“Tho’ Nature, red in tooth and claw/With ravine, shriek'd against his creed —”
—Lord Alfred Tennyson, “In Memoriam A.H.H.”
Tennyson intended these lines to describe man; if you know about some recent activities, as seen here, it makes more sense.
On Friday, however, Richmond magazine graphic designer James Dickinson came upon a scene worthy of Tennyson while heading down Broad Street on his way to lunch from our offices in the Bookbindery.
When he approached a tree in front, he heard a distinct “whoosh” and thought a branch was falling — maybe on top of his head. Not konked, though, he turned round to lock eyes with a bird of prey landing near the curb, gently moving its wings to keep balance while crushing a squirrel in its talons.
The bird (I think it was a hawk, but I’m no expert) had plucked the squirrel like ripe fruit.
Then it launched into the air to go eat in private, when — perhaps hearing a whooshing sound — it bumped into a pickup coasting to the stoplight.
You think solicitation calls during dinner are annoying. How about getting brained by an oncoming truck?
Dazed, but apparently unhurt and without its lunch, the hawk sat in a tree while collecting itself.
A pedestrian veered into the road and kicked the squirrel carcass out of the street closer to the curb, knowing the hunter would want to come back for his meal, so rudely interrupted.
Jimmy, relying on his own instincts, ran to get a camera. The hawk became the subject of National Geographic-style paparazzi.
A man on a cell phone tried to explain the situation to animal control. With a despairing look toward Jimmy, the man insisted, “Yes, yes, a falcon is a bird.”
The animal regained its senses and proceeded to work on the squirrel. “When he started getting into the guts, that was kind of gross,” Jimmy reported.
Now that the hawk (or falcon?) was satiated, Jimmy needed to please his inner man. He went to Byram’s for a pastrami and Swiss.
If anyone out there wants to dispute our hawk identification, take a gander at the photos and have at it in the comments.
