SOG City: Wildlife Rescue Attempt

As usual, to maintain our slim and trim boyish and girlish figures, we left the bungalow this morning on our run/walk/sprint regimen. Fat wads were flying off our sweaty frames and plopping all about. Suddenly, off to the side of the road, under a huge oak, we spied a big-assed bird. No, it wasn't obese, it was just bigger than what we usually see in these parts. It was just standing there, so we wandered over to get a closer look and maybe say "Hi' just to be neighborly.

Holy sh..., I mean, gracious goodness, it's a raptor! Actually, it looked like a big friggin' hawk. We cautiously approached as this hook-billed creature with really big talons just watched us. We got within ten feet before it moved, and then with just a wing flap and a couple of hops. Well, that didn't seem right. Birds and small children usually screech and flee whenever we come near, so we surmised that this animal was either on drugs or was injured. Since we weren't on drugs and had no readily available pain killers we decided to leave the bird alone.

Do you have any idea of what to do with an injured, feathered killing machine? Neither did we. Once back at the ranch I tried calling several wildlife rescue numbers I found on the 'net to no avail. Out of desperation I called the Suncoast Seabird Sanctuary and explained our plight. The very helpful lady at the sanctuary gave me a local number to call (813-215-3709), and I did. The Tampa wildlife rescue lady agreed to meet us where we last saw the bird.

The bird appeared to have flown the coop, so to speak. We walked all the way around the big oak and found nothing. Suddenly (don't you love the drama), I looked up. There in the branches we spied our quarry who didn't seem to be as bad off as we thought. The wildlife lady said the bird appeared to be a red-assed...wait, I have been corrected...a red-tailed hawk, probably a female though I don't remember seeing anyone lift up the tail feathers to check.

We soon discovered that our feathered friend did still have the capacity of flight, but one wing was severely stressed. The wildlife lady came close to catching the hawk, but missed. The hawk flew a block or so away and perched high up in another oak. Rescue will hopefully occur another day. In the meantime, we don't have to worry about the bird starving.