You're Never Going To Believe This!

Community Introductions & Off Topic
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You’re never going to believe the day I have had. What happened to me is a once in a lifetime experience. I stopped by my mother’s house for a quick visit before running to the store to buy butter (I did all that food shopping the other day and I forgot to buy butter). Well after stopping by, I left and ran to the store. I was orginally not going to get it and just run to Taco Bell for some lunch but I figured since I was right by it, might as well stop in and get it. I get the butter and returned to my car, as I was pulling out of the parking lot to go on a quiet road, I noticed something on the side of the road. Atfirst I thought it was either a cat or some kind of brown animal that was hit by a car and killed, well, I pulled over and I couldn’t believe my eyes.

It was a red-tailed hawk and it was still alive. I couldn’t just leave it there in pain and under the hot sun with no shade so I built up nerve to see if I could pick it up to atleast put it in a shady area and let nature take it’s course. Another car approached me and noticed the hawk. A younger woman came out and her father was saying that’s a hawk and suggested that I call the police. What good would that do? is what I told her and I said, “I’ll take it to a vet.” The hawk never once tried to bite me or hurt me. I carefully extended the left wing and then the right wing, neither one was broken. I did notice that the hawk held up it’s right leg. I figured it broke it’s leg or atleast sprained it. She was beautiful. The hawk just looked at me and I gently picked her up and put her in the back seat of my car. I drove to my sister’s house and said…

“Sharon, I need your phone book and your phone. I need to get to a vet. You’re never going to believe what is in the back of my car.”

“What is it?” she asked and then joked “is it a lynx? LOL”

“No, I wish.” I laughed back.

My sister approaches the car and is in awe. “Oh my gosh! That’s a hawk!” I told her the story of what had happened and she told me of a vet up the road. She took some pictures because no way in Hell would anyone ever believe us unless we had the proof. We went to the vet and they said they don’t have a “wildlife” license. So they called around and got a hold of a wild life preservation in the Poconos. She drove down to Allentown (where I was) and picked up the hawk. All the women that worked at the vet was taking pictures of this hawk that was in the back of my car. The one vet said “I’m putting this on my Facebook tonight!”

This was one of the most incredible days of my life! Here are the pictures of this beautiful hawk. The vet said it’s a female because of it not having a red tail, saying only the males have the red tails, either that or it’s a very young male. Before we knew if it was male or female, we named it Henry Hawk LOL Remember the chicken hawk from the Looney Tune’s cartoons? Well a chicken hawk is really a red-tailed hawk or it’s cousin the cooper hawk. The name of the hawk in that cartoon was Henry Hawk.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/queen_lynxana/100_1569.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/queen_lynxana/100_1567.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b84/queen_lynxana/100_1566.jpg

Oh I forgot to add that the woman that picked up the hawk gave me a brochure of where the hawk is going and I can get updates of her recovery. I will keep you all posted of how the hawk is doing.

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Chris here…

That’s amazing, I really envy you that experience! :slight_smile:

That hawk is absolutely beautiful, those are amazing photos - thanks for sharing them with us! :slight_smile:

Perhaps now you ought to change your username to “Hawkgirl” (after the DC Comics character) or something! :wink:

Take care… :slight_smile:

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That is so cool.

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Thanks! What was really amazing and yet scary was after I told my husband what had happened (after he came home from work…yes, we are still married, long story for another time) he told me that after the woman told my sister that you don’t have to worry about it biting, what you have to worry about is it’s talons, was she was right. He said those talons can rip you up and rip off pieces of flesh off of your arm. A knife would do less damage. I thought that would only happen to small rodents or small birds, nope. He said I was extremely lucky and nearly fell off of his chair when I told him I was playing with the foot (the good one), just holding it gently, feeling how long the talons were, etc (my face being less than an arm’s length away). He said I was very lucky the hawk didn’t harm my face or arm. He also said me talking to it with a soothing gentle voice calmed it down. The hawk knew I was helping it.

LOL, then he said “I bet the woman that came to pick it up had long leather gloves” and I said “Yes, they went all the way up the arm” He then said “that’s why”

Yes…I’m from the city, can you tell from my innocence? ROFLMAO :stuck_out_tongue:

I’m going to wait till Monday to give the wildlife preservation a call to check up on the hawk. The brochure says they accept donations of $25, so I’ll give them a donation since they don’t get help from the government.

P.S. My nick-name Queen Lynxana stays put LOL

I should also mention that when I first got married, a sparrow got hit by a car driving by. I picked it up and nursed it back to health, it started to become tame but it eventually went back to the wild. Yes, I do have a picture of it on my finger while I am outside. I’ve been looking for that picture all evening long. It’s somewhere in my basement but soon as I find it, I’ll post it. LOL, I was only 21 years old, right before my 22 birthday.

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Gorgeous bird. Glad to know it was saved.

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What a beautiful and proud hawk this is! Amazing experience, queen lynxana you did good and showed bravery by taking it inside your car. A couple of weeks ago i visited the zoo with my little brother and we passed by a remote training area where “no trespassing” was written on a near label. Out of curiosity i slowly walked towards the circular arena-like training ground, much to my excitement i noticed a falconer but my eye couldn’t catch the bird, right at the next moment i saw a huge “bird of pray” diving at great speed and landing right above me on top of a tall perch, my brother got really scared-me too-, still i was staring it straight in the eye awed by the impressiveness of this wild predator. It was my stupidity to get close to the free-flight aerial display but this close witness to nature was inarguably the greatest reward even if all happened within a few seconds.
Their talons and beaks are powerful and adapted for tearing or piercing flesh so by grasping the wounded and afraid bird with your bare arms was a courageous deed,indeed! Probably the animal sensed your good intentions and trusted your moves. I hope everything turn out well for Henry Hawk and will return to her physical environment. You saved her life.

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Wow, what an adventure you had, Lynxie! It’s not every day that you get to save a red-tailed hawk. That bird is gorgeous and its valuable to the ecosystem cannot be understated. A gold star to you, my girl! :thumbsup:

Oh, and if it is female, why not call her Henrietta Hawk? No disrespect intended toward her cartoon counterpart! :smiley: