Small
world, isn't it?
When I
first met the members of SMART, then called the Small Animal Rescue Team of Los
Angeles Animal Services, I was researching my Pet Rescue Mysteries. They were wonderful people from the first,
allowing me to observe some of their training exercises including zip lining
from the tops of mountains. Later, their
name was changed to Specialized Mobile Animal Rescue Team, and they took on
rescuing animals who weren't necessarily as small.
Fast
forward. I saw them next after they were
featured in an independent film--the SMART Documentary-- and I of course had to
attend one of its premieres in the Los
Angeles area. I
loved the film and also got to see some of the wonderful people I'd met
previously there, too. That was last
year.
Now, fast
forward again to this past Monday. My
dogs had told me they wanted to go outside, and I'm now able to hobble down our
backyard steps, though they generally go ahead of me. While I was on my way down, Cari, our puppy,
preceded me, though Mystie remained behind me.
And when Cari got to the patio below, she started barking. Mystie's usually the barker, so I hurried to
see what Cari was barking at.
It turned
out to be a large hawk who was standing just beyond the patio in an area
covered with compost. He didn't fly away
when Cari barked. He just stood
there.
I called
Cari, and she came back upstairs with me, where Mystie, fortunately, was still
waiting. I called to my husband Fred to
come see--and help.
And the
hawk just stood there.
We made
some more noise--and took some pictures.
Fred grabbed a piece of cardboard and threw it off to the side of the
hawk, thinking that might make him fly away.
It didn't.
We figured
he must be injured or ill. He seemed in
need of some kind of rescue.
And so I called
one of my SMART contacts, Nett--and was delighted to speak with her, although I
wished it were for a better reason. But
she asked me a few questions and said she would send someone over soon, but to
call back if the bird flew away.
He
didn't. And an Animal Services officer
who happened to be a SMART member--Jumper--soon arrived in an Animal Services
truck.
Fred let
Jumper into the backyard, where the officer wrapped the hawk in a large towel,
then unwrapped him slightly to look at him.
Then he wrapped him again to move him into a cage he had brought with
him. The bird remained fairly calm, and
Jumper mentioned his surprise that the hawk wasn't more aggressive. He told me he would be taking the hawk to a
wildlife rehabilitation facility in Camarillo,
not far away. And then he left with the
bird.
Did I get
much writing done that day? Certainly
not as much as I'd intended to. But I
was worried about that hawk. To some
extent I still am, though at least he was rescued and taken to someplace where
he hopefully will get well and be allowed to fly free again.
But one
thing I was really happy about was that I knew just who to call--SMART!
BTW, I had
another interesting animal-related experience this week. I may blog about it next week.
