PUT OUT MORE PIGEON FOOD:

Hawks deal death from above: Squirrels are paying a high price for saying nuts to red-tailed hunters at Queen's Park The high-flying birds of prey draw some admiring fans as they patrol the skies (ROB FERGUSON, 11/04/06, Toronto Star)

Sometimes there's no safe place to hide when you're under attack at the Legislature.

Politicians have learned this over decades — often the hard way — as rivals and reporters circle in for the, um, kill.

But the lesson has truly been a matter of life and death for the rapidly dwindling squirrel population at Queen's Park, thanks to a family of red-tailed hawks nesting atop the Legislature's west wing since last spring.

"They're doing a job on them," says one staffer who regularly watches the Queen's Park air show. It features dramatic high-speed, fly-by snatches of the bushy-tailed rodents and mid-air takedowns of birds, leaving a poof of feathers fluttering gently to earth.

"As you can see, there are no pigeons here," he adds, gesturing upward.