So we finally have this raptor guy convinced that we need to do something with the bird. I tell Miguel to put a box over the bird and he sends me back this.
When I send this picture to the raptor guy, I think he finally believed that the bird was injured. He said he’s have someone there in about 30 mins. In the meantime I called SWMBO who was home schooling the kiddos and told her there was a meat eating bird in a box in front of the house if the kids wanted to see. Boy did they!
School immediately became a bust for the day. The kids all wanted to see the bird. The Princess (and all the kids) recently saw the movie Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and now proudly owns a “Save Ferris” t-shirt, which makes her the coolest 9 year old I know. With this background, she promptly named the hawk Ferris. I thought it was an awesome name since we were working so hard to save Ferris. Save Ferris, get it? Eh, oh well. Moving on.
By this time, the raptor lady was arriving and it was time for Ferris to actually be saved.
Turns out the bird had a broken leg and something wrong with his wing. He couldn’t fly and he couldn’t walk. He was a juvenile, this being his first season. The mortality rate for hawks in the wild is about 90% their first year so Ferris, despite his injuries, will most likely get a better chance at life than most of his peers. Sometimes when bad things happen to you, it brings about good results. I’m sure he wasn’t too happy through this whole experience, but now he’ll go into recovery and be released back into the wild probably next spring. In the mean time, we’ll likely go take the kids to see Ferris in recovery so they can check up on him.
Just another day on (or in the case for me) off the farm.