Animal Activist... Check!

Yesterday I saved a red-tailed hawk... No big...

So here's the story. I was at work just finishing up running breakfast when one of the guests pointed out a beautiful hawk that was hanging out on a rock close to the kitchen. Ed and I watched it for a bit while trying to take some pictures. Ed got pretty close and spooked it to where it hopped down the hill a little bit. I thought it was pretty weird how it let us get so close but then when I saw it hop away instead of fly away, I knew something was up. I sat and observed the bird for a good twenty minutes and noticed another smaller hawk (which I later found out was a red shouldered hawk) was attacking the larger hawk (the one that was acting strange... which I later found out was a red-tail... I usually can spot them but this one was on the ground and I didn't get a good look at his tail). The larger hawk wasn't flying away (or flying at all) and even used his talons and beak to climb up into a tree...

I decided it would be best to call the Ojai Raptor Center to have them come pick up the bird and see what was up with it. After a runaround of call this number, and try this number, and "I'm out of the office, call this person...", I was able to get a hold of Bob who happens to be the snake guy who comes to do snake programs at Outdoor Ed and works for the Raptor Center. He came out and tried to catch the bird with a fishing net, but it climbed higher into the tree and we eventually lost track of him. Bob left and told me to call him again if the bird showed up again. Sure enough, later that afternoon, the hawk showed up again in the same area so I called Bob. He came out again and was able to catch the bird. From his initial assessment, he could tell that the hawk was extremely underweight and his flight muscles were extremely underdeveloped (which explains why he wasn't flying). I love the Raptor Center because they are so concerned about the animals but they also love educating people on the animals. Bob told me what they were going to check for with the bird and what could be wrong and how they might need to feed it. He even let me feel the chest of the Hawk to see how underdeveloped it's flight muscles were (that's right, I touched a red-tailed hawk... have you?). Bob called me later that evening and said that the Hawk was 22% underweight which is a lot for a bird. He said when they get to be 30% underweight, they just fall over dead. He also said in another day or two this guy would probably be dead. He told me that he had to insert a feeding tube to start bulking this guy up, but he was super happy that we got him when we did.

It sounds silly, I know. I really didn't do anything but call the Raptor Center. But if it weren't for Outdoor Ed and the few times I sat through the Raptor Center class, I wouldn't have known who to call or really took the time to watch the bird. I am so thankful for the Raptor Center and the work they do. If you ever have a chance to sit in one of their classes (the Raptor one with Kim or Bob's snake class), I would highly recommend it!