Badlands Hawk Is Eating on Its Own; Officer Recounts 60 Freeway Rescue

A downed red-tailed hawk rescued last week on State Route 60 in the Badlands west of Beaumont is regaining strength and has started eating on its own, a volunteer caretaker in Temecula said.

"She is feeing better and started eating" on Sunday, Anysia Dickson of Project Wildlife said. "Still unsure what is wrong, but think she may have been struck by a truck or car while flying low over the freeway.

"It may be the reason why she is favoring her left side and how she ended up on the freeway to begin with," Dickson said. "Eating on her own is a real good sign she is snapping out of whatever is going on."

The hawk is also being treated for internal parasites, Dickson said Monday.

The woman who rescued the hawk, Riverside County Animal Control officer Caitlin Barron, said Monday she was grateful the California Highway Patrol had two officers on scene to manage traffic.

The 60 freeway in the Badlands passes through curves and dips that require focused driving.

"It's pretty tight in there, easy to kiss the center divider," Barron said.

Barron said she was in south Hemet when she got the call about the downed hawk Thursday afternoon. She drove up to Beaumont and took the 60 west, past Jack Rabbit Trail, and came upon two CHP patrol cars stopped in the westbound fast lane about halfway through the Badlands, Barron said.

"I'm just thankful they were there," Barron said. "The bird was right next to the center divider. One of the CHP officers said a big rig came along and nearly sucked it up under the trailer."

Barron said she should have used gloves but didn't. She knew from experience red-tailed hawks are aggressive hunters but docile around humans.

"I was afraid the hawk was going to jump over the median into eastbound traffic," Barron said. "But it didn't even move."

Barron used a towel to cover the bird and place it in a cage. She took the hawk to Temecula that night and turned it over to Dickson.

"I thought it was a fledgling, and Anysia said it looked about a year old and it was a female," Barron said.

Dickson gave the hawk fluids that night and treated it for feather mites. The hawk seemed slow to react, but it is a strong bird, Dickson said.

On Saturday, the hawk was recovering but seemed to be favoring its left side.

"Not putting too much pressure on left foot and left wing response slow," Dickson said before she took the bird to get x-rays.

"She's a big bird, two-and-a-half to three feet from head to tail," Dickson said. "Her wingspan is about five feet."

Dickson said she was keeping the hawk in a large cage. When the hawk is strong enough to be released back into the wild, it will be taken back to the general area where it was collected by Barron, Riverside County Animal Services spokesman John Welsh said.

Barron, 28, said she had previous experience catching a hawk, so she figured she could handle this one.

"Before I got into animal control I worked at Starbucks," Barron said. "The animal control officer used to come through there and I asked how to get that kind of job. One day about six months later I was at a friend's house and a hawk flew in the window.

"I threw a blanket on it, took it outside and let it go," Barron said. "My friend's mom said 'You should be in animal control.' That's when I decided to start the training."

It's springtime so Barron has been busy with other bird calls. On Friday she said she collected some baby quail in south Hemet that were about the size of her thumb.

They were cute, she said, but she has special memories of the recovering red-tailed hawk.

"She was gorgeous," Barron said. "I don't know how to describe it. The look about her. I just love nature."

For more information about Project Wildlife, visit http://www.projectwildlife.org/.

For more information about the county Department of Animal Services, visit http://rcdas.org/home/