I took a picture of an injured hawk in my backyard this past April. I had gone outside to check out the weather and watch my golden retriever play in the yard when I noticed an animal just sitting in the yard. I walked down off the deck to get a closer look and realized it was an adolescent red tailed hawk.
As I got closer to it, it seemed nervous but did not move. I noticed flies flying around the little guy and particularly its right foot. At this point I knew the hawk was injured and tried to get close enough to see the injury. It let me get closer to take a look at it's foot. The foot was very swollen and discolored.
My dog started getting closer as I did and I could tell it was making the hawk uncomfortable. I quickly ushered my pup inside and called for my mother.
I told her about the hawk and she came outside with me to check it out. At this point, the poor guy was even weaker than before. My mother and I both knew we had to do something to help this beautiful young bird.
Time was of the essence. Each time I went out to check on him he was weaker than before. He was deteriorating quickly and I had to act fast. I got on the computer and started looking for phone numbers of someone who could help me help the raptor. As I would get a hold of one person, they would give me another phone number and direct me to someone else.
After a good two hours of networking, I found a woman who was very interested in saving the young red tailed hawk. She was too far away to come and help me but again gave me a number to someone else. It was a man named Heinz Meng and he lived in New Paltz, NY, about a half hour from my house. I was relieved as he answered my call and was interested in helping the injured bird.
To my surprise he was not going to come to my house, but rather I had to capture the bird and drive it a half hour north to his house. He explained to me on the phone how I was going to capture it. At first I said to myself, "NO WAY am I going to actually pick this bird up and put it in my car!" It didn't take much to convince me as I went back outside to the bird and saw the condition it was now in. His eyes were closed and he was looking really weak and ready to go. I had to get him help, and I had to do it fast. Heinz coached me through the process of capturing this bird of prey.
I put on some work gloves and brought a towel outside. I slowly approached the bird from behind and gently laid the towel on its back and over its head. Then I put my hands on both of its wings, picked it up, and put it in a cardboard box I had prepared for it. I almost freaked out with the bird in my hand because the flies that had been flying around his wound were now flying all around me. I was able to remain calm for the sake of the hawk.
My mother and I raced her SUV a half hour up the Thruway to New Paltz with the hawk in the back seat. She drove so I could keep an eye on the bird. We finally got to Heinz's house and he was outside waiting for us. He was an interesting man. Dressed in German clothing with a German alpine hat on, he examined the sick red tailed hawk.
I thought he was sort of rough with the wounded bird. He verified to me that it's foot was indeed infected. Heinz held the bird by its feet and spread its wings and examined the rest of its body and showed me the things he was looking for. In his younger days he was very involved with these birds of prey. Heinz told me he was going to bring it down to the hawk house and try to feed it. I looked down the yard and there was in fact a large hawk house towards the back of his property. I asked him if I could come check it out. I followed him down to the house and inside were about four large rooms on each side of a narrow hallway. He brought the bird to one of the rooms and put it on a stack of hay. I was getting upset at this point because the bird could no longer stand. He fell over onto his side when Heinz put him down.
Heinz, however did not seem upset. I asked him a little more about what he does and figured out why he wasn't too upset. He explained to me that he has been teaching at SUNY New Paltz for around 50 years. I asked him if he could save the beautiful creature. He told me it doesn't look good and that it is practically dead already. I'm sure he saw the grief in my face because he proceeded to tell me "not to worry." He explained that even if the hawk does not survive, he will still get use out of it. I was confused. I asked him "how?" Heinz then revealed to me that he was a TAXIDERMIST and that it will be his next PROJECT!
I was frozen with sadness. I thanked him for his "help" and my mother and I drove off.
It was a long ride home. Here I had just spent an entire day trying to save this very beautiful, adolescent red tailed hawk and I knew Heinz was just going to let him die down in that house so he could stuff it. I was on the verge of tears thinking about the bird on the way home. I had done everything I could to save him and he was still going to die.
As I thought more and more about it in the next days I developed a different attitude. I was no longer too upset about what had happened. I realized that maybe it was a still a good thing that I brought him up to Heinz. At least now he could get use out of the beautiful bird as an educational tool and others could still enjoy it. Otherwise it would have been thrown away as food for another animal. I felt good about what I had done and decided to give the hawk a name. I named it Harmon. The name Harmon is of German origin (like Heinz) and means "brave warrior."
Now, in a way, Harmon the hawk will live on forever.
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| Harmon, growing very weak as I searched for a way to help him. You can see here the infection on his right foot, which made him too weak to open his eyes. |
In Loving Memory of Harmon the Hawk
R.I.P
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