Am…musings

I live in St. Louis County about a stone’s throw from the city line and 10 miles from the heart of downtown. I’m continually surprised by all the wildlife around here. It’s mostly of the small variety … tons o’ bunnies, oodles of squirrels, the occasional possum and raccoon, and scary bats (I just keep reminding myself they eat my arch enemy … mosquitoes).

Today, I had an up close and personal encounter. Chewy was freaking out so I stuck my head out the back door. About 6 feet away, engaging me in a crazy staring contest with its glowing yellow eyes was an enormous hawk, perched just above my gutter. I had seen it before, but usually mid-flight and fairly far away.

I was so stunned and awed I said very much way out loud, “holy f*cking sh%t.” I tend to have a bit of a potty mouth so it wasn’t entirely out of character, but I try to be careful so as not to shock the elderly neighbors. I had to break away from the staring contest to verify that luckily, no one was around. Even with my movement (and foul mouth), it didn’t seem at all phased by how close I was. But about the time I thought, I should go get my camera, it gently and gracefully flew away.

About 10 minutes later it was back, balancing on the electric wire behind the house.

I got that shot as I was going out to collect Chewy, who was frantically barking and circling below it. Chewy weighs about 15 pounds … a little too big for hawk cuisine, but he’s annoying when he barks incessantly and I’m guessing those crazy claws or beak could wreak a little havoc.

Even knowing that … it was incredibly awesome and impressive, and I’m looking forward to its return.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 17th, 2008 at 9:42 pm and is filed under dogs, home, me being me. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.