NORTH SALEM, N.Y. - As soon as North Salem naturalist Chris Evers got the word that one of his wild neighbors had had a serious run-in with a truck, he grabbed a towel and a crate and went straight to the scene.
Town police Officer Michael Castellano directed Evers to the victim, a red-tailed hawk sitting perfectly upright on a fallen branch near the Titicus Reservoir. It had no obvious bleeding or other trauma, he said, recalling that the raptor’s “posture was good” and its wings “were tucked right.”
Since it made no attempt to escape when he approached, Evers assumed that the female bird was simply stunned after diving into the vehicle’s windshield.
“I’m stealthy, but I shouldn’t have been able to walk up on it like that,” he said.
After wrapping it up quickly and gently “like a burrito,” Evers examined the hawk, paying special attention to its pupils, which if unequal in size could indicate a head injury.
They weren’t.
But still, the bird wasn’t shaking things off as might be expected. That meant to Evers that there was a more serious reason for its behavior.
Evers and his life partner, Rebecca Bose, carefully placed the patient in a crate and rushed it to Animal Nation, a nonprofit wildlife rescue and rehabilitation organization based in South Salem.
The only game in town, it helps orphaned and injured furred and feathered critters throughout Westchester, Rockland and Fairfield counties as well as surrounding areas.
Animal Nation also provides rescue, fostering and adoption services for cats and kittens and has a sanctuary for at-risk farm animals. It does outreach—with an emphasis on “humane education”—at schools, scouting groups, nature centers and private and community organizations
It holds seminars for local first responders, animal control workers and others who may be tasked with providing basic care to injured or distressed animals while awaiting the arrival of licensed and qualified personnel.
Bose is a curator at the Wolf Conservation Center, also located in South Salem. Evers, the founder of Animal Embassy, specializes in wildlife conservation and environmental education.
According to Animal Nation’s president, Patrick Moore, fatal collisions between vehicles and birds of prey have become more and more frequent as humans take over their usual hunting grounds.
“Too many houses; not enough fields,” he explained.
One wrong swoop in front of an approaching vehicle and it’s lights out for some unlucky raptor.
Despite everyone’s best efforts, the red-tail died within hours of being placed in care.
Although it could have been that it was zeroing in on its prey at the time of the accident and simply wasn’t paying attention, it also appears that something neurological was going on, Evers said. Finding out exactly what that was would require postmortem testing.
A likely suspect in the North Salem hawk’s case is the West Nile virus (WNV), which can affect birds in several ways. They can contract the disease by either being bitten by or eating an infected mosquito or by consuming sick or dead birds that had WNV. The virus can cause brain inflammation, which presents with tremors, seizures, head tilting and lethargy.
Sometimes Good Samaritans will freak out after seeing a hawk having a seizure plummet from its perch only to find that the birdie has revived itself and flown away before the summoned rescuers arrive.
Poisoning was also a possibility. That’s due to humans, when they use chemicals to control rodents.
The poisoned mouse or rat—alive or deceased—is then eaten by the bird.
Evers’ has rescued animals as small as turtles, salamanders and snakes, and as large as an escaped herd of ponies.
“I’m racking up the species,” he admits.
Castellano last year helped Evers with the rescue of a juvenile bald eagle that had gotten into trouble on her first flight. Evers had been monitoring an eagle’s nest in a tall pine near the reservoir when he discovered one of the female siblings sitting on Route 116. Plastered against the guardrail, she was raising her wings defensively as car after car went zooming by. He called in the cavalry before the petrified young bird could “get whacked.”
Castellano, who happened to be off duty, and a fellow police officer stopped traffic. Evers tried in vain to get the eagle to fly. Without a towel, he was forced to pick it up with his bare hands. Not wanting to get nailed by her impressive talons, Evers had to work quickly.
“She was tired, but not weak,” he said, explaining that he works with rescued birds and knows how to safely restrain them. Grabbing a wild eagle was something new, however.
While Evers placed the nestling on the log of a large fallen tree to keep it out of the reach of predators such as coyotes, he could hear the nervous mother calling.
“She was chittering at us. That made me feel better to know that mom was on it,” he said.
After checking on it twice, Evers was relieved to see the youngster had made it back to the nest. He sees her and her sister expertly zooming around the reservoir now and again.
Evers’ and Bose’s Flying Pig Farm is home to ambassadors such as KooneyKooney the pig, Sully the tortoise, Inca the spectacled owl and Choncho the African bullfrog. They also recently took custody of a pair of prairie dogs that were rescued from an animal hoarding situation on Long Island.
While sad that the hawk didn’t make it, Evers was glad to do what he could.
“No animal should have to suffer if someone can help prevent it,” he said.
So what should folks do if they spot a “wild neighbor” in trouble?
First of all, don’t approach them. Call in the experts.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation’s website includes a page on wildlife health. Residents can search for rehabilitators near them by plugging in their counties and the type of animal involved.
To get to the right spot, visit dec.ny.gov/nature/wildlife-health/rehabilitators.
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here