raising their young in an oak tree in our back yard. We’ve enjoyed their morning calls claiming their domain and watching their aerobatics as they maneuver a black snake through the sky. We’ve even been rooting for the hawks in their ongoing war with the local crow clan.
Yesterday we saw a behavior that I would like to honor. “Our” hawks sat in a tree as a squirrel drank from one of our birdbaths and then scampered across the weeds we call a yard.
They watched and I thought they would soon be making a nice squirrel stew for dinner. But they let him pass. Unmolested.
We saw this same behavior last winter. Last year we thought the hawks just might not be hungry. This year we’ve formulated a new theory.
Somehow the hawks know this squirrel will be raising a family in the spring and they will need the occasional squirrel for their larder when their young arrive. And so a winter squirrel left to breed and raise his family will provide for spring hawklets.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment