Chapter 16

I don’t know what to say about Hawks – they fill me. When I see a Hawk in flight, I am filled with awe. Sometimes I can’t breathe. They fill me with awe; they fill me fear; they fill me with sadness.

I don’t have a reason to be afraid of Hawks. They don’t go after humans, but sometimes when you watch them flying, if you REALLY watch them, you can see how carefully they are watching the landscape. They are always on the hunt – they are always looking. Don’t you, for a minute, make a wish that they don’t see you? Don’t you, for a minute, make a wish that they don’t find their prey?

Hawks are predators. They hunt; they kill. They are meat-eaters. Some humans don’t like them for that reason. I understand that feeling, but consider this – humans are predators. We eat MUCH MORE than Hawks do. Our problem is that we have cushioned ourselves, wrapped ourselves in cotton, in denial, i.e., we don’t do our hunting; someone else does it for us. When we sit down to eat our meals, to tear into that piece of beef or chicken we choose to forget that someone else killed a live animal. This creature died in order that we could eat it. We choose to forget.

Hawks are beautiful up in the sky. The patterns on their feathers would put the fashion world to shame. When sunlight caresses the back of the Hawk, his shadow glides across the earth. The sound of their wings is like a powerful flap of a large sheet, a flag in the air.

Hawks make me sad because I have never seen them in pairs. I want to see them in pairs. However, I’ve always see them alone - and they are usually being scolded by another bird – sometimes a crowd of crows, sometimes smaller birds. The Hawk seems so lonely, then. I don’t blame the “crowd”. I know why they do it. Anyone who thinks birds are smart has never watched them yell at a Hawk. They KNOW this Hawk might someday eat THEM

I once saw a wee mockingbird sitting on a telephone wire a few feet from a Hawk who was also sitting on that wire. That mockingbird was screaming his head off! I watched that and said to myself “oh careful, else you’re going to be dinner…”


That’s just it. I’ve seen Hawks, those magnificent creatures, pestered to death, and they don’t do a thing. They hunt when they are hungry. When they are not hungry, they don’t hunt.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the same could be said of humans?