Over the last few days, my wife told me that while I was in work, a "Kestrel" was trying to get at my ferret in his cage.
I think he was quite safe as he was protected behind bars, but understandably he was doing his nut and hissing like a crazy ...
I thought it was doubtful that something as small as kestrel would go for anything as large as a ferret , and suggested it might of been a buzzard, but the wife is adamant that it was a kestrel. Has anyone else heard of Kestrel attacking ferrets ?
Last edited by woodsman; 14-07-2013 at 10:30 PM.
I would agree with you regarding the size aspect, but we know that the other species are always right!
I'm afraid so ...Originally Posted by jus_young
Doesn't sound like a Kestrel type stunt, Field Mice is more their mark I'm sure.
Time for diplomacy...Try..."yes dear, perhaps it was a short sighted Kestrel"...
personally i think that would be a fair scrap, but as for kestrels attacking things on a larger scale i see one chase a cat off, dont know if they had there eyes on the same prey but the kestrel came down and got something on the edge of the field so we stopped to watch and noticed a cat stalking the other side of the hedge row, then real loud noises like the cat had been hurt and a flash of bloodied ginger pussy come shooting past us, kestrel being a few feet away from where it had dropped into the field.
pretty sure buzzards scavenge more than they hunt but if nothing to scavenge then they would attack and a caged animal would be a good choice
is the ferret a pet or do you put him to work??
i would find it very very hard to believe a kestrel would attempt to take on a ferret. its true buzzards scavenge alot but do hunt alot too, regardless of the fact they have smaller feet than alot of birds of prey... dont rule out a bird that someone has lost.. keeping and flying birds of prey is becoming more and more popular and lots of people loose there birds for lots of reaons, mianly inexperience flying the bird when its too heavy... and if it is a cpative bird that has got out it will be very hungry if its been away for a couple of days and would be mroe likely to attack a ferret cage... show your mrs a photo of a harris hawk and see if thats anything like the bird.
Good call. When she heard all noise she, stuck her head out the window and shouted . Rather than flying off , it just dropped to the floor , turned around and then started having another go. She had to run outside in the end to shoo it away !
could well be a lost bird, you could check out the IBR (independant bird register) and see if anyone in your area has lost anything nearby.. may give you a clue
Never heard of Kestrels taking prey as big as ferrets, although it would not be impossible.
What about Sparrowhawk? a female can easily take pigeons and is much more common in gardens.
Nobody wins, unless everybody wins
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