Hi Mya,
Yours is a sad commentary on just how far some humans have come from Paradise (aka Garden of Eden; Shangri-la; Nirvana; etc.). That people can be afraid of a tiny HOSP amazes and saddens me. I'd be interested in what exactly their "fear" was? As one who educates people on reptiles and bugs with the Woodland Park Zoo and the Pacific NW Herpetological Society, I have the uphill task of breaking through fears that are lifelong on spiders, giant millipedes, walkingsticks, snakes and lizards. A fear of little birds is a new one on me, but one that I'm sure already has some "-phobia" name attached to it. Once you know what a persons fear/phobia is, it makes it a little easier to help them break through their fear. Yesterday at the zoo, my wife and I had the distinct pleasure of two different people, a lady in her 50's and a man around 40, who both professed to never having touched a snake before. In each case, once they had that first tactile sensation, and looked into the eyes of their fear, they both became almost giddy with relief and astonishment. That to me is the best part of educational outreach programs; seeing people work up their courage to do something they had always thought that they never could. I'd love to have an opportunity to help those people who were cowering from that friendly little bird to break through their fear, whatever exactly it may be.
Brett A. Wolfe gismybabe at yahoo.com Seattle, WA
Mya Bell <myabell at 4-sightmedia.com> wrote: I've never seen a hawk attack, but last week I got a surprise insight into how
squeamish some people can be around birds. There's a little female house
sparrow that has lost its fear of people and hops up on the edge of the tables
at the local sidewalk cafes. She seems very well behaved, doesn't grab the food
or peck at people, but sits politely until a finger is stretched out to give
her a little morsel, then off she goes.

I was watching her antics at the table next to me and, to my surprise, realized
two of the cafe patrons were beside themselves with fear at the nearness of
this tiny little ca. 1-ounce fluff of feathers. One was leaned back shaking
with terror and the other leaped up from the table and quavered several feet
away.

Too much Hitchcock, I guess.

Cheers!

Mya
myabell at 4-sightmedia.com


"Wile, Mike" wrote:

> No, but I was almost decapitated by a female gos when I got too close to her
> nest in Wyoming. Maybe the same thing happened here?
>
> Mike Wile
> Redmond, WA
> 425-503-5766
> mike.wile at attws.com
>
> -----Original Message-----
>
> Subject: Cooper's Hawk attack
>
> HI:
> It appears now that the attacker in question reported earlier this week
> on Bainbridge Island, WA was a Cooper's Hawk NOT an Osprey. Has anyone
> heard of Cooper's Hawks attacking people??
>
> Ian Paulsen
> Bainbridge Island, WA, USA
> ipaulsen at krl.org
> A.K.A.: "Birdbooker"
> "Rallidae all the way"






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