09/03/2026
Recently while driving home from work, I saw this beautiful red-tailed hawk injured in the road by our house.
I stopped, grabbed a blanket and went to her. I wasn’t sure at first if she was a hawk or an eagle.
Another driver had stopped too, a kind neighbor of ours. Together we covered her with the blanket, and I scooped her up and held her in my arms like a baby.
She looked directly into my eyes. I feel like she was asking for help.
There are no photos or videos of that part. I was standing in the middle of a road trying to keep us alive.
We called Raven Ridge Wildlife Center and Tracy told us to bring her right in. The other woman who had stopped offered to get her there.
While we were helping her, a truck had stopped behind us and the driver was furious.
“I have to go to work! Move! Get out of the way!”
I called back, “It’s an injured hawk or eagle. We’re trying to help them!”
His face immediately changed.
“Oh, I’m so sorry! What can I do to help?”
That really hit me.
This beautiful bird was soon in the hands of the awesome people at Raven Ridge. She was severely dehydrated and required several days of fluids before she was well enough to begin eating.
Now she is eating, healing and doing well❤️ Raven Ridge is saving her life and giving her the chance to return to the wild where she belongs. We are so grateful for the extraordinary work they do for injured and orphaned wildlife.
We don’t know exactly what happened to her, but they think it’s possible she had recently been clipped by a vehicle while scavenging for food near the highway.
Wild animals face huge challenges simply trying to survive and animal agriculture makes that harder on an enormous scale. Vast amounts of land are used to raise farmed animals and grow crops to feed them, destroying and displacing habitat that countless wild animals depend on.
Our food choices affect far more animals than the ones being exploited for food.
And I keep thinking about that truck driver.
The second he understood that an animal was hurt, everything changed.
People really do care about animals.
Sometimes we just need to help each other see them❤️
