Hawk Down

Link: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/lifehistory

Last Friday, while having dinner, my neighbor came over and asked us to come outside. He told us he had a hawk down in his backyard and our cat was nose to beak with it. He was afraid the cat was in danger and felt we needed to save her. Of course, my immediate concern was for the hawk which should not have been grounded.

Follow up:

Grabbing a large towel, gloves and special container, I raced next door. The cat was several yards away having figured out this was not bird willing to play nice. There in the grass was a beautiful, adult Red-shouldered hawk. It appeared to be able to extend it's wings without any obvious injuries, but wasn't able to stand on it's legs.

I gently covered the hawk with the towel and picked it up placing it gently into the container. It was kept in a quiet place to minimize stress while I located a lisenced raptor rehabilitator. Federal permits are required to keep and rehabilitate these amazing creatures.

The last follow up I had on the hawk was that it had a high femor fracture and would have surgery for pin placement sometime early this week. Assuming the bird gets through the anethesia and rehab time, it will be relased from our yard.

What an amazing end to the week!