LOWER EEL BROOK - Ron Surette didn’t think his cat Cali was going to survive the second attack she suffered recently from a predator. He believes it was some sort of raptor – a hawk or an owl that was after his 18-pound pet, which he refers to as a formidable fighter.
The attack happened during daylight hours on the other side of the house from Surette.
“I was outside and there was a terrible amount of screeching going on,” he says.
“By the time I got to the other side of the house I could see feathers everywhere. They were long feathers and looked very much like hawk or eagle feathers, about five or six inches long, very narrow.”
The puncture wounds were very far apart, he says. Cali is wary now and continually scans the skies whenever she is outside.
Surette says they used to have a lot of stray cats coming by his home but not lately.
He’s also noticed attacks on birds at his feeder.
“One afternoon in broad daylight there were about a dozen doves and a few cardinals on the ground. Out of the blue at what seemed like 200 miles an hour, this large hawk just bombed into all of these birds. He must have had two doves in one claw, one in his other, and flew off with them.”
Across the lake from his house in Lower Eel Brook, he’s seen a large number of bald eagles’ nests and when he has fires outside at night several species of owls can be heard.
He says when he took Cali to the vet, they told him her injuries were a result of some sort of hawk, owl or raptor.
Dr. Sandy Clark with the Parade Street Animal Hospital says she couldn’t confirm that Cali’s wounds were from a raptor when she examined her. She added that she’s no raptor expert, but in the world of cat wounds, if a cat is trying to get out of a situation the wounds will be over the hind end. If they’re staying to fight, they’ll have the wounds over the front end.
In a separate incident there was a cat that had wounds on top of its head, almost as if it had been grabbed over the head.
“That was one case where I was suspicious that there might have been a bird of prey involved,” she says.
Bill Curry, a professional photographer, avid birder and naturalist, says many hawks get a bad rap for the reputation of being “killers.
Many species live on small mammals (mice/voles, etc) and birds.
However, Curry says, a red-tailed hawk or some owls (like a great horned owl) could kill a dog under 15 pounds or so and could easily kill a cat or other small pet.
Curry’s family cottage in Deerfield has a roost that has been used a few times by owls. He did witness one year as the mother owl was teaching the young how to capture prey.
“A bit grisly, but she caught a small mink – we think – and brought it to the young, released it and let them ‘catch’ it. She kept it from running away from unsuccessful ‘tries.’ Gross, but still fascinating.”
Curry adds that stories of pets being “carried off” by a hawk should be treated with a grain of salt. They could kill something and eat it on the ground, however. A great horned owl can carry a small fox, rabbits, chickens and very small pets.
Eagles and birds like ospreys sometimes get the blame for killing pets, but they actually prefer fish, and in the eagle’s case carrion, says Curry.
Mark Dennis, a birder and naturalist in the Cape Sable area, agrees that a bald eagle could take a small dog or a cat but that they tend to be scavengers, eating prey or fish waste.
In addition to the great horned owl, northern goshawks are capable of attacks on small pets.
“They’re commoner than people think and more urban in winter when food is lacking in the woods,” Dennis says.
“If it was a goshawk, it would likely be a young one, inexperienced in prey selection and then the attack would probably be not very successful although possibly messy.”
He adds that the chances of encountering either owl or goshawk are remote, however, as both are opportunists and the owls are very territorial. Cats will take care of themselves, while it’s a good idea to keep an eye on very small dogs roaming a wooded environment.
Dennis says stories of birds attacking small pets are often friend-of-a-friend things but, generally, there is only a minute chance of a pet being taken by a bird of prey.
“You are more likely to lose one to a fisher, a scarce but quite aggressive animal, and something like a large mink.”
