Danger on our Hawk Mountain
This past Monday started off like any other Monday. Up early, exercise, worship, breakfast, and homeschooling the children. Each of us was taking care of whatever projects needed to be handled that day. By mid-afternoon Vernon and I were taking a break, watching some homesteading channels on YouTube. When all of a sudden, I happened to glance out the window and saw the chickens frantically running around, clucking hysterically, and trying to hide.
I stood up and saw these huge wings. I knew right away, a hawk had gotten into the coop and was after the chickens. I quickly tried to get my boots on but was having much trouble. Vernon got his shoes on and almost leaped over me to get outside. We both made it to the coop, got the gate open and saw that the hawk had grabbed our little Gimpy. Gimpy has a bum leg and hops around everywhere she goes. Hence, the name Gimpy. I thought she was dead. It looked as if she was lifeless.
Vernon grabbed a stick and chased the hawk into the corner of the coop. The hawk hilariously tried to play dead by lying on its back with wings spread out. While Vernon was dealing with the hawk, Gimpy got up! She ran (hobbled quickly) as fast as she could and hid in the hollow of a tree in the opposite end of the coop. I safely got all the other chickens inside their house. Gimpy would not move. She was frozen just making a strange sound and shaking. She was probably in shock. I gently picked her up and carried her to safety. Vernon was able to get the hawk out of the coop.
Side note, we need a new rooster. They are supposed to defend their hens to the death if need be. Not this brother. He’s the first running away from danger every time. This incident is the last straw. Sorry Red, you have to go!
When we lived in Pennsylvania we would often visit a place called Hawk Mountain. The lookouts over the mountain made for breathtaking views of the hawks flying overhead. Such beauty. Living on our little mountain now, our reality is, hawks are still beautiful and watching them fly overhead is still breathtaking, however they have become our enemy. They have become predator to our small animals that we depend on. Every day now we have to make sure our animals are secure when hawks fly over.
We have learned to respect and co-exist with the wildlife on this mountain. We’re just happy that God alerted us and we were able to save our little Gimpy.
