Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!decwrl!shelby!polya!lucid.com!pab
From: pab@lucid.com (Peter Benson)
Newsgroups: rec.birds
Subject: Re: wandering domestic cats (and suburban raptors)
Message-ID: <2160@heavens-gate.lucid.com>
Date: 28 Nov 89 21:56:39 GMT
References: <823@wrgate.WR.TEK.COM> <1041@dinorah.wustl.edu>
Followup-To: /dev/null
Organization: Lucid, Inc. Menlo Park, CA
Lines: 25
In-reply-to: mary@dinorah.wustl.edu's message of 28 Nov 89 18:04:47 GMT


Well this discussion is way off birds, but my experience is a bit a of
twist.  My cat was most likely eaten by a redtail.  It was in a pretty
remote place, and I don't think it's very likely to happen anywhere very
suburban.  I missed the cat when she disappeared, but I felt it was a much
better way to go than getting run over by a car.  She was probably
encroaching on the turf of the redtails.  Though the hawks didn't do near
as good a job at keeping the squirrels out of my food.  (Near this time I
had a redtail drop the claws and tail of an eaten sharp shinned(?) hawk on
the hood of my car.  I took it as an omen that the cat was really gone.)

On a different note:

I see a lot of turkey vultures, and hawks (redtails mostly, but some
coopers hawks(?)) around where I live and work (mostly suburban Palo Alto
and Menlo Park, CA).  Where do they eat?  I see vultures all the time.  The
suburban area can't be a very good place to see carrion.  I have seen some
coopers hawks(?) going after pigeons.  Are they mostly just straying into
the 'burbs from the bay or the hills, or do they find anything to eat
there?  Do we have any other reports of raptor and vulture (are vultures
considered raptors too?) behavior in the 'burbs.  (please change the
subject line if you follow up)

-ptr-
pab@lucid.com


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