Garrison the Hawk
Dateline: 7/10/00
This is my story - here are pictures to back it up!
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The following article appeared in the Griffin Daily News on June 25, 2000. Steve named the hawk Garrison but I did not find that out until later.
GEORGIA'S GREAT OUTDOORS
June 25, 2000
Ronnie Garrison
I caught a hawk Thursday afternoon. But I didn't know what to do with it!
While driving on a dirt road on the east side of Spalding County, I saw a hawk sitting on the edge of the road. I thought it had caught something and it would fly away as soon as I stopped the car. Much to my surprise, it sat there looking at me when I parked beside it.
Even more surprising, it did not move when I opened the car door. When I stepped out of the car, I almost jumped back inside. The bird waddled across the road to stand beside my foot! That was the last thing I expected from a wild hawk.
At first I thought it was going to jump in the car to go home with me, but when it did not get in I decided to take it to get help. The bird looked small and young, but its wicked looking hooked beak and sharp black talons kept me from putting my bare hands near it.
I checked in the trunk of the car for gloves, but found none. A cardboard box looked big enough to put the hawk in so I dumped everything out of it and went to the front of the car where the hawk was. It took a few steps but did not even flap its wings like it was going to try to fly. I easily put the box over it and shut the flaps under and around it.
When I put the box and bird in the car, I wrapped a seat cover around it. I did not think I wanted a loose hawk in the car if it decided it wanted to get out. All the way home the bird was very quiet, moving a little when I stopped or rounded a curve, but never trying to get out.
When I got home I called Steve and Angela Hicks at "Bubba and Friends, Inc." They are birds of prey rehabilitators and live in Zebulon, about five miles from my house. Steve said bring the bird to him.
When I got there Steve opened the box and picked the hawk up. It never struggled or tried to bite him. He immediately said it was a young bird and pulled up a wing to show me the down still under its wings. This young hawk had not yet grown all its feathers and could not fly.
Steve said mother hawks get their young out of the nest by lighting out on a limb and making the young one come out to them to get food. They keep moving further and further from the nest until they leave it completely. This bird had probably gotten too far out on limb and fell, or a gust of wind from one of the thunderstorms had blown it out. Steve said it was plump and had not missed many meals, so it probably had not been on the ground long.
I had looked around for a nest or mamma bird when I found the hawk, but did not see one. If I had left the bird by the road, I am sure a dog or some other animal or car would have killed it. Steve said they would keep it in a pen and feed it until it was old enough to fly, then let it go where I found it, probably in mid-August.
Steve also told me this was the first time he had ever heard of a hawk coming to a person. He wondered if someone had got this hawk as a young chick and raised it until they got tired of messing with it, then dumped it. That would explain why it came to me - it expected me to feed it!
A lot of folks may think it strange a hunter would go to so much trouble to help a bird. Most folks, especially those who do not hunt, will never understand the special relationship between hunters and animals. Although I may kill an animal I am hunting, I never want to see one suffer, and will try to help any I find injured. Young animals are always helped when they need it.
Hunters were the first conservationists, and John J. Audobon was a hunter. Bird watchers in the society bearing his name don't like to know he shot most of the birds before he painted them. It is a shame environmentalists often do not want to work with hunters to protect habitat and animals.
Steve and Angela do a great service saving birds of prey. They take donations to help with expenses building cages and feeding the birds. They also need deer meat to feed the birds. If you have venison in your freezer that is getting old and you need to get rid of it, or have more than you need, contact them and give it to them to feed to the birds. Also, send them a check if you want to help them protect birds of prey.
Steve and Angela can be reached at 770-567-1852 or you can mail donations to them Bubba and Friends, 105 Reid Road, Zebulon, GA 30295. Please help them help my hawk and others!
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Till next time, Gone Fishin'!
That's my story - here are pictures to back it up!
Ever catch a hawk? Tell me about it. Share your most unusual catches here. Do you have any comments to offer? You can also post information about it for others on my message board - you must register to post but can read the board as a guest. Also, if you have thoughts you want to share about this topic, let me know about it at fishing.guide@about.com. for a "Fishtale" or discuss it in the chat room on every night at 8:00 ET. Tell others what you like.
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