Animal rescue: CCTV shows goat and rooster save chicken from hawk attack, deer mauls hawk after it tries to capture a rabbit

Kate Dennett
Daily Mail
Fri, 17 Sep 2021 12:37 UTC

The two animals amazingly manage to push the goshawk away and force it to fly off, while the chicken manages to flee inside its hutch

This is the moment a goat and a rooster fended off a hawk that was attacking a chicken on a farm in the Netherlands.

Jaap Beets, 59, was inside his farmhouse in Gelderland on September 5 when he heard ear-piercing screeching coming from his livestock outside.

In an attack that lasted just 17 seconds, a hawk swooped down on one of his chickens, but his other animals saved the hen before the Mr Beets arrived on the scene.

Dramatic CCTV footage shows the goshawk dive-bombing a brown hen, sending feathers flying all over the paddock.

In the clip, the chicken attempts to flee the hawk's sharp talons but appears to be fighting a losing battle until a fearless rooster comes to its aid.

Mr Beets' brown goat Bruin then rushes over from the other side of the paddock and charges at the bird of prey like a battering ram.

The two brave animals amazingly manage to push the goshawk away from the defenceless chicken and force it to fly away.

The chicken manages to flee inside its hutch while the other birds in the paddock can be seen making a desperate dash indoors amid the chaos.

It isn't the first time that the farmer has been left feeling 'proud' of his animals, as his turkey and goats have rushed to save his chickens twice before.

Mr Beets, who lives with his wife Carina, said: 'I was so proud of the rooster and the goat jumping in to defend our chicken. I was also very relieved that the chicken survived.

Mr Beets, who lives with his wife Carina (pictured with 'hero' goat Bruin), said it isn't the first time that he has been 'proud' of his animals for rushing to save his chickens

'I heard the screaming animals but it was too late to see the attacker so I checked the CCTV.

'It took only 17 seconds between the appearance and disappearance of the hawk.'

Mr Beets confirmed that the chicken had survived the sudden ambush with only minor injuries.

He added: 'In the seven years I have lived here, it's the third attack on our chickens. This was the second from a goshawk and the other was a buzzard.

'In the two previous attacks the turkey and the goats saved the chickens.

'Fortunately the chicken only had two minor wounds. It took her a few days to get back to normal. The other birds rallied around and kept her company.

Mr Beets confirmed that the chicken (both pictured) escaped with minor injuries, adding that it was the third attack on his chickens by a bird of prey in seven years

'I grew up with a deep respect for nature and have worked in environmental jobs and in nature conservation all my life.

'Now we have our own old farmhouse in Hall, where we try to facilitate nature as much as possible.'

The incredible footage of the rescue mission has been viewed more than 447,000 times on social media, with people lauding the goat as 'a hero' and comparing the rescue to 'a Disney adventure'.

One commenter said: 'That goat though, what a hero. He deserves a whole bale of alfalfa to himself.'

Another person wrote: 'Oh my word. Good for them. The hawk can get his meal somewhere else.'

And a third penned: 'Amazing, it's like a Disney adventure.'

A fourth quipped: 'That goat is like "oh hell no, not on my watch".'

Comment: And in other recent footage a deer rescues a rabbit from a hawk attack, surprisingly causing the demise of the hawk by a, usually skittish, deer:

This brave deer went from Bambi to Rambo when it jumped in to save a wild rabbit being attacked by a hungry hawk. Kris Miller was trimming trees around Nordic Mountain country park, Wisconsin, USA, earlier this month when he spotted a red tailed hawk dead on the ground. After checking CCTV from June 11, the 29-year-old operations manager was 'astonished' when he saw the bird of prey swoop down on an unsuspecting rabbit below.

Interestingly, commenters said that the deer simply became confused by the distressed sounds of the rabbit and thought that it was its own offspring under attack, and that's why it tried to save the rabbit. However, that can't explain the actions of the goat in the first footage. It's likely that there's a lot to the life of animals that we've yet to fully appreciate, and examples like these give us a better idea of the complexities and potentials in nature:

• Pigs recorded using tools for the first time
• Fungi manipulate bacteria to enrich soil with nutrients
• Bird believed extinct for 170 years spotted in Borneo - researchers were looking in the wrong place
• Bumblebees bite plants to make them flower early