When they didn’t get back to me I called the DEC again this morning. I spoke to some very helpful people who transferred me until I got to the person who could help.
“If it weren’t so warm,” Beth said, “you could just leave it outside. But with this weather, if you can double bag the body and put it in a freezer we can pick it up early next week.”
So that’s what I did.
I made room in the freezer, wrapped the hawks body in two plastic bags and duct taped it shut.
Then I went into Jon’s study where he was writing and told him that the hawk was in the freezer in case he went in there and was wondering what was in the big black plastic bag.
He was amused by the thought of a dead hawk in the freezer. Which was a good thing really.
Ever since I worked at an Animal Hospital when I was in my early twenties, the idea of dead animals in a freezer just seems like what you’d do with a body you wanted to hold onto for a while.
It feels good, like the most I could do, for the owl and the hawk, to maybe find out what killed them. That it might help somehow.
Perhaps that’s naive of me. But being able to do something, makes me feel a bit better. And who knows how the hawks body might help, perhaps it will be a small part of a larger research.
I believe the owl was a Barred Owl and I think the Hawk was a Coopers Hawk.
I am familiar with animals in freezer. We have buried all our pets on our property and sometimes cannot bury them for a day or two. We have always left them in freezer until the right day
Seems it’s not unusual at all Wendy. I had a friend who would pick up road kill birds and put them in her freezer then use the feathers. 🙂
Those talons look like something out of Jurassic Park! I’m glad you persisted with the calls. We need specimens like that hawk to do the research in order to understand the disease. That avian flu has caused havoc!
I know I’m enthralled with their feet! I do hope to find out what happened but it may be a while before I know. I will let you all know when I do.
I hope you find out cause of death. I’d be interested in knowing if the recent rodent issue in your area resulted in second hand consumption of rat poison by the birds that eat rodents.
It’s very possible Cheryl
Our cat Dixiebelle passed away when my husband was away. She was his cat and he wanted to bury her in a special place. The vet wrapped her up and i put her in the freezer until he returned.
Love that Crik.