For variety, occasionally I write about other animals than just coyotes — and this post is about one of these non-coyote animals.
I found the Red Tailed Hawk fledgling I wrote about several weeks ago playing or practice-hunting with a rock. I had never seen anything like this before and wonder how ordinary, or quirky, or super-intelligent (or the opposite) this behavior is to be able to play like this? Then again, maybe it’s an indication of character, individuality and special interests as in anyone else — why not? She was persistent in her play and really fun to watch — almost as fun as watching the coyotes! A few days later, I saw her playing this same way with a pine cone, and before that I saw her attacking a gnarled twig on the ground as though it might be a something edible.
Addendum: I spoke to our local bird specialist, Dom Mosur, who told me that this is normal behavior, that hawks indeed do play with rocks!!
Coyote Yipps 
Aug 05, 2018 @ 06:47:07
Fascinating. Beautiful. Inspiring! Thank you so much.