It was not the first time that our cat brought him a surprise. It was not even the first time he had brought a live bird. Perhaps it was that he released him in the bedroom rather than the basement or living room (his usual places to release his prey).
I think what surprised me the most was the Size of the bird that was now flying in panic around my room.
Over the years, with two house cats that we leave outside for a couple of hours each day, we have had our share of rabbits, mice or other rodents and birds entering our home. Most of the time they are still alive, scared, but for the most part unharmed. Cats that are sufficiently fed do not hunt for food, they hunt for fun, so they generally do not eat the animals / birds they capture. They are usually brought to humans as a gift or to show that they had caught something.
As a healer, I know the importance of helping these animals and birds overcome their impact before releasing them, as it is the impact that often kills them, not any injuries they may have suffered.
So the bird currently flying through the bedroom was the newest bird that required my attention.
Unfortunately, that was also going to be a BIG problem. He was used to helping the little sparrows that frequented our backyard and the neighbors’ bird feeders. This bird was much bigger; in fact, he was a predator himself. He was a hawk.
I must admit that my close interactions with hawks have been poor. I think the closest I got to one was when one was in a tree looking at a nearby dead bird. Still, the bird was much further away than the one on my dresser now and it looked like it would attack anyone or anything that moved.
Normally I would have let the bird calm down a bit before approaching it, but it had been hurt by my cat when I saw blood on the floor and walls where the hawk had flown. It was enough blood to suggest that waiting was not a good idea if he wanted her to survive.
But there were those heels. And there was that sharp, pointed beak.
And those little eyes were watching every move he made.
I closed the bedroom door to contain his flight and then grabbed a small blanket to throw over him. It worked. The bird could not fly. I put on leather gloves and sunglasses (to protect myself) and then picked up the package, careful to support my feet. With the help of my husband, I was able to examine the bird without hurting either of us. It had a small cut on its back and one of its wings was missing some larger feathers. Both wounds were bleeding.
Since I found no other injuries that were of immediate concern, I gave the bird the homeopathic medicine Aconitum napellus(“Aconitum”) for shock. Aconite works very well to calm the impact in both animals and humans. I have used it before on traumatized animals and birds, and when responding to car accidents.
When the remedy calmed the bird, I cleaned the cuts and gave him the homeopathic medicine. Gunpowder to stop infections. I sold her the wing so she wouldn’t move to transport her to the Wildlife Sanctuary. For rehab, they would do a great job.
But alas, they were closed, so the hawk was brought home and put in the spare bathroom for the night; it was calm and there was nothing the hawk could hurt itself if it wandered. It looked MUCH better than before it was given homeopaths.
The next morning the bird was fine, but he still wasn’t sure of the wing. I took the bandage off his wing, picked it up, and let it fly (it didn’t do very well), so I took it to Sanctuary for more care.
The hawk was probably the size of my cat and I wondered how it had managed to jump on it. Marin (my cat) had no injuries, which was surprising considering the hawk was a predator that preyed on cats. Perhaps, since the hawk was small, it was not a threat to Marin.
The falcon was released from the Wildlife Sanctuary a few days later. The rehabilitation assistant was surprised that the bird had not arrived at the Sanctuary in shock, did not develop an infection and was able to be released so quickly. However, I was not surprised because I knew the healing abilities of homeopathy.
I wondered what stories the hawk would tell other hawks, I even joked a bit, thinking that the bird would probably make up a very dangerous and exciting story, recounting the great battle that had wounded it. If he had told the truth, that he had been captured by the cat, he would probably have been teasing him for quite some time.