Sunday, November 16, 2014

Red Car Property: Dead Hawk Alert

Photo: Diane Edwardson, November 16, 2014.  Late yesterday, a neighbor told me about a dead Red Tailed Hawk at the base of the slope going up to  Lake View (& Silver Ridge). (Click on photo to enlarge.)  

It looks like the hawk died a few days ago.  It appears something decapitated it after it was already dead (the head is about a foot away).  The hawk does not appear to have been eaten by other animals.  

Since it is very unusual to find a dead hawk in the neighborhood, I submitted a report to the State's Dead Bird Hotline for West Nile Virus, now online.  They are not currently picking up dead birds in our area so per their advice I also submitted a request to the City's MyLA311 app for dead animal pick up.  (Not counting on that to happen - so keep your dogs on a leash.)  Maybe one of the migrating Turkey Vultures will take care of it. 

According to the State's FAQ on West Nile Virus, you cannot catch West Nile Virus from contact with a dead animal, only from the bite of an infected mosquito.

Without a necropsy there is no way to tell what killed the hawk.  Considering we once rescued a Red Tailed Hawk that had been shot with a gun, you just don't know.