A young Red Tail waits,
his nest mate on another
set of braces, mother
in a sycamore,
for a fresh batch
of baby ground squirrels—
eyes just open now,
but naïve to being
at the bottom
of the food chain.
Eggs and feathers
come early for hawks,
learning to hunt soon after
young rodents are born
full of innocence.
He has never seen a man before
and eyes me curiously, carefully
and will stay the summer
securing the ground around
the corrals dining on squirrels.
Yes, he doesn’t yet know you are higher on the food chain than he is.
I saw a squirrel tease a young hawk. The youngster was in large tree near his nest. He wasn’t quite brave enough to fly yet. Just flapping and exercising his wings. The squirrel ran around and around the trunk and so flustered the hawk that it finally fell off the limb, and flew!!! Down the canyon, tilting back and forth like a sailor getting his sea legs. The squirrel watched him chattering. It may have had a nest nearby.
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