A few weeks ago, my husband and I found a mass of feathers scattered over a large area in our front yard. I’d wondered what kind of creature had torn that poor bird apart and chalked it up to a neighborhood cat (not mine — mine are too dumb and timid for homicide). Today, upon arriving home from work, I got my answer: A really big bird the likes of which I’ve never seen in the neighborhood before was two doors down, picking apart another bird’s carcass. My husband, whom I called at work in a state of predatory bird panic, said it was probably an owl, and watching it at first I thought so, too. But honestly, it looked more hawkish. Brown and white feathers and just really big. I eventually went in the house to find a camera, but by the time I got back outside it was gone.

Any blog readers that can enlighten me? I’ve only lived in East Dallas for six years, but I was pretty taken aback by the size of this bird. And now I’m wondering if it eats dumb cats, too.

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