{"id":69361,"date":"2019-02-18T06:10:55","date_gmt":"2019-02-18T13:10:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=69361"},"modified":"2019-02-18T07:25:31","modified_gmt":"2019-02-18T14:25:31","slug":"rough-legged-hawk-sometimes-the-prey-bites-back-even-in-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2019\/02\/18\/rough-legged-hawk-sometimes-the-prey-bites-back-even-in-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"Rough-legged Hawk – Sometimes The Prey Bites Back, Even In Flight"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Rough-legged Hawks dive on prey on the ground they typically hover first and then drop down vertically and fairly slowly. But occasionally they come in fast and at an angle and when they do they can appear to hit the ground so hard they vicariously rattle my teeth and I almost expect them to bounce on impact.<\/p>\n

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\"\"1\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D,\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

This one combined the two methods by hovering first and then diving fast at an angle. Here (s)he is still traveling at a good clip even this close to the ground. Because of all the obstructing vegetation I didn’t see him make impact but his technique was effective because he soon came up with a vole.<\/p>\n

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\"rough-legged-hawk-91811\/2000, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

As they often do he also had some debris in his talons along with the vole. He came out of the grasses flying toward me before turning to his left to give me a side view.<\/p>\n

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\"\"1\/1250, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Soon after he turned to his left there was obviously something going on with that feisty vole. The hawk is holding the vole as gingerly as possible with only its talons exposed to and imbedded in the rodent and the rest of its foot and leg are being held at an angle with as little exposure to the vole and injury as possible. I wish I hadn’t lost focus in this shot so we could see more clearly what the vole is doing but it appears to me that it might be biting, or attempting to bite, the hawk’s left foot.<\/p>\n

The bird reacted very quickly.<\/p>\n

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\"\"1\/1600, f\/7.1, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

By the very next frame in the burst the hawk had moved the vole away from its left foot and was looking down at it. That little rodent had a bucket-full of attitude and was obviously still trying to bite the left foot. The vole’s mouth is wide open and those mean little rodent teeth are ready for action. This is one little rodent that was determined to avoid going down without a fight.<\/p>\n

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A tighter crop on the previous image shows the action a little better.<\/p>\n

This series doesn’t offer absolute proof that the vole bit the hawk but I’d bet the farm that it happened at least once. I’ve often wondered how common it is for raptors to “feel the pain” from their rodent prey. Several times in the past I’ve seen Northern Harriers drop voles after being airborne and wondered if it had been done deliberately because they’d been bitten.<\/p>\n

This hawk didn’t drop the vole but it certainly reacted to the apparent bite.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/p>\n