This saddens me..........

The story........(approx 3 hours ago)

I was heading up to camp to drop the trailer off for my brother in law. My BIL and his cousin had just gotten there before me by a few minutes. They were opening the gate as I pulled up. As I begin to pass through, my BIL starts walking towards my truck. He motions over to the right with his flash light then signals for me to look at something. I get out of the truck and walk towards him. We find this.....................

GRAPHIC ANIMAL IN DISTRESS PICTURES

 

That is an adult Red Tailed Hawk. He/she is caught in a trap. I dropped the trailer and proceeded home to phone the Game Commission. It took 5 numbers before I found an actual person to relay the story to. They said they couldn't get a Warden out there right now but if we wanted to, we could release it.

I grabbed a blanket and my gloves and went back up to camp. It's only about a 10 minute drive for me. When I arrived, I relayed the story to my BIL and we proceeded to release it. I gently covered it in the blanket and hold it so it wouldn't cause further damage to the leg. My BIL and his cousin proceeded to open the trap up.

We got the bird out and I placed him on the road so he might have a clear take off point. I slowly opened the blanket up and stepped back. The hawk just just sat there, wings half spread. I coaxed him to take flight and he began flapping his big beautiful wings. Then he tried to stand, falling onto his chest. I felt bad. I coaxed him so more and he took flight. He flew down through the trees about ten feet before he landed on a small sapling. He tried to perch but ended up hanging upside down like a bat. Then he fell from the tree.

I approached him and picked him back up in the blanket. We took him back to camp in the blanket until tomorrow.

 

I just texted a friend who is an vet tech. She has a message into a vet that may be able to help.

The PGC has been notified as the trap seems to be illegal. You can bait a trap but the bait must not be able to be seen from the air..........FOR THIS EXACT REASON.

Well, there was an entire hide, lower legs, and what looks like a heart in plain view.

 

What infuriates me the most................look how close the trap is.



You can see the end of the hawk on the other side of the bucket. The orange thing is the right side of the gate. We have dogs and KIDS. KIDS that play in that area. My youngest nephew rides his quad there. IT WAS NOT MARKED!!! It is tagged with the owners name and addy. The PGC are aware and I hope the call me tomorrow. They advised me to leave the trap sprung (closed). We snapped some pictures just in case.



My sister has more photo's and I will have her forward them to me when she can.

This is a truly beautiful animal, but this is not how I want to see them.

 

Yes, they actually killed one (coyote) earlier in the week.

And there are no chicken farms. This was 4 miles deep in the woods. No livelihood was in jeopardy.

 

Well done Ben! You should take the trap home, and weld it closed, then bring it back....

 

There is an amusement park (see down towards the bottom)about an hour from me that has two adult Bald Eagles, one with an amputated wing. If anything, the bird could live on in a habitat as an educational specimen as the Bald Eagles do.