A New Friend

[itsmeCindi]

(one more for the road [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] )


There is something incredibly romantic and beautiful about a hawk. I never fail to stop what I'm doing and give them my full undivided attention when I chance to see one, and if I happen to get a nice long look, its a good day. So imagine my delight when one dropped practically into my lap last Friday evening.

I was driving down the dirt road that leads back to the house when I spotted this hawk snuggled down into some weeds at the edge of the ditch. Clearly this was not normal behavior, but I continued slowly on my way, leaving him to his business. When I went out again after dark a full two hours later and he was in the same spot, my fears were confirmed; this beautiful animal was in trouble.

I know hawks can be formidable and even dangerous, so I did what any normal red-blooded female will do when faced with a tricky situation; I called my wild-hog chasing, snake handling, wandering the woods in the dark, scared of nuthin’ teenaged son on his cell phone.

“Jake, ya gotta come catch this hawk for me.�

“What!?�

“Well, there’s this hawk…he’s just sitting here on the side of the road. I think he’s hurt. I can’t just leave him here. If a dog comes along…�

“Mom. Are you saying HAWK?�

“Yes, son! Hawk! H…A…W…Kà ƒÂ¢Ã¢â€šÂ¬Ã‚¦hawk! You know, big bird, mottled color - I’m-gonna-get-that-chicken-type hawk.â€ÂÂ�

“And you want me to catch it.� I could hear the grin in his voice.

“Well…yeah.â₠¬Ã‚Â�

“Do you have any idea what you’re asking me to do?�

“I sure do. Now, listen, if you can go running around the woods in the dark chasing after big old wild hogs, you can handle a little bitty bird.�

“Mom, that thing will rip me to pieces. It’s what they do! They…rip things. Thanks for thinking of me, but I’m not interested…and don’t you mess with it, either!�

“Do you know what you’re asking ME to do?� I demanded. He knows me better than that.

“I said...don’t mess with it.� All grown up and in charge, he was. The trouble is, I listen to him just about as good as he listens to me. It’s our system.

“Uh huh.� I said, noncommittally, and hung up. But I did leave it alone…for the moment.

I went back to the house, but I couldn’t stop thinking about this magnificent bird lying there, easy prey for any predator that should happen along. I told my youngest daughter, Jenny, and she commiserated.

“Well, let’s go get him.� She said with conviction.

Back down the road we went, to where I had last seen the bird. It took several minutes to get the Jeep angled in toward the ditch just right so that we could work in the glow of the headlights. Once we were in position and standing there looking down on our unfortunate friend, I lost my nerve again.

“Okay, there he is. Get him.� I said to Jenny.

“Do I look like I’m stupid? I’m not touching that thing!� The whites of her eyes stood out in stark contrast against the darkness.

“Well what did we come all the way back down here for?�

“I thought you were going to catch him! And you have to, Mom! Look at him, the poor thing. We can’t leave him here like this.�

“Oh, all right!�

I just happened to have a blanket and a laundry basket in the back of the Jeep. I took the blanket and folded it in half and then in half again. I figured I had to move fast, and I was right. As I approached, the hawk rose up to his full height, fluffed up his feathers to look more intimidating, cocked his head to the side in utter outrage, and opened his big old sharp beak ready to do battle. He had time for one good, dirty look, before the blanket settled down over him. I scooped him up, blanket and all and deposited him in the laundry basket. Once I had him home, I transferred him carefully to an old rabbit cage. He sat in the kitchen floor overnight, looking royally ticked off, but I knew I wouldn’t have to worry about him through the long, cold night. Elvis the mutt wandered past, and there was a tense moment where both dog and bird went into hyper-alert, but that was nothing compared to when the cat strolled by. The hawk had no choice but to sit tight and look rattled, but the cat went under the bed and stayed there for two hours.

In the morning I was put in touch with a place called Wrede’s Wild Animal Rescue over off of 66. I toted the bird over there, cage and all, and found myself in a place right out of Mutual Of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. I had to fill out some paper work, being the “rescuer� and all, and as I was standing there, clipboard in hand, a little deer no bigger than a Daschound trotted past. I’ve never seen anything like it. Little feet hitting the floor, click, click, click, just like he owned the place and as cute as he was I’d be willing to bet that he at least had a major interest in it. He was some kind of exotic little thing from some exotic place, but he immediately found a place here locally...in my heart.

I left what turned out to be a “juvenile, male, red-tailed hawk� in seemingly capable hands, and went on my way. It is my hope that he will convalesce nicely and be back soaring the skies over Wauchula, and if I happen to see him again in his natural setting, I will drop what I’m doing and give him my full undivided attention, and if I chance to get a nice long look…it will be a good day. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[mfaley]

I really like your posts.....

I feel the same way. Same thing with owls.

We have too many trees for the hawks but we have some owls. Nothing better than a warm summer day when an owl falls out of a tree and floats away.

Mark

[itsmeCindi]

I think I like owls almost as mucb as hawks. I could sit and watch them for hours, and the sound of them is just mystifying.

Thanks Mark!

[mfaley]

Last Sunday I was sitting on a horse letting it catch its air and I saw a movement out of the corner of my eye. The owl came down out of the trees, across the creek and almost got a mouse that was crossing a fire break I had cut earlier.

It was amazing to watch him get through all the oak branches and not hit one. But most amazing of all is how quiet they are when they fly.

Mark

[itsmeCindi]

I think that is startling, to suddenly see something that makes no sound like that. It definitely gets your attention. I wish I could see more owls, but we don't seem to have too many of those around here.

[wingnut]

it's been quite a while, but back in Alberta it was quite common to be walking in the woods, or the field, and have a snowy owl fly right past ..... you'd have no warning, just suddenly spot a huge white shape soundlessly gliding past your shoulder.
With snow covering the ground (and therefore the sound), it was deathly quiet ... making the owls passage even more eerie.

[itsmeCindi]

Now that...sounds awesome (wink)

[wingnut]

Cindi, your post brought to mind a hawk incident from my past. About 15 years ago, I was riding into the city on my Goldwing motorcycle with my late wife, when suddenly there was a "thump" and I caught a glipse of a wing falling off to the side. I rad-tail had been soaring close to the ground and had pulled up just in time to take a glancing blow from the bike windshield.
Of course, it just so happens that Dorothy and I were both raptor admirers, so we discussed it over the intercom and I quickly too the first exit, circled around and came back to the spot. He was sitting on the ground, shaking and appearing quite dazed, and we quickly decided we should capture him (in my jacket, no less) and take him over to a wildlife refuge we knew of on the other side of town. However, the hawk was as determined to NOT be picked up as I was to try and help him, and I guess the additional adreneline gave him the strength he needed to get away from the two wingnuts. He hopped up onto the guardrail, flapped a few times and found the strength to fly off into the field out of immediate reach of wacky humans. We thought he looked as good as a bird could after a 60mph tangle with a bike, and quit bothering him ... although years later we still brought him up and wondered if he'd survived.
Many a mile was spent on the motorcycle watching the raptors circling high overhead ... and many the evening we'd duck (instinct) when the owls would pass by overhead, as we'd return in the dark.

[Heather]

Hello wingnut and cindi,
I enjoyed both of your stories. They are beautiful and brought a smile. I love to watch animals, I'm glad I live in the country.

[mfaley]

I take a certain more rural route to work most of the time and have done for the last 12 years which takes me through mostly large cattle ranches (between 1,000-5,000 acres). There is one section in particular, where I would see hawks sitting on the t posts looking for food. One day someone put up a larger post for a gate and the hawk moved to that to look for food. A few years later, a sign went up and, predictably I would see hawks there looking for food. They always sat there with that regal look the have and occasionally I would see one jump from their perch and fly off.

It was a very sad day about 6 months ago when I saw a fleet of D-10’s arrive and start to rip up the land for a new development that will contain thousands and thousands of homes.

Am I selfish because I would prefer to look at nature doing what it does rather than 3,000+sq foot box houses for a family of 4? Am I ignorant because I think the land would be better used wisely to find a balance between a steady population and nature? Am I behind the times because I still hear the stories my grandfather told me when he was growing up in South Dakota and lived, early on with a wife and two small children in a canvas cabin tent for two years and felt blessed when the could afford to move into a 900sq foot place he built?

I don’t mean to derail this conversation but this topic naturally makes me think that family farms and open spaces are disappearing at a horrible rate. And it’s my limited experience that, once a house is on it, the land never goes back to farming or open space.

I will miss the daily anticipation on my drives to see if those hawks are there and what interesting thing they might be doing although I consider myself blessed to live where I live.