Could a buzzard take a cat?
Discussion
There is handling a cat and fighting with it, they are tough as hell for their size but the "fights" are usually to bathe, help or medicate, the idea being the car survives unharmed, this is what cats rely on with dogs, all those videos of big dogs being terrified, I know someone whose dog used to be terrorised by a cat, the dog was traumatised by it, until one day the cat pushed its luck too far, hurt the dog and the dog let rip, lost its inhibitions and comprehensively shredded the moggy.
I have witnessed a Buzzard swooping down from a tree on the edge of a 50 acre grass field that I was mowing with a tractor and picking up a fair sized leveret, possibly as big as a small cat. It carried it about fifty yards and dropped it from a height of about five feet. It seemed as though it had not gripped it properly rather than the leveret being too heavy.
Then an extraordinary thing happened as mother hare appeared from nowhere and went up to the leveret which seemed to be unharmed by its ordeal. Instead of comforting it or guarding it from further attacks, she just jumped over the leveret about three times and ran off.
I then drove the tractor over to the area where the leveret was hiding to protect it as the Buzzard was still watching from a tree. It was late in the day and I left when darkness came. There was no sign of a corpse or a leveret the next day.
I would say that if a buzzard surprised a cat and managed to sink both sets of its powerful talons into the back and neck of a cat, then the cat would be paralysed, but it is a very risky adventure and unlikely to happen.
If it did happen it might just become airborne with a light cat but that is pushing it.
Then an extraordinary thing happened as mother hare appeared from nowhere and went up to the leveret which seemed to be unharmed by its ordeal. Instead of comforting it or guarding it from further attacks, she just jumped over the leveret about three times and ran off.
I then drove the tractor over to the area where the leveret was hiding to protect it as the Buzzard was still watching from a tree. It was late in the day and I left when darkness came. There was no sign of a corpse or a leveret the next day.
I would say that if a buzzard surprised a cat and managed to sink both sets of its powerful talons into the back and neck of a cat, then the cat would be paralysed, but it is a very risky adventure and unlikely to happen.
If it did happen it might just become airborne with a light cat but that is pushing it.
Vanin said:
I have witnessed a Buzzard swooping down from a tree on the edge of a 50 acre grass field that I was mowing with a tractor and picking up a fair sized leveret, possibly as big as a small cat. It carried it about fifty yards and dropped it from a height of about five feet. It seemed as though it had not gripped it properly rather than the leveret being too heavy.
Then an extraordinary thing happened as mother hare appeared from nowhere and went up to the leveret which seemed to be unharmed by its ordeal. Instead of comforting it or guarding it from further attacks, she just jumped over the leveret about three times and ran off.
I then drove the tractor over to the area where the leveret was hiding to protect it as the Buzzard was still watching from a tree. It was late in the day and I left when darkness came. There was no sign of a corpse or a leveret the next day.
I would say that if a buzzard surprised a cat and managed to sink both sets of its powerful talons into the back and neck of a cat, then the cat would be paralysed, but it is a very risky adventure and unlikely to happen.
If it did happen it might just become airborne with a light cat but that is pushing it.
Good postThen an extraordinary thing happened as mother hare appeared from nowhere and went up to the leveret which seemed to be unharmed by its ordeal. Instead of comforting it or guarding it from further attacks, she just jumped over the leveret about three times and ran off.
I then drove the tractor over to the area where the leveret was hiding to protect it as the Buzzard was still watching from a tree. It was late in the day and I left when darkness came. There was no sign of a corpse or a leveret the next day.
I would say that if a buzzard surprised a cat and managed to sink both sets of its powerful talons into the back and neck of a cat, then the cat would be paralysed, but it is a very risky adventure and unlikely to happen.
If it did happen it might just become airborne with a light cat but that is pushing it.
The other matter is that cats are mainly urban or suburban whilst buzzards are countryside based. I've seen a sparrow hawk hit starlings on more than one occasion in our back garden. I've seen pheasants too. Do I ever think I will see a buzzard in my back garden, perhaps with kitty in it's claws. Er, no.
Nice theoretical question by the original poster but badly thought out for the missing cats. Probably a car, dog or poison?
When you see the videos of a Golden Eagle tackling a goat, yhou can see the fearlessness and power of these birds.
Female Golden Eagle about 5kg, Goat maybe 30kg plus. I admit that the goat does not tend to fight back but the eagles will tackle foxes and small dogs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WroMlDqTRs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8vXrUEs8wk
Female Golden Eagle about 5kg, Goat maybe 30kg plus. I admit that the goat does not tend to fight back but the eagles will tackle foxes and small dogs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WroMlDqTRs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8vXrUEs8wk
I spotted something bloody large go past the door of the outbuilding I was in the other day. Turned out to be a full size buzzard taking off from the drive (probably been grabbing a mouse corpse left by the cats), and into the big oak tree next to the garage.
It was followed closely by the idiot boy cat, who'd snuck up on the buzzard, put it up, and was chasing it up the sodding tree...
It was followed closely by the idiot boy cat, who'd snuck up on the buzzard, put it up, and was chasing it up the sodding tree...
This thread has reminded me of something that happened to me about fourteen years ago.
We were living in a nice house in Epping, with a garden that backed onto the fields. Lovely view. Nice friendly street.
Apart from the house next door. The owners had gone off overseas, as I recall to Nepal, and left the place rented. A bunch of lads moved in, who although I am sure were not what you would call bad, were not exactly typical of the local demographic. Spotted peeing out the bedroom windows at night, etc., and funny herbal smells from cigarettes. (In fact, when they eventually moved, the lady who lived on the other side of them adopted their dog. She was a terrific sort, straight as a dye, the salt of the Earth type, but not exactly worldly. They told her the dog's name was Spliff. One day the dog got out and we caught her wandering up and down the road shouting out "Spliff!" at the top of her voice. We had to have a little chat with her.)
But I digress. We bought a lovely long haired ginger tom kitten, who I am glad to say is still around to this day, running our present home for us. One day, when he was just at the age of taking his first tentative steps around his territory, I stepped out the back door and the sky went dark and something really big flew over my head. It was a really large raptor, and it settled on the apex of my roof. It was then that I noticed one of the lads from next door in the field at the bottom of the garden, looking up at the bird, holding his arm out and making some encouraging noises.
He had decided to take up the noble art of falconry. Eventually he persuaded the bird back and I was interested enough to take a good look at it. It was enormous. I can't remember what type it was, but he said it was the biggest you are legally allowed to keep in this county, if that means anything.
I said all this was well and good, but I had a kitten that was just starting to go outside and I had the obvious reservations about his safety. "Oh, that's all right," said the lad, "he's just a youngster himself and he hasn't been trained to hunt." I said, "I've never shown my cat how to crap in a box, but he's doing that alright by himself." It was one of the few times in my life that I have ever come out with the right reposte straight away, instead of thinking of it ten minutes after.
However, the problem didn't last long. As it happened another neighbour, about three doors away, kept racing pigeons. They used to get sent all over the country on races, and we would see him in the garden anxiously awaiting their return, and he would often excercise them over the field. They don't half shift, by the way. As you can imagine, he was not best pleased by the arrival of this raptor just up the road, as I am sure his birds would have been having serious doubts about the wisdom of rushing home from Cleethorpes or wherever by the presence of this new arrival.
The bird was kept in the lad's garden, in a sort of lean-to up against my fence. All our gardens were open to the field behind. After a week or two the bird was found, fallen off its perch, with remains of a hearty meal around it. I am not saying we all knew what happened, but it doesn't take long to put two and two together.
We were living in a nice house in Epping, with a garden that backed onto the fields. Lovely view. Nice friendly street.
Apart from the house next door. The owners had gone off overseas, as I recall to Nepal, and left the place rented. A bunch of lads moved in, who although I am sure were not what you would call bad, were not exactly typical of the local demographic. Spotted peeing out the bedroom windows at night, etc., and funny herbal smells from cigarettes. (In fact, when they eventually moved, the lady who lived on the other side of them adopted their dog. She was a terrific sort, straight as a dye, the salt of the Earth type, but not exactly worldly. They told her the dog's name was Spliff. One day the dog got out and we caught her wandering up and down the road shouting out "Spliff!" at the top of her voice. We had to have a little chat with her.)
But I digress. We bought a lovely long haired ginger tom kitten, who I am glad to say is still around to this day, running our present home for us. One day, when he was just at the age of taking his first tentative steps around his territory, I stepped out the back door and the sky went dark and something really big flew over my head. It was a really large raptor, and it settled on the apex of my roof. It was then that I noticed one of the lads from next door in the field at the bottom of the garden, looking up at the bird, holding his arm out and making some encouraging noises.
He had decided to take up the noble art of falconry. Eventually he persuaded the bird back and I was interested enough to take a good look at it. It was enormous. I can't remember what type it was, but he said it was the biggest you are legally allowed to keep in this county, if that means anything.
I said all this was well and good, but I had a kitten that was just starting to go outside and I had the obvious reservations about his safety. "Oh, that's all right," said the lad, "he's just a youngster himself and he hasn't been trained to hunt." I said, "I've never shown my cat how to crap in a box, but he's doing that alright by himself." It was one of the few times in my life that I have ever come out with the right reposte straight away, instead of thinking of it ten minutes after.
However, the problem didn't last long. As it happened another neighbour, about three doors away, kept racing pigeons. They used to get sent all over the country on races, and we would see him in the garden anxiously awaiting their return, and he would often excercise them over the field. They don't half shift, by the way. As you can imagine, he was not best pleased by the arrival of this raptor just up the road, as I am sure his birds would have been having serious doubts about the wisdom of rushing home from Cleethorpes or wherever by the presence of this new arrival.
The bird was kept in the lad's garden, in a sort of lean-to up against my fence. All our gardens were open to the field behind. After a week or two the bird was found, fallen off its perch, with remains of a hearty meal around it. I am not saying we all knew what happened, but it doesn't take long to put two and two together.
You have in turn prompted my memory! I know this is about Buzzards but I think all the large birds of prey are similar.
I let a local fella fly his Harris hawk around the fields and woods here. It catches rabbits so again a 3 ib rabbit is no light weight.
I had a couple of Airedale terriers at the time, two sisters. Airedales are the largest terrier and have an amazingly strong bite.
The dogs were running through the woods when the hawk suddenly came down from a tree and hit the bigger Airedale in the middle of
the back, She whirled round more in shock than pain and it came round again and did the same thing.
I was examining her back for injury and the next thing I heard was the other Airedale yelping in pain and found her nearby. The Harris hawk
had landed on the ground in front of her and had rolled on its back showing her its talons. This is now 4 ib hawk versus 40 lb Airedale.
She was really more curious to see what the hell was wrong with the bird and went up to it cautiously to sniff it. The bird latched onto her
lip with its talons, hence the yelping. Her sister was much bigger at about 60 lbs and immediately went to her rescue and if I had not
managed to grab her the hawk would have been crunched. But I thought what a stupid bird to do such a thing. Their hunting instincts
seem to overwhelm their survival instincts as you can see by the Golden Eagle attacking the goat in the video about. It seems to have no
regard for its own safety and the fact that it could easily have broken its wing or worse falling down that rocky slop with a heavy goat
bouncing on top of it!
I let a local fella fly his Harris hawk around the fields and woods here. It catches rabbits so again a 3 ib rabbit is no light weight.
I had a couple of Airedale terriers at the time, two sisters. Airedales are the largest terrier and have an amazingly strong bite.
The dogs were running through the woods when the hawk suddenly came down from a tree and hit the bigger Airedale in the middle of
the back, She whirled round more in shock than pain and it came round again and did the same thing.
I was examining her back for injury and the next thing I heard was the other Airedale yelping in pain and found her nearby. The Harris hawk
had landed on the ground in front of her and had rolled on its back showing her its talons. This is now 4 ib hawk versus 40 lb Airedale.
She was really more curious to see what the hell was wrong with the bird and went up to it cautiously to sniff it. The bird latched onto her
lip with its talons, hence the yelping. Her sister was much bigger at about 60 lbs and immediately went to her rescue and if I had not
managed to grab her the hawk would have been crunched. But I thought what a stupid bird to do such a thing. Their hunting instincts
seem to overwhelm their survival instincts as you can see by the Golden Eagle attacking the goat in the video about. It seems to have no
regard for its own safety and the fact that it could easily have broken its wing or worse falling down that rocky slop with a heavy goat
bouncing on top of it!
My relative in FL, has her small happy dog wearing one of these http://raptorshield.com in raptor season.
Then again I have seen pics from trail cams in her yard and there are plenty of critters that could do harm to your pets.
Then again I have seen pics from trail cams in her yard and there are plenty of critters that could do harm to your pets.
Just amazing that these Eagles can not only pull a goat over the cliff but actually fly with all that weight as in the second part of this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY9IJGm_PTI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WY9IJGm_PTI
Disastrous said:
Take as in take them away somewhere? No chance. Buzzards aren't big enough and know that cats aren't their prey.
Maybe a defenseless kitten or a sick old cat but I'd not mess with a healthy cat if I was a buzzard.
Actually you are very wrong... I have rescued a buzzard before and you couldn't comprehend how huge they truly are not to mention the length of their talons ... yes they will take a cat given the opportunity... I have just been watching 2 of them come very close to my home ... they were watching my 3 cats very carefully... please don't assume your cats are safe in the presence of a buzzard... always be safe not sorry Maybe a defenseless kitten or a sick old cat but I'd not mess with a healthy cat if I was a buzzard.
Bluerain33 said:
Actually you are very wrong... I have rescued a buzzard before and you couldn't comprehend how huge they truly are not to mention the length of their talons ... yes they will take a cat given the opportunity... I have just been watching 2 of them come very close to my home ... they were watching my 3 cats very carefully... please don't assume your cats are safe in the presence of a buzzard... always be safe not sorry
What an odd thing to join Pistonheads to post about, did a buzzard steal your girlfriend or something?andym1603 said:
A picture of a Sea Eagle making off with a lamb. From the west coast of Scotland. Not a brilliant picture, but you can count all the legs.
Assuming the lamb is still alive and so will run off once it's put down.So how does the eagle eat it?
Same with a cat, it may get carried away, but then will it actually get eaten, as it can both run and fight.
hyphen said:
Assuming the lamb is still alive and so will run off once it's put down.
So how does the eagle eat it?
Same with a cat, it may get carried away, but then will it actually get eaten, as it can both run and fight.
Assuming that lamb actually wasn't dead already and was simply carried off by the sea eagle, the feet of the eagle/buzzard is what does the damage that kills their prey as they obviously have fairly long talons and some birds of prey have very powerful feet (unlike falcons who use their mandible in their bill to break the neck of their prey). Sea eagles definitely do have powerful feet despite their propensity to eating carrion/fish but I don't think a buzzard would be able to take an adult fully fit cat though as typically buzzards only take young rabbits as the upper limit of what they can catch. A goshawk though probably could nab a cat if it really wanted though.So how does the eagle eat it?
Same with a cat, it may get carried away, but then will it actually get eaten, as it can both run and fight.
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