WHIT

I have been doing bird rehabilita-tion for 23 years and every time I have to euthanize one of them it bruises my heart. Today it was a young Rough-legged Hawk who had been hit by a car over a week ago. These birds are born near the Artic Circle in Northern Canada and migrate here for the winter. To them this is the beaches in FL. Because they are so isolated after hatching they know nothing about humans or vehicles. This baby of last year was probably on a road kill when he was hit. The damage was not external, no broken bones, but it was to his eyes. The optic nerve in his right eye was destroyed and the sight in his left eye so compromised that altho he could pick up movement if it was close enough, it was not sufficient for him to recognize a meal under his foot. As you can see in this photo, he is standing on dinner but never reached down to eat it. Although I could have kept him alive by hand feeding him it would not have been a very good quality of life. He is a wild bird and every time I came near him he was stressed. He had a short life but could take pride in making it all the way to Wyoming before he was a year old. I applaud his life.