Today was not one of my usual busy day. Unless, I usually hold alive hawk in my arms. While waiting for my granddaughter’s kindergarden bus a hawk flew into the power line above our heads. It made the wire make a weird twinging sound. As I looked up the hawk was being catapulted off the wire toward the ground head 1st. It landed 10 feet from us. I shoved the mail into my grandkido’s hands and ran to the poor bird. It’s butt and legs were in the air. The face was on the ground with it’s mouth open and tongue lying in the dirt. I thought it was dead but than it blinked it’s eye. I took off my sweat shirt jacket wrapped it tight around it’s wings and covered the head with the hood. I put the talons under my arm and held it tight as I headed to the house. After putting my granddaughter on the school bus of course. 
I came in the house and told my daughter “I have a hawk”. She said ” a what a where?”. I said I was holding it. She flipped open her ipad and said “who do I call?”. Like this was an everyday thing we do. She tried the DNR but just got a voice mail. I called my friend Melinda but got her voice mail too. Her boy friend had rescued an eagle this past winter so I knew she would know what to do. My daughter called the Minnesota Raptor Center at the University of Minnesota. Again a voice mail. This time she left a message. By now I had put the hawk on a foot stool and had picked up my phone to place calls too. The Raptor Center called back and instructed us on how to transport it to the Raptor Center for treatment. I needed to get my jacket off it so I grabbed a beach towel and a hand towel and started to unwrap it. This was the scariest part. I couldn’t get my jacket loose. It was then that I realized the hawked had wrapped it’s talons around the string tie on my hood. I covered his head well and started to get the tie out of it’s grasp. The talons were so sharp and the feet so rough it took a minute to pull the material away. We used our dog pet carrier and I placed the bird in tail and feet 1st while keeping his head covered the whole time. We loaded it into the van just as the bird started to come back around. It was flapping and hitting the carrier hard. My daughter said “cover the cage”. I grabbed another towel laid it on the carrier and we were off for an hour drive with a hawk in the van. The bird settle down right away. So much that I keep saying “it didn’t die did it?”. We made it to the Center fine. They were ready when we arrived. After asking what happened the carrier, with the towel over it, was rushed to the vet. We filled out an information form and were showed around on a tour for a few minutes. Before leaving I asked if it was a red tail hawk because I hadn’t seen the red feathers in it’s tail. She told me it was a red tail hawk but it only was about a year old so it didn’t have the red yet. The hawk was doing well when we left. They informed me that on 1st exam it didn’t look like anything was broken. They would nurse it back to health and then they invited us to the next release because if it was well it would be released then. Being a photographer I have always loved raptors. Watching and photographing them has been a passion of mine. So much so that my dear husband and I go “hawking” in our spare time. I am sad that this poor hawk was hurt but it also was wonderful to hold and see this fabulous bird up so close. I pray it recovers from it’s fall.
Sqeezes,
Laurie
cherrylynnfarm 