Have you ever seen a wild animal make a kill?

[Grislynature]

I’ve come across the remains of various unfortunate creatures but only once saw a hawk take a pigeon a few years ago (in a town centre in fact.) Now just seen another bird of prey - buzzard perhaps - grabbed a rat only a few feet away from me.

I know it needs to happen but it was pretty horrendous to watch and hear (saw the pigeon from my car so didn’t hear the screams )

anyone else confronted with nature red in tooth and claw like this?

I always see the sparrow hawk come and take a bird from the garden. Well I say I see it, they're so fast I just hear a lot of terrified squawking, rustling of bushes and it take off again.

I was at a wildlife park once and was watching the otters when a cute little duck flew into their pond. Omg the otter pounced on the duck around its neck and pulled it under the water, much flapping and screaming, the duck didn't stand a chance. That was traumatic to watch, it was so unexpected.

Only birds really. I once saw a black bird catch a small bird, it was distressing as the family of small birds all chirped around the black bird that just held the little bird under it's foot and stared back at the little birds.

I saw a bird catch an adorable little bumble bee mid flight, whilst I was admiring the bee, that was unfortunate but also a learning opportunity as I didn't realise this could happen.

I'm very soft. They have to eat but I don't want to see it.

Forgot the one that prompted me to post. I was in an interview by video a few weeks ago, I looked out the window to think about my response to a question and in that moment a Kite caught a little bird from the bush outside my window. It was distracting to say the least!

Yes I saw a magpie kill the babies in a robin nest once. Still makes me sad to remember the mother or father trying to fight it off but it was all too high to do anything.

I've seen magpies take fledglings which is truly horrendous.
Our chickens catch frogs and mice (and eat them!)
Foxes have wiped almost and entire flock of our chickens and ducks.

Yes. I used to live by red kites and regularly watched them hunt. Recently went back for a wedding and accidentally spent 2 hours of the reception down a field watching them hunt as I'd missed it so much. Also regularly watched foxes, owls, and the occasional otter hunting.

I had a sparrow hawk bring down a pigeon in my inner city garden. That was proper cool, but then it fought a waiting cat for the pigeon... Neither took it in the end and my garden ended up covered in feathers and ripped up pigeon, with a cat and sparrow hawk sat loudly sulking on opposite sides. I was less impressed by that point.

Not wild, but when I was little, we often (and lots of those we lived with) hunted with dogs for food. That was always pretty amazing to watch too, if a bit sad for the prey. Always eaten entirely, with nothing wasted though, so I never felt that bad (and we were too skint to buy food).

Watching animals hunt is utterly awe inspiring. I always feel a useless, inept tosser when I watch.

Sparrowhawk on a pretty regular basis, they tend to stay in my garden with their kill unless something disturbs them and makes them fly away. It once caught a blackbird and the blackbirds mate kept divebombing it to try and get it to release, so sad :-( i tried to scare it off too but failed, they are so fast.

I've seen dogs kill a possum. The noise was horrendous.

Clearly I take a different view on the hunting to most on this thread... I do dislike watching corvids attacking other birds - I think because they take so bloody long over it. I have chased off and rescued a few young birds from crows and magpies. Watching true predators hunting though (rather than death by a thousand pecks...) I have always found an incredible sight.

I didn’t actually realise otters took ducks, it makes sense when I think about it as of course polecats and meerkats eat chicks and small birds. Am thinking rather differently of Tarka now! Blackbirds have also come as a shock to me!

I threw a large spider out of the back door once. As it sailed through the air, a blackbird came out of nowhere and caught it mid flight.

Have also seen a buzzard trying to pick out a starling from a flock in the sky.

Yes!

Ive done a safari in Kenya and I watched a cheetah hunt, stalk and kill a small deer.

Then out popped 5 little furry cubs.

We watched them until they had eaten the lot and mum started to wash her babies

My cats and I had just moved into a rural cottage. I was in the garden and heard screaming and looked up to see my cat come around the corner with a baby rabbit in its mouth.The cat ran off and later all I found was the head.

A lot of us who have cats have probably seen more killing than we would like.

I do love cats, but this is the downside of owning them.

Yep. I saw a Heron during the first lockdown on the opposite side of a stream in the local park. I was admiring it then out of nowhere it picked up a mouse with its beak and gulped it down in one whilst alive. You could see it move down the herons neck as it swallowed it whole. It was both fascinating and shocking at the same time!

I once watched a tiger take down some type of gazelle. It was pretty amazing tbh - even if I did feel very bad for the gazelle!

My brother's cat used to hunt small mammals when it lived with me for a while. I caught it playing with a vole and shooed it off, then stood between it and the vole (running away) to prevent him getting it again. The cat gave me the filthiest look!

Watching a hedgehog snuffling around a friend’s garden one evening when friend suddenly said ‘Oh wow, a badger!’

Yes there was, and it ambled over, unrolled the hedgehog and ate it.

Yes I watched a spider attack and kill a fly recently. It was actually riveting. It happened just outside the window of my home office. I MIGHT have been procrastinating...

I saw a magpie with a mouse one day last week

I've watched wasps hunting flies, they land on them then bite off their wings, legs and head.

My kitten killing frogs. They have a very distinct cry. Managed to rescue a few from her torture.

I’ve seen a magpie kill a duckling, that was awful

Watched my dog kill a rat (bloody enormous one). I didn't spot the rat, was walking on lead and dog suddenly lunged into bush, one loud squeel and dog pulled it out and threw it onto the pavement. Stone dead in a millisecond.

Then he kept picking it up in his mouth and throwing it down again as if to challenge it to move. I was most impressed.

I was lucky enough to see a heron fishing on the river Braan, just below the waterfalls. It speared a massive salmon and struggled to get airborne with the weight, just barely clearing the trees as it flew off with it.
On the domestic front, have regularly seen my cat despatch field mice and eat them.
All creatures need to feed, and the balance of nature depends on predators. I think urban dwellers are sometimes too detached from this reality and get upset by it.

Agree with this. I would love to reduce the magpie population of my garden for this reason. They are merciless predators.

I was once stood with my toddler sons watching the chickens at the park when a magpie flew down and killed a pigeon by spearing it through the neck with its beak. My sons were oblivious; I was in shock.

I have ponies so often in paddocks on my own and have witnessed a stoat take down a rabbit twice, that is brutal. I also saw a fox chase down a pheasant and heard the kill and the munching afterwards. I was in a stable that time, over looking the hedge/wood, my horse and I were both looking over the door in synchronised amazement.

I have seen Jack Russel terriers kill rats at a farm I was at as a kid, they were so fast, took a split second.