Red-Tailed Hawk Caught In Leg Trap

The following story about a red-tailed hawk was shared with us by the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in New Jersey.

In early March 2022, Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge admitted a red-tailed hawk with a very shocking and sad story. The hawk was found ensnared in a leg-hold trap. The amount of time the hawk was trapped was unknown. While the leg-hold trap likely was not set to catch a bird of prey, like most traps it catches anything that sets it off.

As with most entanglement situations, this bird spent time struggling to free itself under a great deal of stress. Prolonged stress, dehydration, and starvation in these situations can be lethal, but this red-tailed hawk was lucky to be found in time and brought to Cedar Run for care.

Leg-hold traps can cause serious physical damage to an animal, including lacerations, muscle damage, and nerve damage that could potentially lead to paralysis. In the struggle to free themselves, animals will self-mutilate or inadvertently cause more damage in their state of panic.

This red-tailed hawk was “lucky” that it came to us with lacerations, muscle damage, and minor nerve damage to its leg, all of which we were able to rehabilitate over time. In addition, the bird suffered from shock, emaciation, and dehydration.

The hawk was treated with antibiotics, pain medications, and given EmerAid IC Carnivore to aid in his recovery.

After two months of treatment and recuperative time in our pre-release flight enclosures, we were so happy to release this red-tailed hawk back to the wild! Seeing these situations breaks the hearts of our staff and volunteers, but we are thankful to be able to give any entrapped wildlife the second chance that they deserve. The hawk was more than ready to say goodbye to us, as you can see in his release video!