BellaOnline Forums News and Politics Animal Life A Red-tail in my hand...

I spent the day today out in the country, at the new home of one of my friends. She and her husband just bought a beautiful little house on a small lake about 2 hours east of Toronto, in a place called Prince Edward County. They won't be moving for another month or so but had to go out there today to meet with the former owner to discuss some things, so I tagged along. It was a cold, damp day so we didn't go hiking at all, as I'd hoped. We were just sitting in the living room when my friend's husband called me from outside and asked if I wanted to see a red-tailed hawk up close. Needless to say, I grabbed my jacket and ran outside.

I soon realized, though, that the sad reason I could see this beautiful bird *up close* was that it was dead. It was laying on the wood pile, beside their garage, on its side, eyes still open. My friend said she thought it might have been there quite awhile since there was alot of scat on the woodpile. Perhaps it had been injured and dragged itself over there, looking for a nook for shelter. I thought it must have died very recently, though, since it was not decomposed at all and did not appear to have any visible injuries, bite marks or blood anywhere. It was perfectly intact. In fact, I couldn't resist reaching out and stroking those stunningly beautiful feathers. I gently spread the tail feathers to see how majestic the red was. I spread a wing out, too, and was amazed at how soft, yet how truly strong -- and huge! -- those feathers were! The underside of the feathers are black and white, dappled, and the feet were bright yellow, with very powerful-looking black talons. Its beak was fierce-looking, as well. The bird had to have been around 16-18 inches in length, I'd guess. It was very awe-inspiring and humbling to witness, and to be able to look at and touch such a creature, yet at the same time, it was so sad to know that this wondrous bird will never grace the skies again. I wish we could have dug a hole and buried it respectfully but the ground is still frozen. I kept wondering how it might have met its fate but I guess we'll never know. I looked around, to see if any feathers had come loose and might have been on the ground somewhere but there wasn't a single one. This bird was completely whole with every perfect feather in place and except for the sad fact that it was indeed, dead, it looked like it had been quite healthy and robust. Maybe I'm morbid but I kept returning to have *just one more look*, it was just such a beautiful, beautiful bird. I had a difficult time tearing myself away.

Shelley, You are not morbid at all. Sad as it is to find a dead creature, studying it to the best of your ability when given the chance is a good thing. I'm glad you took advantage of it.

Cause of death could be so many things. Poison, collision with something, disease, and so on.

So, what did happen to the bird? Are they protected in Canada?

Rose

I have no idea if they are considered protected here. We just left it where it was. I considered suggesting to my friends that we take it home to bury it but I didn't. Janet is a birder, loves them as I do, and when she didn't suggest it (in spite of how many times I kept returning to look at it), I didn't feel quite right asking. A 2-hour drive with a dead animal in the car, even in the trunk, might not have been something she or her husband wanted. And then there's the matter of the frozen ground. It's not like it was a little sparrow that could be placed in a ziplock bag and put in the freezer until the ground thaws; this was one big bird!

I don't really want to think of what will happen to it; I do feel a bit ashamed of just leaving it there, to its inevitable final fate but perhaps it will provide food for some other hungry creature of nature before it decomposes. Gruesome as that sounds to me, at least that would be the natural order of things.... <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

Shelley, you had the opportunity to study one of nature's creatures without causing it harm. There should be no shame in that. I, too, would have left it where I found it, as is the order of the world.

Marian :love:

Shelley, how sad to have seen that hawk. I would have been tempted to call the DNR or a rehabber and ask if they could tell if there was any trauma to the body at all, just out of curiousity. But here, birds of prey are protected and I think it's illegal to handle any of them dead or alive. You can't even possess any part of them, including feathers.

I might have moved it away from the property into the woods, so that it could decompose with dignity or another creature could eat it under cover of the trees. It's the nature of things to die, and become food for others. The energy gets passed on this way.

Over a month ago I found a beautiful white cat on the side of the road while driving to work. I stopped and got out to check to see if it was alive or dead. Even though there weren't any visible wounds, it was obviously dead. I thought about moving it away from the road and into the weeds, but was in a hurry and didn't really want to touch it.

Well, with the cold, below freezing temps out side that cat has laid there ever since. It has just recently started showing signs of decay, but not really all that much. I see it every day and am amazed that it has stuck around so long, kind of curious to see how long it will be there (six weeks and counting). With our warm spell I thought it would really start to go, but I guess it would freeze at night and not really decompose during the day. Then I got to feeling guilty that I didn't move it in the beginning and now the poor thing has laid there by the road for so long. It gets muddy, then the rain washes it white, then it gets muddy again, etc. I feel like it had no honor in its death. I'd like to stop and move it, but every time I go by there are lots of other cars around and it's across the road from a store, and I admit, I'm afraid they'd think I was a little crazy. And now I'm afraid it might be at a stage where I really don't want to handle it at all even with plastic. In the summer road kill doesn't take long to decompose, but apparently in the winter it can last for months.

There is a driveway right next to this cat and a mailbox, and no one has moved this poor cat. I would think they'd not want to look at it every day as they came in and out of their drive. That irritates me quite a bit. Am I weird?