saved a life while MDing!

re-tek

Sr. Member
Jul 15, 2007
435
1
miami fl
Detector(s) used
coinstrike, tigershark, ace250, OLD radioshack
saved a life while MD'ing!

went looking for a place to MD yesterday with my better half. found this old city park that kept rattling my memory. turns out, about 30 years ago or so it was the first place i ever saw someone metal detect! i remember seeing a lady pulling coins out of the ground and it just amazed me as a child. she took the time to explain what she was doing and well, here i am now, part of the hobby! it was kinda cool to find the place where you got introduced to a lifelong hobby after soo many years!

anyways... towards the back of the park where some nice old trees and some picnic tables. we headed back there. there was an old concrete slab with something weird on it. my better half called me over to look at it. it looked like a tree stump from far away. as i got closer i realized it was a big eagle like bird.

the bird was struggling to stand and was hanging its head down low. looked like a hawk of some kind once i got closer. i called the wildlife hospital at the museum i work at and they said bring it in. great... hmm.. how do you grab a hawk? he's sick and all but this guy could mess me up if he has any energy left.

i grabbed a towel and came up behind him and wrapped him in it. he was soo weak he didnt even fight. he did grab my finger with his talons though and had one heck of a grip even though he was sick. once i had him we threw the MD'ers in the car and headed off to the musuem.

turns out its a young red shouldered hawk and he had been poisoned. they said they might be able to save him. i just checked up on him and he made it through the night so he might pull through.

below is a pic of the hawk once i had him wrapped in the towel and on our way to the museum. this is probably one of the odder things i've had happen while MD'ing. hope the guy makes it and i get to see him released again!
 

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Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

Way to go Re-Tek! I hope the hawk pulls through. Here is a couple photos of a Red Shouldered Hawk for those who have never seen one-

Red-shouldered-Hawk-flight-.jpg
red-shouldered%20hawk.jpg

They are pretty common down here, especially out in the Everglades. Beautiful birds. I saw one swoop down and grab a small bass out of a canal once. Too cool! :)
 

Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

Thanks for your kindness! Hope the majestic bird pulls through. Thanks for the pics, Diggum.

;) RR
 

Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

Hope that thing didn't have the bird flu! Good job but be CAREFUL handling sick birds!
 

Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

Nice Job
I heard they tast like chicken.....LOL
Red Shouldered Hawk
No, the cooking time listed below is not a misprint. Cooking the Hawk on rock salt prevents grease from splattering.

2 tablespoons softened butter or olive oil
3 tablespoons any combination of chopped, fresh herbs such as rosemary, thyme, and tarragon
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
1 3 1/2 pound frying Hawk
Rock salt
1)Heat oven to 500 degrees. Mix butter with seasonings in small bowl. Remove giblets and wash and dry Hawk. Stick your hand in between the skin and flesh of the Hawk and gently loosen skin all over. Be careful not to break the skin. Slip seasoned butter under skin all over the Hawk. Truss with string.

2)Put rock salt on a roasting pan or deep pie pate so that it covers the pan completely, about 1/2 inch deep. Place chicken on salt and put in oven. Cook 40 minutes or until temperature reads 160 degrees or juices run clear.
 

Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

well... bad news.. the hawk passed on this morning.

what the folks at the animal hospital told me is that he had ingested too much poison. they tried but he was too far along to bring him back. they told me that they see a rash of this in migratory season. half the birds people bring in are poisoned. if you have any kind of rodent poison out please keep in mind that whatever eats that poisoned rodent may die as well. could be a buzzard or could be a bald eagle. you just dont know so be careful when putting that stuff out!
 

Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

sorry to hear that,, thanks for trying though !! lots of people woulde walked by and never gave it a second thought.......
 

Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

Well, to bring a bit of happiness back to the thread, I have a quick avian story.

Two years ago, around this time, I went to pick up my daughter at an after school program. I noticed a sea gull that was flapping around near a garage. It could not fly. I went to see what was wrong and noticed a fishing lure with two treble hooks. One was in his wing and one stuck in it's beak.

I rang the bell to get into the school and then asked the person to get the custodian. He came out and I asked him for some wire snips. He went in and got them and I proceeded to snip both hooks and remove them. After taking out the hook from the beak, it started pecking me. The whole time, all the kids from the program were outside watching what was going on. That bird was bound and determined to get away from me. Finally he was released from the hooks and flew off. The kids were clapping and yelling because he was free.

The best part was when my daughter said that I did a great thing for the poor bird. All her friends thought I was so brave for rescuing that nasty pecking bird. They had seen me getting pecked and noticed the blood on my hand. The blood was actually from the hook that was stuck in the wing that caught me while taking care of the hook in the beak. No biggie to me, it is now flying free.

Re, great job. Not too many people would even try to do what you did.

Hal
 

Re: saved a life while MD'ing!

you do know that u will get a blessing out of that. you did a wonderful deed . ihope the bird makes it . you have my support . great job and hh .swampfox
 

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