Put yourself in a dog's shoes: You're on a nice walk with your person and then two big birds come down and try to scoop you up. Sounds like a nightmare, right?
That nightmare turned to reality for Emma when she found herself paw to claw with a Red-tailed Hawk while on an afternoon walk through Park West.
Emma isn’t the smallest of dogs, but she is a bit skittish. And for good reason – her owner David Engquist says she was nearly scooped up by a hawk the day before as well.
On Thursday, the danger started when the hawk swooped in while his accomplice watched nearby.
“It literally got within three feet of me when it happened,” Engquist said. “Like kind of hovering about two feet away just right in my face with the claws out and everything.”
Then the second hawk flew in landed next to him.
“It was just maybe two yards away,” he said. “It sat down and just walked slowly like a few steps before it flew up again.”
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Engquist said Emma began barking up a storm once the hawks got close and took refuge between his feet.
Once the birds flew away, David hit record on his phone. The hawks sat in the eucalyptus trees until he and Emma walked away
Engquist says he’ll definitely be keeping his eyes open for hawks and other predators going forward.
