Here is the reason you should never leave your small dog out alone or even allow it to run free without a leash in the yard — even for a minute. It’s not only because a fox or coyote can prey on your dog. A bird of prey, such as a Red-Tailed Hawk can swoop down for an aerial attack in about three seconds. A small animal can be carried off to a tree within seconds.
Nationwide there are reports of hawks attacking small dogs. Locally, the Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Patch reported two independent incidents in April 2012. Hawks are known to execute an aerial attack even with people within a few feet of their small dog.
VIDEO: A large hawk preys on a rabbit at Recreation Park near Miner Street and Haddow Avenue Saturday July 23, 2016.
Hawks have also been known to attack people while protecting their nests — a temporary but annoying and potentially dangerous occurrence.
A Red-Tailed Hawk protecting its nest recently injuring least 30 people on the Village Greens Golf Course, in WoodRidge, Illinois. The biggest risk in human attacks is serious eye injuries from sharp talons or serious infections from laceration caused by the hawk’s bill or talons.
2 Red Shouldered Hawks have been attacking people in Cortez Villas in Bradenton, FL. News Channel 8’s Paul Lamison has their story.
A man suffered numerous cuts and needed 15 stitches after he was attacked by a hawk in Somerville, Massachusetts in May 2011.
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