An adult red-tail hawk was due to have surgery Monday to fix a broken wing after being rescued on the Surrey-Langley border Sunday, Jan. 11.
Murrayville resident Shauna Frankelson was walking her dog, Cinder, in the area of 192 Street and 36 Avenue on Sunday.
“She’s the one who actually spotted it first,” Frankelson said of her dog. “And she just stopped dead in her tracks. And I’m like, ‘what are you looking at?’ And I look up, and there’s all these crows spiraling and diving. There’s a beautiful little hawk on the ground.”
She initially thought the bird may have been caught in wire but then saw the broken wing and blood. She contacted a friend who advised her to contact the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) in Delta.
“They were so good,” she said. “They just came in there with a blankie and tossed it over him and scooped him up and put them in a little carrier and off they went.”
The bird is in care of OWL where it has had pain medication and awaited x-rays to allow doctors to plan its surgery.
“I was just really impressed with OWL and how responsive they were,” she said.
OWL, which only takes in raptors, rushed to retrieve the injured hawk.
“[Frankelson] was so kind to wait in the pouring rain with it with her dog,” said Martina Versteeg, raptor care supervisor. “…so we don’t lose sight of the bird. You know that’s kind of half the battle with some of these calls is if the people walk away and the bird runs into the bush, and we never find him so we really appreciate her actions calling in and waiting with the bird.”
The broken bone was sticking out of the skin of the injured bird.
“So it looks like it was probably hit by a car on that road there, because he does have a broken humerus,” she explained.
If the surgery is successful, the bird will take about six weeks to heal before OWL plans its release back into the wild back in the area where it was found.
“So we’re still very hopeful, and there’s definitely the chance and the bird’s comfortable in the meantime and going to have a meal later and feel comfy,” she said.
The bird would not have survived very long if it had been left where it was found.
“Obviously since the bone was exposed, if we didn’t have him in care immediately, you know, the bone would die and a lot of pain for the bird and suffering, and he probably would have ended up getting scavenged by a coyote or something else or crows would have started picking at him more,” Versteeg explained. “So it wouldn’t have been pleasant for sure, and timing is of the essence when they have a broken bone.”
OWL needs to get birds with broken bones into treatment quickly so the bones don’t start to heal incorrectly, making care more difficult and reducing the chance that the birds can be rehabilitated back into the wild.
She said birds such as raptors that can’t be released back into the wild have to be humanely euthanized as they do not do well in captivity long-term.
OWL takes in about 55 animals from the Langley area annually and more than 670 in total last year. Most are from the region but some come from other parts of the province.
“I hope I can be there for release,” Frankelson said about the hawk she found.
She spends a great deal of time out of doors and is cautious around wildlife, giving them their space.
The hawk is the largest animal in distress that she has encountered. In the past she took an injured squirrel to Critter Care and encountered a dug-up rabbit warren with babies. She watched the den for an extended period, and when no mother rabbit returned, she took the bunnies to Critter Care.
Tips for dealing with sick or injured wildlife
Call the Conservation Officer Service’s 24/7 Report All Poachers and Polluters (RAPP) hotline at 1-877-952-7277 if the animal appears dangerous.
For most sick, injured, or dead wildlife:
• Take photos or a video of the wildlife for assessment
• Note the location of the wildlife
• Do not handle the animal
It is illegal to possess live or dead wildlife in British Columbia without a permit.
See the Wildlife Rehabilitators’ Network of B.C. to determine which group to contact based on the animal and the region.