Bird of Prey

If you have a weak stomach or the sight of blood makes you queasy, you might want to skip this one. Two Saturdays ago, while I was raking the leaves in the backyard, I spotted an enormous red-tailed hawk that had landed in our next door neighbor's yard with a squirrel he had just caught for his dinner.

While he waited for the squirrel to expire, he spread himself out to this full width, tail fanned, wingspan extended, and talons engaged in a death grip.

The squirrel was surprisingly tenacious and it took several minutes for the furry tail to stop twitching.

I called everybody out to watch, knowing that Addison in particular would be rivted. Trey even took some video. It was fascinating and disturbing at the same time. In our sanitized world, we don't like to think about how predators obtain their nourishment each day.

Rarely do you get to observe it at such close proximity, sounds and all.

He was a majestic bird with gorgeous banding along his back and powerful, downy legs.

When I downloaded these pictures and came to this one I was astonished at the detail Trey was able to capture. Definitely a wild, untouched moment.

And despite the gore, I am grateful that we have hawks who keep our squirrel population at bay.