layne67

My then 7-yr-old had this mathematics problem that asked A farmer saw three hawks on his roof. He shot one. How many were left? Or something to that effect, I can't remember the exact words. Anyway he answered two and he got that right of course. But I remember laughing at the question and saying that the answer should be zero because no hawk in its right mind would stay on the roof after the shot!

Anyway, I saw the same puzzle in this book by Jeffery Deaver 'The Devil's Teardrop' and there are actually more than 2 possible answers. Do you know all the answers?

The puzzle :

Three hawks have been killing a farmer's chickens. One day he sees all three sitting on the roof of his chicken coop. The farmer has just one bullet in his gun and the hawks are so far apart that he can only hit one. He aims at the hawk on the left and shoots and kills it. The bullet doesn't ricochet. How many hawks are left on the roof?

What say you? :)

ETA Disclaimer : The hawks in this puzzle are fictitious and any resemblance to real hawks, living or dead is purely coincidental. In other words, no hawk has been shot dead in the making of this mental exercise.

ETA 2 The sentence "left on the roof" indicates "how many remain" and not the hawks' positions relative to each other.

Sheesh.