Residents of a Calgary neighbourhood say a family of aggressive hawks is holding them hostage and they can't go outdoors without being dive-bombed.
The Swainson's hawks have been nesting high above the community of Lake Bonavista since the spring and residents say they have been known to get aggressive.
“If you're not careful, it seems that if you start looking up and wondering what they're doing, they start to come down and dive-bomb you a little bit,” said resident Dwayne Sheehan.
Earlier this summer a letter carrier was struck and injured by one of the swooping birds which prompted Canada Post to suspend mail delivery to about 70 homes.
The mail was also stopped in the neighbourhood last year, due to dive-bombing birds and some residents have had enough.
Sandy Dykema called Fish and Wildlife demanding they remove the nest and wasn't happy with the response she got.
“She told me to carry an umbrella and stay inside for the month of August. I said what? I’m inside all winter long and you want me top stay inside for the month of August. I was dive-bombed twice when I was in my front lawn there,” said Dykema.
For now residents will have to pick up their mail at a postal outlet several kilometres away and that likely won't change until the fall when the hawks begin their migration south.
(With files from Reg Hampton)
