Lakeville Conservation Commission member and outdoor-enthusiast Martha Schroeder said she is not an expert on red-tailed hawks but, based on her research, she has some educated guesses as to the nature of this particular hawk and the highly publicized attack. Urbanski noted that the mother hawk's offspring are now nearing the edge of the nest, which would indicate they are almost ready to fly.Īmy Mahler of the state Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs told one news broadcaster that hawk attacks on people are "not very common" and that such behavior "normally occurs in close proximity to their nest or their fledged young because they perceive people as a threat and they're simply trying to defend their young." I'd welcome her back if she were to come this way again." "When she was here on my street, she was nesting right across from my house. "I think she's bounced back and forth between my street and Old Captain's Way where her nest is now," he said. He first noticed the bird about three years ago. Urbanski, who has lived on Old Main Street for 47 years, says he is familiar with the particular hawk that is now nested on Old Captain's Way. We had about fifteen at one point and the hawk brought it down to maybe five or six." "I know where I live she did a great job of controlling squirrels. "Whenever you take away a predator from the environment, the populations of whatever that animal preyed on are going to start getting out of control," said Lakeville resident Joe Urbanski. Other residents who are familiar with the hawk offered possible explanations for the bird's behavior. I guess he was trying to pick me up," the victim said of the second attack. The victim, a Lakeville resident, told news sources he wished to remain anonymous but said in one report that there was a previous attack where the same hawk swooped down at him but missed about a week prior to the incident that landed him in the hospital with a concussion and puncture wounds around his head. "If it weren't for the hawks around here, we'd be overrun with vermin. "This is a larger hawk so they're a little slower as hunters, which is why they tend to eat things that are on the ground which for us is chipmunks, squirrels, mice - things like that," he said. "It's just part of rural living," said Lakeville resident Sylvester Zienkiewicz, who lives on Anaconda Drive, one street over from Captain's Way where the hawk's nest is located.Īccording to Zienkiewicz, along with others interviewed by The Gazette, red-tailed hawks are a welcomed and crucial part of Lakeville's ecosystem. They say the bird, which has a nest near the spot where the attack took place, may have been simply protecting its young, and that's natural. While many televised reports indicate some residents are now fearful of the large bird - whose sharp talons sent its victim to the hospital - there are others who say this isolated incident hasn't shaken them. LAKEVILLE - An attack by a red-tailed hawk on a 38-year-old Lakeville man earlier this month has caused a stir in the media over the past week.
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