Maríanna Eva Ragnarsdóttir, a farmer at Stórhóll in the county of Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla in North Iceland confronted a falcon who had gotten into her henhouse on Monday, killing one of the hens.
The rooster succeeded in protecting all but one of the hens
Her son discovered the falcon initially believing the bird was an eagle. He came running in saying there was an eagle in there, Maríanna tells the local newspaper Fréttablaðið. She didn’t believe her son. An eagle? I said. No, have you lost your mind? But she decided to run out to check what was actually going on: I peeked into the henhouse, and there the falcon was. Just sitting, observing us.
Read more: Video: Meet the friendly falcons of the Westfjords
When Maríanna opened the door to the henhouse the remaining hens rushed out, scared to death. The falcon had killed and eaten one hen, which was lying the floor. The feathers had been plucked clean off, and she had been torn apart and the breasts eaten. There were feathers all over the place
Maríanna tells Fréttablaðið that she was surprised the falcon hadn’t killed more of the hens, speculating that perhaps the rooster had managed to protect them. The rooster was in the henhouse, and perhaps he managed to protect them. But perhaps this one hen was enough for the falcon.
The falcon was a more welcome guest than the mink
Despite the hens having left the henhouse, the falcon refused to leave. Maríanna and her son tried to scare him out. He refused to leave. We tried to scare him off with a broom, but he looked like he was thinking of attacking us. So I decided we would just leave the door open and wait for him to fly out on his own. This plan worked better than fighting the falcon with a broom, as the raptor left after having considered the situation, seeing that a henhouse is not a suitable home for a falcon.
Maríanna adds that everything considered she was rather pleased with the falcon having killed just one hen. I have had a mink invade the henhouse, and he has just killed everything in sight. So, I thought this was pretty reasonable.
Maríanna Eva Ragnarsdóttir, a farmer at Stórhóll in the county of Vestur-Húnavatnssýsla in North Iceland confronted a falcon who had gotten into her henhouse on Monday, killing one of the hens.
The rooster succeeded in protecting all but one of the hens
Her son discovered the falcon initially believing the bird was an eagle. He came running in saying there was an eagle in there, Maríanna tells the local newspaper Fréttablaðið. She didn’t believe her son. An eagle? I said. No, have you lost your mind? But she decided to run out to check what was actually going on: I peeked into the henhouse, and there the falcon was. Just sitting, observing us.
Read more: Video: Meet the friendly falcons of the Westfjords
When Maríanna opened the door to the henhouse the remaining hens rushed out, scared to death. The falcon had killed and eaten one hen, which was lying the floor. The feathers had been plucked clean off, and she had been torn apart and the breasts eaten. There were feathers all over the place
Maríanna tells Fréttablaðið that she was surprised the falcon hadn’t killed more of the hens, speculating that perhaps the rooster had managed to protect them. The rooster was in the henhouse, and perhaps he managed to protect them. But perhaps this one hen was enough for the falcon.
The falcon was a more welcome guest than the mink
Despite the hens having left the henhouse, the falcon refused to leave. Maríanna and her son tried to scare him out. He refused to leave. We tried to scare him off with a broom, but he looked like he was thinking of attacking us. So I decided we would just leave the door open and wait for him to fly out on his own. This plan worked better than fighting the falcon with a broom, as the raptor left after having considered the situation, seeing that a henhouse is not a suitable home for a falcon.
Maríanna adds that everything considered she was rather pleased with the falcon having killed just one hen. I have had a mink invade the henhouse, and he has just killed everything in sight. So, I thought this was pretty reasonable.
