Young hawk returned to nest

Jana Mathia, Gazette Editor | Jun 11, 20200

A young Red Tailed Hawk was returned to its nest after being taken to the WSU veterinary school.

Pullman Police responded June 3 to a report of and injured juvenile hawk. The young hawk was taken to the WSU Veterinary Teaching Hospital exotic department. According to veterinarian Marcie Logsdon, officers could tell by the time the hawk was dropped off that it was not actually injured. Veterinarian staff examined the young hawk to make sure it was well and then returned it to its nest where Logsdon said the parents were waiting and ready to take back their young.

Logsdon said the young hawk was a brancher--between the nestling and fledgling phases. Branchers are called that because when their nest is in a tree, they will hop from branch to branch. This nest, however, was located in a radio tower.

Logsdon encouraged people who see a young animal they think may be in trouble to call the vet hospital at 506-335-0711 before approaching the animal. Some animals, such as deer, will leave their fawns in places for long periods of time before returning to them. If someone sees a young bird and are concerned it might be injured, they should call the WSU exotics depart and staff there can talk through with them to determine if the animal is in need of help or not.

"There is a lot of minutia and detail to it," she said of determining whether an animal needs human assistance or not.