A hawk rescued by an Ocala non-profit wildlife group after being shot last week is recovering from surgery, but its future is uncertain, according to the veterinarian who performed the surgery.
The hawk was operated on Wednesday morning after being shot from its nest Saturday at Lillian Bryant Park in Ocala. The hawk's two chicks were unharmed and are being cared for by the Animis Foundation in Ocala.
Mary Green, a veterinarian surgeon at Westside Animal Clinic in Spring Hill, said she is hopeful but unsure of the mother hawk’s recovery.
“Now, it’s a waiting game,” Green said.
The projectile fractured the humerus bone close to the elbow, causing it to break into five pieces. Green said she placed metal pins inside the wing to hold it together. Infection, fusion of the elbow joint and a limited range of motion are all concerns. The type of gun used is unknown, but according to an Ocala Police Department Computer Aided Dispatch report, witnesses reported it could have been a BB gun.
The projectile, which Green says probably entered near the elbow and then traveled up the arm toward the wish bone, is still lodged inside. She is hoping to remove it in three to four weeks when she removes the pins.
The next two weeks will determine the hawk's recovery. If complications occur and the mother hawk cannot be released back to the wild, she could become a teaching bird if her temperament is good enough. If not, euthanasia is a possibility, Green said.
For now, the rehabilitation team at the Animis Foundation in Ocala is working to reintroduce the mother hawk to her two babies, hoping that she will begin caring for them again. They will be released to the wild, even if the mother hawk is unable to be.
It is illegal to harm a hawk under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, penalties for convictions under the act can reach a fine of up to $15,000.
A report has also been filed with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Service, according to Michele Kline, who works at Hope Wildlife Rehabilitation and transported the mother hawk to and from the Animis Foundation to Westside Animal Clinic on Wednesday. Kline said she has seen her fair share of federally protected birds that have been shot and wants to see a fair outcome.
Green plans to give the projectile she extracts from the mother hawk to Michelle Whitfield with the Animis Foundation to be used as evidence, furthering the case.
“You can’t do this. It is illegal,” Green said.