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Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on January 10, 2006, 02:16 PM:
Whose going to win?
Red-tailed hawk vs western diamondback rattlesnake...
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/video/asx/051116_predator_video.asx
Posted by bigc (Member # 777) on January 10, 2006, 02:26 PM:
Is it a natural situation? If so I say a draw! The hawk will swoop in snatch up the snake, inflicting it's damage. However, the snake will strike while in the air gettting venom into the hawk killing it in the end. The snake will be dropped and sustain fatal wounds upon impact witht he ground?
C
Posted by bigc (Member # 777) on January 10, 2006, 02:29 PM:
Dang!!!
Posted by Lonny (Member # 19) on January 10, 2006, 04:29 PM:
I see hawks carrying snakes quite often during the summer.
I'm not sure if they are red-tailed hawks or if they are even packing rattlesnakes, no doubt about it though hawks kill and eat snakes.
I guess I'll have to check out the link?
Posted by Cdog911 (Member # 7) on January 10, 2006, 06:53 PM:
Watch the clip, then ask yourself a question...
Did that hawk possess that ability - the matador - when it hatched, did it learn thru observation, or did it learn from personal experience?
Wouldn't it stand to reason, no bigger than an RTH is, that a personal run-in with a rattler would likely be fatal? Makes you wonder if this hawk learned this behavior. Or not.
Posted by JeremyKS (Member # 736) on January 10, 2006, 06:57 PM:
Thats a cool video.
Posted by Don kyHOtee (Member # 786) on January 12, 2006, 12:24 PM:
Impressive.
I wonder how many times it ends up the other way?
Posted by NASA (Member # 177) on January 12, 2006, 01:02 PM:
Rarely. Most buteos are good at catching snakes. However, they don't normally swoop down and snatch it from the ground. They are a little more calculating than that. Whether a rattlesnake or a gopher snake, the technique is generally the same. The wing feathers are used to induce a strike. The bird snatches the snake behind the head with a lightning fast foot strike. A quick bite behind the head severs the vertebrae. The bird flies off to its "butcher block" and enjoys its meal.
A young, inexperienced bird may take a strike from a rattler, but it is almost never fatal. The thick layers of feathers almost always deflect a chest or flank strike. The scales on the legs serve the same purpose. Hawks seem to know their limitations and stick to prey small enough to handle without too much risk.
Actually, a red-tail is more likely to suffer injury from an encounter with a jackrabbit, than from a rattlesnake.
[ January 12, 2006, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: NASA ]
Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on January 12, 2006, 02:36 PM:
I don't even know how to spell, "quetzalqueatal" The Mexican bird of legend. However, the first time I saw a hawk flying with a snake, that is what I thought of, and damn near didn't make the next curve!
Welcome to the New Huntmasters, Don Quixote de la Mancha. Glad to have you on board.
Good hunting. LB
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