Skip to main content
Print This Page
Text Size
Scroll To Top
Share This Page
Share this page on Facebook
Share this page on Linkedin
Share this page on Twitter
Member Login
Methow At Home
Our mission is to support our members who want to age in place.
Sign up for Homesharing here.
Subscribe to our newsletter
menu
Home
About Us
History
Staff and Board
Committees
Benefactors
Frequent Questions
Donate
Get Involved
Volunteer(s)
Become a Service Provider
Volunteer Self Signup
Surveys
Events
Contact Us
Interviews & Stories
Doug Devin Interview
Shirley Haase
Ann Henry
Alfred Hill
Emmett Kinkade
Olav & Christina Kyte
Lois McLean
Val Sukovaty
Ken Westman
Don Wilson
Peggy White
Jim Archambeault as Smoky
Kurt Snover's Ski for Lig
Kurt Snover's Skunk Whisp
Kurt Snover's Story: Susa
Kurt Snover Charged By a
JIm Archambeault's First
Kurt Snover's Beat The D
Kurt Snover Cave Diving
Interview with Raleigh Bo
Kurt Snover
Kurt Snover The Peril Of
Kurt Snover: Facebook and
Kurt's Column: Barb Schne
Helen Krinke
Tom Grayston interview
Helen Evans
Home
Kurt Snover The Peril Of Birds
The Perils of Birds
1) Dinnertime Mayhem
Recently while we were sitting out on the deck eating our dinner, a pair of California quail were running around in the yard. The quail were on the ground near the edge of the deck less than 8 feet away when BAM, a raptor smashed into one of them and instantly flew off with it, leaving a large pile of feathers behind. Immediately the other quail bolted to safety under the deck. Total time for this whole event, less than 1 second, literally. So fast we weren't able to identify the raptor.
It left me stunned, and reeling. Still stunned several days later. Our birding friend Janet told us she thought it was probably a Cooper’s hawk.
2) Half a Dead Bunny
In late March while cross country skiing up near Thompson Pass, I came across a small raptor in the middle of the road on top of a snowshoe rabbit. When I got close, the raptor, a juvenile goshawk, was trying to take off with the rabbit carcass and couldn't get airborne. It would drag the carcass over and over, flapping its wings like mad, stopping to rest every 10 feet or so. Finally it abandoned the carcass and flew off. When I came back by later on, it was feeding on the carcass.
When I got down near the car I ran into my grandson, 16 yr old Cory, and his dad, on their way up. “Cory,” I said, “keep a lookout up near the Pass. You might see some interesting bird activity.”
Later when I asked Cory if he'd seen the raptor, he replied, somewhat dejectedly, ”No. All I saw was half a dead bunny."
After hearing my story, a friend said to me, “Way to go, Grandpa.”