Rescued a Red-shouldered Hawk today!

I was about to head into work when I saw a Red-shouldered Hawk near my neighbors fence. I stopped and grabbed the camera because around here they are shy and take off when you get anywhere near them. I was having trouble getting a good pic when I noticed the bird just wasn't acting right. By that time my neighbor noticed I was lurking and I yelled "I think we got a injured Red-shouldered Hawk over here".

I started to walk closer to the Hawk and it just kinda jumped around and wouldn't fly off. Even when my neighbors dogs ran up to the fence the bird just got low and tried to make itself look as wide as it could. I told her I would get some gloves and a box so I could capture it and take it somewhere.

When I got back with a fish tank and gloves the Hawk was hiding behind the trash can. I moved the trash can over a little and grabbed the Hawk and it didn't put up a fight. I could tell the Hawk was no where close to being an adult but it was old enough that flying shouldn't have been a problem.

When I got to work I made a few call's and found a place that would take it. During my lunch I drove out the the Vet and they took a look at the Hawk. I was told that it was a young bird (born this spring) and that it looked a little thin but they didnt know why it wouldn't fly.

The vet told me they would fix the Hawk up and rehab it until it was ready to be released into the wild. When its ready to be released they said Fish and Game will come get it and take it out by the river to be set free.

It took me a while to find a place I thought could care for the Hawk but the vet I took it to deals with exotic animals and specializes in birds. They informed me they already have 4 (or was it 5?) Red-shouldered Hawk's in rehab there and it would be in good hands.

I'm going to call next week to see what they find out about why it wont fly.

Sorry for the bad pics!

That is a good story. I bet it won't be lng before that hawk is flying and hunting on its own. Good job!

I love hawks. I see them from time to time in my yard catching squirrels. You did a good thing. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" />

cool, good job. that's a beautiful bird! let us know what was wrong.

awesome! i love hawks!

One time I was hunting squirrels and I shot one that was wwwwaaaayyyyyyy high up in a tree. The squirrel fell to the ground like a rock and .05 sec later a Red-shouldered Hawk grabbed it.

I got a good laugh out of it.

In 1989 I caught one the exact same way. It was also really young. I kept it in a cage for a couple days, feeding it raw meat, and then started taking it outside, with no tether. The third time outside it flew off. I guess that's when it was ready to go. It never occurred to me that something might have been wrong... I just assumed it was really young and wasn't quite strong enough to fly, yet. And I didn't want the dogs to get it.

You did a good thing.

Nice job, that was a great thing to do. Says a lot about your character rmc85

RMC....If the hawk could say "thanks" ...I'm sure it would. We are all caretakers of this world....you've taken care of Gods creation. Your THE man in his eyes.

Yeah, I know this hasn't anything to do with a hawk but I've never seen a Ground Hog in a tree 7 feet off the ground before! I watched him climb up this tree and just stretch out. I stood about 4 feet from him taking pictures for about 5 minutes. Got some REALLY good closeups where it shows his teeth a little but have not gotten them loaded up yet.

But this is a hawk. i think he was guarding something he eating on.



Oh, check out this owl!

As a cop...people would call to get their cats out of the trees....when I got on scene...I'd ask...Have you ever seen a cat skeleton in a tree??? they'd say no. then I'd pullout the .357...they'd say...He'll come down by himself.....I'd say...I knew you'd see it my way

I couldn't seen any injuries that jumped out at me so he could have just been exhausted. Since its a young bird it might just suck at hunting and wasn't able to eat.

Dog are a huge reason I picked this one up. We have so many feral cats/dogs, coyotes, foxes, and people pets running around its not even funny. Life can be hard for animals out in the country....

I just wish we had more hawks around to take care of the poisonous snakes!

good job!

hawks are an incredibly important part of our ecosystem.

we've got the ojai raptor center by us, which takes in injured birds of prey. i'm glad to hear that you were able to find someone filling the same niche on your coast.

Great looking bird and indeed a cool story.

Nice pics <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" />

There are some great stories and pics in this thread. A groundhog in a tree, that is something I would not have expected.

Me neither.

Very odd.

Well done rmc! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbup.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Nice work. I've been paying a little more attention to the local fowl recently since we've had several bald eagles nesting around our property along with a family of hawks.
Hawks are probably my favorites. Post when you find out the problem. Here's hoping it's all good. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Thats awesome!!!

great job! i bet that hawk is stoked!

There is some kind of raptor rehab center in St. Louis (about 3-3 1/2 hours away) that take in all kind of birds. The wife and I see all kinds of hawks at Mingo NWR whenever we're there. Yesterday (thursday) we saw 6 Mississippi kites flying around over a weedy field diving and swooping. Very interesting to watch, they look like ghosts (the coloration) flying around.

I need you out here Skunk Hunter. Skunks are everywhere! I hit one the other day and the smell still hasn't left my truck.

RMC85: Just get yourself (or borrow) a GOOD, read that fast shooting pellet rifle and have at it. Cheap target practice as well. The trick (if you call it that), is to shoot them so that the brain does not have time to send a spray signal to well you know where. If you can shoot them in the back of the head to sever the spine, NO SPRAY. I've only had one spray (just a little) but a little goes a looooong way!

I have a RWS Model 48 .22 so thats not a problem. I live out in the country so I can shoot them with my Remington 597 (semi auto .22) and no one will notice. I never see the stupid things in the yard...they are always getting hit on the county road that I live off of. My freaking truck still smells from this one I hit!!!

I don't know if this is weird or not but I've always thought their "spray" smells like some kind of weird burnt rubber.

Bad news…

I called the Vet and they said the Hawk died. They said it had a really bad head trauma and they did everything they could for it. It sounded like they thought it got hit by a car.

Sorry to hear it, I was really hoping it would pull out. You did a great thing.

I'm sorry about the hawk as well, we hate to see any animal get hurt like that, even the ones we don't particularly care for.

That is some rough news. Great looking animals. Thanks for posting the update. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

RMC,
That was a good thing you did.
Sorry to hear that it didn't live.

Still, that was a good thing you did.

I'm not going to lie. I was a little more than pissed to hear it was dead.

I spent 4 hours calling places until I thought I found a good one. I guess no matter how hard you try sometimes you're just going to fail.

I wouldn't say you or the vet failed...You did a great thing. Sometimes, death is just inevitable. At least you tried, which is more than a lot of folks would have done.

Sorry to hear the bad news - but don't let this deter you from doing similar things in the future...

RMC,

You did the right thing. Even with all the time you put in and the fact that the bird didn't make it. It is just one of those things that you can't control and I honor you for your efforts! Good Work...

Great pics !

That stinks!

You're a good man for trying.

You should feel proud in that you did more than what most people would have done.

Yeah,what they said..twice.Birds are so cool.On behalf of our feathered friend,Thanks for trying.

[color:"green"] Awwww. Poor birdy!! Thank you for taking the time TO rescue it! [/color]