Chicken owners in Tlell are on alert after a rare northern goshawk swooped in and proved its hunting talent.
Once called the “cook’s hawk” because falconers had such success snaring meat with them, the Haida Gwaii population of northern goshawk is both genetically distinct and the most threatened.
That is why one brave Tlellian risked his forearms by freeing a northern goshawk that got entangled in the netting over his chicken run — the same bird took several chickens last week.
“We don’t want to hurt any of those birds at all,” says Judy Perry, who started protecting her chicken run with old seine netting after another northern goshawk made off with eight or nine of her birds a few years ago.
“It works great,” said Perry.
“We saw the goshawk, and it was like, ’Nyah, nyah, na nyah nyah.’”
Perry said it’s possible the goshawk is a juvenile, and might be hunting in backyards because it’s too young to know better—and a few young eagles may be the same way.
“I just saw an eagle flying today, and eyeing my little dog,” she said, laughing. “They’re all on the hunt.”