| Submit your comments on this article |
| Nature calls at the Home Depot |
| 2004-02-25 |
| "Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom" meets "Trading Places". Hat tip: Drudge. One visitor to Home Depot has been hunting for more than home improvement items. A Cooper’s hawk has been flying above the stocked shelves at a suburban Cleveland store for more than a week while feeding on pigeons that live in the rafters. The brown bird’s three-foot wing span casts a moving shadow across the concrete floor, causing customers and workers to duck and cock their heads toward the 25-foot ceiling. Time to break out the extra-large no-pest strips. The hawk entered the store through an open door while chasing a pigeon last Saturday. It caught its prey above the electrical aisle, worker Craig Warth said. Witnesses saw the hawk rip the pigeon apart and feed until nothing was left but feathers and claws. "It wasn’t a pretty sight," said Terry McGuire, assistant manager. "Some of the customers were upset. Some said it was the neatest thing they had ever seen." "Clean up on aisle 3!" Workers said about 15 pigeons were living in the store, but since the hawk arrived, few are left. Cooper’s hawks are a protected species, so the bird can’t be harmed or killed. Local wildlife experts say the hawk will likely leave when the pigeons are |
| Posted by:Dar |
| #11 Mucky. What did you talk about on the short bus today? Besides chainey. |
| Posted by: tu3031 2004-2-25 9:14:47 PM |
| #10 MuckyMan's right let'm fight it out amongst the tool section. Survival of the fittest. Avian birth bombs vs. Cooper's Screaming Whisper. My money's on the Cooper. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-2-25 4:28:04 PM |
| #9 Re: #7 I was more worried about those hot dogs. They look... dubious. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-2-25 4:06:47 PM |
| #8 I live three blocks west of the busiest street in Colorado Springs (Academy Boulevard). There's a red fox living about two streets to the west of me, in the junipers and the low branches of a fir in front of a person's house. That fox has been there for at LEAST five years that I know of. Squirrels abound, and I've rescued at least one sparrow hawk (ran into an electrical wire and broke a wing) and several smaller birds. Raccoons are a major nuisance in the city, and there's a small herd of mule deer in a city park about eight blocks to the north of us. My neighbor's a birdwatcher, and has a list of over 65 varieties seen in his yard alone, including one he hates - a large blue heron that raids his goldfish pond at least twice a year. Most wild animals are perfectly capable of coexisting with man, even on man's terms. We shouldn't make a big fuss about it, as long as the wild things don't do any major harm. I can understand the people over in Manitou Springs getting a bit upset about the mountain lion eating dogs in that town, however... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-2-25 3:43:18 PM |
| #7 Mmmmm....squab! |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-2-25 3:38:40 PM |
| #6 It would be a far, far sadder thing if people went to Home Depot to eat. |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-2-25 3:32:51 PM |
| #5 haha not funny. we dont save either and let them sort themself out with no human to disrupt. if it wasnt for people moving in on animals territory ther would no be this problem. its a sad day when hawks have to go homedepot to eat. |
| Posted by: muck4doo 2004-2-25 3:11:15 PM |
| #4 Is hawk poop less noxious than the poop of pigeons or seed-eaters? |
| Posted by: eLarson 2004-2-25 2:18:27 PM |
| #3 I bet this has PETA's panties all in a knot...... Do they save the pigeons or the hawk? |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2004-2-25 1:51:28 PM |
| #2 Next time you shop at HD, check out where the birds are all hanging out...in the bird food aisle, of course! |
| Posted by: Seafarious 2004-2-25 1:42:11 PM |
| #1 Not a bad approach to the problem of all those birds roosting in warehouse outlets like Home Depot et al. Good for customer traffic I would reckon; anybody upset by a hawk making a kill in the lumber section really should be shopping at Linens 'n' Things, anyway. Locally, we have a bazillion sparrows, not any pigeons that I have noticed. I doubt any self-respecting hawk would be interested in them, however. My rule of thumb is to never buy anything from the upper shelves... |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H 2004-2-25 1:36:20 PM |