Northern
Hall of Fame
Maybe a strange title for a thread, but I didn't know what to call it.
On Saturday I was driving home back from picking some papers at work. It is a fairly broad road (3 lanes each way separated from a large median) surrounded by trees. There is a lot of wild life of all kinds: birds, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, etc. As I'm driving (my speed was probably close to 50mph, the speed limit) I noticed something in the middle of the road that looks like a crumpled newspaper, or maybe a dun-colored sweater that somebody could have dropped from a car. As soon as I noticed this, I instinctively stepped a little on the brake. As I approach closer, I see a bird's head moving, a red-tailed hawk. My heart sinks, because I think it has a broken wing probably, or a broken spine. That assumption is reasonable, so I start thinking about what possible course of action I can take. It is unlikely the bird will survive, but I can't leave it in the road for it to be run over by another car.
So I stop my car, and park it on the right margin. I know I am not supposed to park there (there is quite a bit of traffic, and the margin is not wide enough to park unless in case of emergency.) As I have overshot the hawk, I start backing up my car while trying to keep an eye on whatever cars might be approaching and on the hawk at the same time. My brain is multitasking hopelessly, trying to decide what to do. Should I back my car and park in the middle of the road to protect the bird as I get it? That is very risky, I can cause an accident and somebody can get seriously hurt. If I step out on the road and try to pick up the bird I can get hit by a car. As all this is going in my head, and I am backing up the car, I see in the rear mirror that the bird is now standing up. But that's not all, the hawk is picking at something, another animal! At this point I'm thinking the bird is utterly stupid, as a couple of cars have already passed very close to it, and it hasn't budged. It can't possibly be that hungry to risk getting smashed to a pulp. I see the hawk plucking some feathers as he is picking his prey, but strangely no blood. I finally get to about 10 feet ahead of the bird, close enough. But then, as I look back through the window, I realize the other bird is another hawk.
At that point I hear for the first time the hawk screech. It is that characteristic sound you hear birds of prey make when they are flying up high in the sky, though I've never seen a hawk do it while standing in the ground, though I'm not a hawk expert, so what do I know? Still, everything is so weird, but now I start realizing that the hawk is not trying to eat the other bird (hawk cannibalism sounds improbable, even more improbable when it involves risking your own life for a bite like that hawk is doing.) The hawk is trying to save the other hawk! That explains the screeching sound now. My heart is racing now, and I am utterly confused both mentally and emotionally. I'm starting to pity the poor bird, as his friend/mate/whatever is surely dead, and soon he will be dead too.
What happened next (as if the previous wasn't amazing enough) borders on incredible. The hawk is picking at the other bird, to the point that some feathers are flying (though there is no blood that I can see.) It is screeching too, and it is oblivious to the cars. One or two cars (I can't remember) have already passed very close to it, and the hawk hasn't even flinched. It's hard to believe if you don't see it. But then, as I am looking, and the bird continues picking at the other bird, a car races towards them, and I am so intent in looking at the birds and processing all this information that I don't realize the car is that close until it happens. The wheels must have been about 2 or 3 inches from the hawks, and just as the rear wheels go by the birds, all of a sudden BOTH hawks flutter and rise, and fly away. I'm looking at them and I am in utter shock. My hairs are standing up right now as I write this. I've done my best to write how it happened, but it is hard to describe fully what was going through my mind during the whole thing, which must have not taken more than 1 minute, perhaps less.
I've been turning this in my head. What are the chances that a hawk lying in the middle of the road wouldn't be dead? Even more, what are the chances a hawk lying on the road would be able to fly away? Furthermore, if this had been two people, it would be impossible to qualify the person trying to save his companion as nothing short of a true hero. This is what I witnessed with my very own eyes. And it makes me think of animals in a whole different light. It was unbelievable, and I can't stop thinking about this. I can't continue writing now, but there are so many implications to this for me.
On Saturday I was driving home back from picking some papers at work. It is a fairly broad road (3 lanes each way separated from a large median) surrounded by trees. There is a lot of wild life of all kinds: birds, squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, etc. As I'm driving (my speed was probably close to 50mph, the speed limit) I noticed something in the middle of the road that looks like a crumpled newspaper, or maybe a dun-colored sweater that somebody could have dropped from a car. As soon as I noticed this, I instinctively stepped a little on the brake. As I approach closer, I see a bird's head moving, a red-tailed hawk. My heart sinks, because I think it has a broken wing probably, or a broken spine. That assumption is reasonable, so I start thinking about what possible course of action I can take. It is unlikely the bird will survive, but I can't leave it in the road for it to be run over by another car.
So I stop my car, and park it on the right margin. I know I am not supposed to park there (there is quite a bit of traffic, and the margin is not wide enough to park unless in case of emergency.) As I have overshot the hawk, I start backing up my car while trying to keep an eye on whatever cars might be approaching and on the hawk at the same time. My brain is multitasking hopelessly, trying to decide what to do. Should I back my car and park in the middle of the road to protect the bird as I get it? That is very risky, I can cause an accident and somebody can get seriously hurt. If I step out on the road and try to pick up the bird I can get hit by a car. As all this is going in my head, and I am backing up the car, I see in the rear mirror that the bird is now standing up. But that's not all, the hawk is picking at something, another animal! At this point I'm thinking the bird is utterly stupid, as a couple of cars have already passed very close to it, and it hasn't budged. It can't possibly be that hungry to risk getting smashed to a pulp. I see the hawk plucking some feathers as he is picking his prey, but strangely no blood. I finally get to about 10 feet ahead of the bird, close enough. But then, as I look back through the window, I realize the other bird is another hawk.
At that point I hear for the first time the hawk screech. It is that characteristic sound you hear birds of prey make when they are flying up high in the sky, though I've never seen a hawk do it while standing in the ground, though I'm not a hawk expert, so what do I know? Still, everything is so weird, but now I start realizing that the hawk is not trying to eat the other bird (hawk cannibalism sounds improbable, even more improbable when it involves risking your own life for a bite like that hawk is doing.) The hawk is trying to save the other hawk! That explains the screeching sound now. My heart is racing now, and I am utterly confused both mentally and emotionally. I'm starting to pity the poor bird, as his friend/mate/whatever is surely dead, and soon he will be dead too.
What happened next (as if the previous wasn't amazing enough) borders on incredible. The hawk is picking at the other bird, to the point that some feathers are flying (though there is no blood that I can see.) It is screeching too, and it is oblivious to the cars. One or two cars (I can't remember) have already passed very close to it, and the hawk hasn't even flinched. It's hard to believe if you don't see it. But then, as I am looking, and the bird continues picking at the other bird, a car races towards them, and I am so intent in looking at the birds and processing all this information that I don't realize the car is that close until it happens. The wheels must have been about 2 or 3 inches from the hawks, and just as the rear wheels go by the birds, all of a sudden BOTH hawks flutter and rise, and fly away. I'm looking at them and I am in utter shock. My hairs are standing up right now as I write this. I've done my best to write how it happened, but it is hard to describe fully what was going through my mind during the whole thing, which must have not taken more than 1 minute, perhaps less.
I've been turning this in my head. What are the chances that a hawk lying in the middle of the road wouldn't be dead? Even more, what are the chances a hawk lying on the road would be able to fly away? Furthermore, if this had been two people, it would be impossible to qualify the person trying to save his companion as nothing short of a true hero. This is what I witnessed with my very own eyes. And it makes me think of animals in a whole different light. It was unbelievable, and I can't stop thinking about this. I can't continue writing now, but there are so many implications to this for me.
