Red-tailed Hawk vs Western Grey Squirrel

[Carma Sue Henry]

This afternoon we watched a very interesting interaction between the resident Red-tailed hawk and one of the many local Western grey squirrels.  The hawk had already been resting and preening on a sunny branch in a mostly dead cottonwood, about 30 ft off the ground for several minutes.  The bottom 8-10 ft of the trunk is concealed in a nasty tangle of blackberry.  As we watched the hawk a squirrel started up the trunk.  About 8 ft below the hawk they seemed to notice one another.  The squirrel hesitated then circled the trunk a couple of times, maybe considering it's next move.  Then it darted up past the hawk on the opposite side.  The hawk repositioned himself and moved closer in on the branch to watch.  The squirrel then stopped a few feet above the hawk on the same side and, head down, chided the hawk, who responded with a lot of head bobbing and little shrieks.  The squirrel won the arguement and the hawk flew off to a neighboring topless dead Doug fir.  He seemed uncomfortable and perturbed but then moved off the jagged top onto a branch where he settled back into his grooming.  The squirrel took up a sunny position on a higher branch of the cottonwood.

I think a raven was watching the incident as well.  It had been chiding the hawk a few minutes before and we watched it fly off after the hawk moved to the Doug fir.

I managed a few pictures of the interaction but didn't get any with both in the same frame.

The Western grey squirrels are amazing.  We watched one chase one of the chipmunks off a few days ago.  It made a couple of runs past, then around it, before jumping on it with all fours.  Our old fox attack survivor (we call him Patches as the fur over the old wounds grew back completely white) has survived a new attack, with a couple of small wounds on this back.  

Carma & Steve Henry

Logsdon Ridge.