This is the extraordinary moment that a hungry hawk chased a rabbit into a homeowner’s drainpipe and pulled it out with its talons after a tense stand-off.
Photographer Mark Koster was on hand to capture the moment the hungry hawk cornered its prey in a drainpipe in Scottsdale, Arizona, on December 12.
Pictures show the Harris’s hawk staring into the drainpipe where the trapped rabbit was hiding, before skilfully poking its head and talons inside the hole.
Unluckily for the rabbit, the patient hawk refused to let it out of its sights and persevered for almost 15 minutes in the tense stand-off.
With the rabbit unable to escape, the hawk was finally able to reach its talons far enough into the drainpipe to drag the defenceless bunny out.
After the hawk killed its prey, photographs showed the bird standing over its prey, before flying away with the rabbit grasped in its talons.
Mr Koster, from Scottsdale, said: ‘I didn’t see the Harris’s hawk chase the rabbit in the pipe, but pretty sure it did.
‘It took about 12 minutes from stalking, grabbing and flying off with breakfast for the family. It was an awesome display.
‘I follow many different raptor families and I’ve been following this family of hawks closely since 2016.
‘Harris’s hawks are called the ‘Wolves in the Sky’ because they are the only raptors that live and hunt in ‘packs’ like wolves.
‘Two other family members were waiting on a street lamppost very close by as well.
‘Hawks gotta eat too.’
Source: dailymail.co
