Huge scare today!! Almost lost Chance!

[JonRich]

I don't mean "lost" him like misplacing. I mean "lost" like R.I.P!!

Well I took Chance out for his daily serving of natural sunlight! I normally take him to the roof of the building (36th floor). But there was a party and I didn't want to spook anyone with a reptile out n about. Instead I went to the tanning deck/garden on the 2nd floor. I get there and all was well Chance actually just chilled on my shoulder and basked. After about 20 minutes he had had enough and started to wonder a bit. There is a small lawn area and a pretty tall tree that I didn't want him to get to because I'm certain I would not be able to get him down without climbing it myself. Anyway, he has about 20' of lawn between me and the tree. So I would let him cross the lawn and when he is about 5 feet or soo from the tree I'd run over and get him. I did this about 3 times, and on the 4th as soon as I picked him up a Kestrel landed on the lawn about 10 feet from us then flew off and perched on the edge of the building and started screaching!!

Imagine my surprise!! I put Chance back in a snake bag I usually take him to bask in and just out of curiousity sat and observed the small falcon for a bit ( I am a avid bird watcher and had never seen one in the area before). I then heard a 2nd falcon screach!! I look up and I see the other (this one was a male, so I assume the first one was the female of a mated pair). Sure enough 5 minutes later the male flies to a hole in the rafters of the adjacent building.

GREAT!!! I am in the middle of prime hunting territory of a nesting pair of Anerican Kestrels!! FML!!

So now I have to take Chance and my other Chams elsewhere to bask. Or bring them out in a cage. Today was interesting and eye opening to say the least!

The End!!

 

[VeiledChams]

Damn man, always keep a lookout! Just a few days ago we talked about that on your other thread lol

 

[Hard2DaKore]

Damn! I had kinda same problem except wae my drunk bird! lol

 

[JonRich]

Damn man, always keep a lookout! Just a few days ago we talked about that on your other thread lol

It's crazy because I always look out for birds, especially birds of prey! Never would I have thought they would have a nest in the heart of the busy city. I'll try to get some footage of them tomorrow. They have that unmistakable "kee kee kee kee" call! I'll defiantly have to take them out in cages from now on.

Damn! I had kinda same problem except wae my drunk bird! lol

Drunk bird? Lol

 

[VeiledChams]

It's crazy because I always look out for birds, especially birds of prey! Never would I have thought they would have a nest in the heart of the busy city. I'll try to get some footage of them tomorrow. They have that unmistakable "kee kee kee kee" call! I'll defiantly have to take them out in cages from now on.



Drunk bird? Lol

hahahahaha, "kee kee kee kee".. I just pictured you saying that in one of your youtube videos.. I literally just LMAO

 

[Davonat]

Damn man, always keep a lookout! Just a few days ago we talked about that on your other thread lol

Yes we did.... Look for my thread Free range outdoor danger. I dont remember if it was Carol or Suzi...... Someone batted a hawk out of the air in the nick of time!

 

[laurie]

How high up do the birds go? Do they go as far up as the 36th floor? That might be why you have never seen them before. It is at least worth finding out.

 

[Davonat]

I saw a Discovery Channel show on Falcons 1 time and they thrive in citys so do the smaller hawk speices. They love pigions and the city is full of em. But like our pet chams they like and probably need variety

 

[JonRich]

How high up do the birds go? Do they go as far up as the 36th floor? That might be why you have never seen them before. It is at least worth finding out.

I'm pretty sure they would not forage that high, there is just no prey that high for them to be in that "zone"..Everything else id street level adn me being on the 2nd floor is right in that "hunting zone" for them. I don't blame them at all, i'm actually glad they are their. I get to watch them and see what they bring back to the nest and even watch the babies flege.

I saw a Discovery Channel show on Falcons 1 time and they thrive in citys so do the smaller hawk speices. They love pigions and the city is full of em. But like our pet chams they like and probably need variety

I think the Kestrels would most likely take mice and smaller birds like Starlings and Sparrows. I think a pigeon might be too big for them. But who knows.

 

[sdheli420]

wow, close one..that means they were definatley looking at the cham as food, but were afraid of you beeing to close to the item they wanted to hunt..i have hawks here, they will literally sit on the tele-poles outside my window staring into the room to look at my chams..my chams know they are no good, because they all retreat towards the inners of thier fr tree..ive actually stopped taking them outside for the past few months (good thing the sun directly hits the fr's)

 

[camimom]

im glad chance was safe! hes too good looking to lose!

and just thougth youd find this funny.....


I just bout anothe rcup of dubias from mulberry farms.

So far, no one is intrested in eating them, but they also arent intrested in eating at all right htis second

 

[JonRich]

wow, close one..that means they were definatley looking at the cham as food, but were afraid of you beeing to close to the item they wanted to hunt..i have hawks here, they will literally sit on the tele-poles outside my window staring into the room to look at my chams..my chams know they are no good, because they all retreat towards the inners of thier fr tree..ive actually stopped taking them outside for the past few months (good thing the sun directly hits the fr's)

Honestly , i think the 5 seconds it too me to get up and run over to pick him up was enough time to have the Kestrel about a DIRECT strink. I think he was already in-rout and saw me and aborted. Because he landed 10 feet from Chance and i , then flew back up!

I'm 99.99% sure had i not went to get him he would have been caught by the Kestrel and flown off.

im glad chance was safe! hes too good looking to lose!

and just thougth youd find this funny.....


I just bout anothe rcup of dubias from mulberry farms.

So far, no one is intrested in eating them, but they also arent intrested in eating at all right htis second

I had a full day of "what iffs???"

and i hope it all works out for you with the Dubias. I got a guy in my building that has a leopard gecko that had recently stopped taking crickets. I sold him a few small nymphs and he said the lil guy can't have enough and searches the tank looking for more. lol

 

[Goldenarcher1328]

Kestrels are Beautiful but deadly, when i do my falconry apprenticeship eventually, that is the bird i will be choosing to hunt with. Awesome sighting, Always keep an eye on the clouds. this is what i am most paranoid about when taking reptiles outdoors! Around here its Redtails mostly, but even working with the hawks that i do, the #1 rule is always watch the skies incase of other raptors because if they saw a grounded raptor they may try to take it out. Ballsy little things aren't they?

 

[JonRich]

Kestrels are Beautiful but deadly, when i do my falconry apprenticeship eventually, that is the bird i will be choosing to hunt with. Awesome sighting, Always keep an eye on the clouds.

Really a Kestrel?? Hunting for grasshoppers?

When i did my apprenticeship, i did a Hawk banding program in the lower Hodson chapter of NYS. They would trap and band migrating Birds Of Prey!! (with a bait-pigeon and a spring loaded net trap. They guy who ran the program owned a white Gyrfalcon!! <~~~ Now thats a Falcon!!

 

[Rottsko]

wowsers. good thing you were paying attention!!!

 

[camimom]

Honestly , i think the 5 seconds it too me to get up and run over to pick him up was enough time to have the Kestrel about a DIRECT strink. I think he was already in-rout and saw me and aborted. Because he landed 10 feet from Chance and i , then flew back up!

I'm 99.99% sure had i not went to get him he would have been caught by the Kestrel and flown off.



I had a full day of "what iffs???"

and i hope it all works out for you with the Dubias. I got a guy in my building that has a leopard gecko that had recently stopped taking crickets. I sold him a few small nymphs and he said the lil guy can't have enough and searches the tank looking for more. lol

the what iffs are the worst.
I did that when Kink got loose.
his cage somehow came open outside.. and he went missing.. for 2 hours. temps had dropped, trees that were 50 ft tall near by, in an apt complex.. kids.. ugh the worries.

and i hope so too.

I need to order sme more crickest, but i think i found a way to keep them in the bins. at least until the dubias are big enough to feed off without destroying the colony.

what do you feed them though?

 

[WOLVERINES135]

Wow, I would've lost it, with reading this I'm kind of nervous of taking mine out there. But birds aren't really a problem for me, I have a lot of bees around, does anyone have any troubling experiences with bees?

 

[camimom]

Wow, I would've lost it, with reading this I'm kind of nervous of taking mine out there. But birds aren't really a problem for me, I have a lot of bees around, does anyone have any troubling experiences with bees?

alot of chams will eat the bees. mostly its not a problem. but be wary for stingers.

often people wil catch the bee, stick it in the freezer for a minute or two, remove the stinger with tweezers, then feed the bee off.