I took a photo of the hawk first, below me just to the left followed by a photo of the squirrel right in front of me and slightly to the right, hanging on for dear life. Wow, what a scene to behold. Life and death hangs in the balance.

A red-tail hawk flies of its perch and flies low to the ground. It banks suddenly and I see a squirrel run out and back in near some brush. I see the hawk in the thicket walking on the ground searching, looking left and right. It flies up to a low perch for a better vantage point. Hops from branch to branch looking for the squirrel. This went on for several minutes. I was impressed by its persistence, never giving up. It knows the squirrel is still around somewhere.

Suddenly I see the squirrel in front of me on a pole hanging on for dear life. The red-tail still looking for it just on the other side of the pole. Remaining still hoping the pole keeps it from being seen by the hawk. When the hawk moved, you can hear the rustling as its feathers brushed against the branches, the squirrel made small adjustments on the pole to stay out of view. It did this a number of times. I don't think the squirrel could actually see the hawk but it definitely can hear it. It may catch a glimpse of a wing as the hawk moves and knows when to adjust its position on the pole to stay out of sight.

The hawk was relentless, only stopping to drink from a pool of water briefly before finally flying away. After watching this game of cat and mouse, I don't think a squirrel has any chance if it happens to be in the open.

Thirty minutes later the hawk swooped down in a field and grabbed a vole (saw it thru the binoculars). I later was able to creep up to it as the hawk finished eating the vole.