Awesome!
I had a similar experience when I was 15, growing up on a cattle ranch in Colorado. One of our hired hands came to the house when i was the only one home. He asked if I had a shotgun, I said of course, then he said " Well you better grab it, theres a hawk south of the house that has a broken wing, and you oughta put it out of its misery."
Grabbed my 20ga and went in search of it. When I got out there what a I found was not a hawk, but a Peregrine falcon trying to take off from a prairie dog city. It seemed pretty obvious to me that it wasnt a broken wing, but something else.
Since it was a Peregrine, I decided that a mercy kill was an absolute last resort. Some friends of ours operated a wild animal rehab center about 45 minutes away, so I knew who to call, but since it was getting dark, I knew I wouldnt have time to leave the bird, make the call, get instructions, and then come back and capture it.
So imagine a 15 year old kid with his tshirt in his hands running around trying to catch a falcon with it. Probably pretty comical. I did eventually get the shirt thrown over it and it's wings pinned to its body. He was not a happy camper.
Walked all the way home (3/4 mile) since I couldnt take my hands off of the shirt without him flapping and going ape on me.
Managed to get ahold of the rehab center, and they told me I would have to drive the 45 minutes to their facility. I informed them that I was 15, home alone, and unable to do so. I told them if they didnt come get it, I would either have to mercy kill it (illegal) or put back out for the coyotes or foxes to find. They eventually agreed to come get it.
That meant I got to sit at my kitchen table for almost 2 hours hanging out with one of the coolest creatures I have ever been around. I'm not gonna romanticize it and say how friendly he was and how much we bonded. LOL. He straight HATED me. After awhile I decided I just had to know what his bite was like. I dont recomend this. It hurt like hell, but it was still cool.
Ill always remember what the eyes of a pissed off, wild, injured falcon looked like.
They eventually came and picked him up. Turns out both legs and the birdy equivalent of hips were both broken. Presumably he was in a dive to kill a prairie dog and misjudged the ground.
Three months later I got a call that they were releasing him at a local wildlife refuge and I drove out to see him set free. What an amazing feeling. Hard not to like a bird of prey, specially one that does 220mph!
Cool story jbird! Well done!
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