Florida Red-shouldered Hawk with Black Racer Snake it had just captured

Photo Submission

Submitted By

Bob Ellis

Jupiter, FL, United States

Description

This young Red-shouldered Hawk was spotted sitting patiently in the Pines behind our house. We watched it for a while until we saw it dive down to the ground and out of sight. We then saw it rise up out the field with a large Black Racer Snake in it’s beak. It landed in a Pine tree in the field and proceeded to eat it. It was so distracted I was able to walk through a clump of Oaks without being seen until I was close enough to get some very good shots. It eventually noticed me but continued to finish eating it’s prize. It stared at me afterwards and then left the area.